Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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117. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the work his Department has undertaken to date to deliver on the plain language requirement on all public service communication as referenced in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32344/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, my Department is currently developing the next phase of public service reform, to follow on from Our Public Service 2020 (OPS2020)- the development and innovation framework for the Public Service. It is in this context that we are considering how to best progress the Programme for Government commitment to “(I)ntroduce a plain language requirement on all public service communication so people can understand information the first time they read or hear it.”

The next phase of public service reform will address the plain language requirement by building on the achievements of OPS2020 Action 2 ‘Improve Services for our customers’ and Action 3 ‘Make Services More Accessible to All’. These include:

- Promotion of the Customer Communications Toolkit for the Public Service. The toolkit was prepared by the Quality Customer Service Network (QCSN), which my Department leads on under Our Public Service, in collaboration with the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design at the NDA. This toolkit received the 2019 National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) Award for best use of plain English by an organisation. The toolkit is used extensively across the Public Service as a key reference tool.

- The Toolkit complements the Plain English Style Guide for the Public Service, which was developed by DPER in collaboration with NALA, which is also available on the OPS website.

The Reform Delivery Office, in my Department, which is responsible for delivering OPS is furthermore responsible for driving the Quality Customer Service Initiative (QCSI). The QCSI sets out 12 Guiding Principles of Quality Customer Service. Principles 2: Equality/Diversity; 3: Physical Access; and, 4: Information; relate to making services more accessible to all, and have been a key part of the work programme of the Quality Customer Service Network (QCSN) since its establishment in 2000. Progressing Guiding Principle No 4, ‘Information’ is of particular relevance and focuses on taking a “proactive approach in providing information that is clear, timely and accurate, is available at all points of contact, and meets the requirements of people with specific needs”

Promotion of the QCSI principles, the Customer Communications Toolkit for the Public Service and the Plain English Style Guide for the Public Serviceis undertaken through the public service-wide Quality Customer Service Network (meets quarterly, membership of over 130 Public Service Organisations) and the OPS website.