Customer Service Charter
Principles of Quality Customer Service for Customers of the Irish Human Rights Commission
Quality Service Standards
Publish this statement that outlines the nature and quality of service which customers (both internal and external) can expect and display it prominently on the www.ihrc.ie website and at the point of service delivery.
Equality/Diversity
Ensure the rights to equal treatment, established by equality legislation, and accommodate diversity, so as to contribute to equality for the groups covered by the equality legislation (under the grounds of gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller Community).
Identify and work to eliminate barriers to access to services for people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and for those facing geographic barriers to services.
Physical Access
Provide clean, accessible public offices that ensure privacy, comply with occupational and safety standards and, as part of this, facilitate access for people with disabilities and others with specific needs.
Information
Take 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. Ensure that the potential offered by Information Technology is fully availed of and that the information available on the IHRC website is accessible and up to date.
Continue the drive for simplification of rules, regulations, forms, information leaflets and procedures.
Timeliness and Courtesy
Deliver quality services with courtesy, sensitivity and the minimum delay, fostering a climate of mutual respect between provider and customer.
Give contact names in all communications to ensure ease of ongoing transactions.
Complaints and Appeals
Maintain a well-publicised, accessible, transparent and simple-to-use system of dealing with complaints and appeals about the quality of service provided. The Customer Complaints procedure is contained in Appendix One to this document.
Consultation and Evaluation
Endeavour to provide a structured approach to meaningful consultation with, and participation by, the customer in relation to the development, delivery and review of services. Ensure meaningful evaluation of service delivery. The Irish Human Rights Commission will log and analyse complaints received with a view to making improvements in the quality of customer service provided.
Choice
Use available and emerging technologies to ensure maximum access and choice and quality of delivery.
Official Languages Equality
Provide quality services through Irish and/or bilingually and inform customers of their right to choose to be dealt with through one or other of the official languages.
Better Co-ordination
Foster a more co-ordinated and integrated approach to delivery of public services.
Internal Customer
Ensure that employees are recognised as internal customers and that they are properly supported and consulted with regard to service delivery issues.
Resources
The IHRC will make every effort to maintain a high quality service in dealing with customers and to follow this code as closely as possible however external factors particularly the availability of sufficient resources both in terms of finance and staffing may impact on the quality of service that can be provided.
Customer Complaints Procedure
Complaints
We strive to maintain the standards of customer service outlined in our Customer Charter. We also recognise that complaints sometimes arise and have put in place a clear system which is intended to ensure that all such complaints are considered in a fair and open manner.
Customer Service Officer
David Carolan is the Customer Service Officer with the IHRC and is the contact person for any individuals that have a complaint in relation to the quality of the service they have received.
- The Customer Service Officer will issue a response to all complaints within 4 weeks of receipt of any complaint.
- The Customer Service Officer will log all complaints, analyse the findings and identify areas where the quality of customer service might be improved.
The Customer Service Officer's contact details is:
David Carolan
Customer Service Officer,
Irish Human Rights Commission,
4th Floor, Jervis House,
Jervis Street, Dublin 1.
Tele: 8589601
Fax: 8589609
Email: info@ihrc.ie
The Customer Service Officer can be contacted by any of the contact methods above, however it is recommended that the details of any complaint is made in writing to allow for a more thorough understanding of the nature of the complaint.
Scope
The Customer Service Charter and Appeals system is in place to deal with complaints relating to the quality of service received. Issues relating to decisions made by the IHRC in relation to any of its Legal Functions (e.g. Enquiry requests and legal assistance applications) are not covered by the IHRC Customer Service Charter or Customer Complaints procedure.
Appeals
If a customer is unhappy with the response that they have received to a complaint made to the Customer Service Officer, then this can be appealed to the Chief Executive. The Customer Service Officer will also include details of this recourse in all correspondence issued in response to individual complaints.