Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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336. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider the inclusion of a phone line message system on the payroll telephone number of her Department to inform callers of the other options, for example, e-mail contact details for obtaining information on payroll issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43255/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The majority of staff of the Payroll Division of my Department have been working remotely since March in accordance with Government guidelines. There are 130,000 payees paid on the payrolls operated by these staff on a fortnightly basis. The first priority during the Covid 19 pandemic has been to ensure that all staff paid on these payrolls continued to be paid on time. This posed major challenges during that period.

In the circumstances it was decided to operate the customer service for teachers and special need assistants by dedicated email service. The details of the service are outlined on my Department's website and were communicated to schools.

Email queries can be sent to the individual payroll and are responded to within three to four days except where there are complex issues to be resolved. If a query requires a phone call to resolve it, staff will ring the teacher or special need assistant concerned. An eform facility is available on the Payroll Division’s webpage which facilitates sending queries to payroll staff

The provision of the best possible customer service is regularly monitored. The messages on the phones are currently being updated and include e mail contact details. This is being tested at the moment and should be in place this week.