Customer Charter - Customer Service Standards

Customer Service Standards

Contact by Telephone

If you telephone us........

• our staff will answer the phone promptly and courteously
•  we will give our name and the name of the section, Law Centre or Family Mediation Centre which you have called.
• if the member of staff concerned is unable to deal with the subject matter of the call personally, he/she will transfer the caller to someone who can.
• If you contact us by telephone and your solicitor, paralegal or mediator is not available, you may leave a message and he or she will return your call as soon as possible (usually within five working days).
  

Contact by Letter or e-mail

If you write to us........

• we will issue an interim response to your letter or e-mail, where necessary, within seven working days of receipt of correspondence;
• we will issue a substantive response within twenty (20) working days;
• arrangements will be put in place to ensure that correspondence does not go unanswered where the staff member to whom the correspondence is addressed is absent from the office;
• letters/faxes issuing from the Boards offices will include the name, address and telephone/fax number of the staff member dealing with the subject matter of the correspondence;
• all correspondence will be written in plain language, using technical and official terms only where this is absolutely necessary.

The Boards actions to comply with this standard are conditional on the timely receipt of information and instructions from our customers, where appropriate. The Board commits to informing clients of major developments in their case. However, having regard to the Board’s resources, we cannot commit to responding to all queries where they are excessively frequent and where there is no major development to report.

Personal callers

If you call to see us........

•  all areas open to our customers will be maintained to acceptable standards of cleanliness and comfort;
•  provision will be made for access by people with disabilities in existing buildings where this is possible and where new offices are being obtained the opportunity will be taken to ensure access for people with disabilities;
•  accommodation will be made available where customers may consult with staff members in a private and confidential environment.

Service through Irish 

 We will aim to ensure that........

• correspondence received in Irish will be answered in Irish;
• every effort will be made to accommodate telephone callers and personal callers who wish to conduct their business through Irish;
• while the provision of a service through Irish is not possible at all locations at present, training in the Irish language will be made available to all staff as part of the Boards staff training programme;
• we will fulfil our obligations under the Official Languages Act, 2003;
• our most important publications will be available in Irish.

 We expect you…

•  to treat Legal Aid Board staff with courtesy and to give them all reasonable co-operation;
•  to provide true and correct information in all your contacts with the Board and to advise the Board of relevant changes in your circumstances;
•  respond to requests from the Board for further information as promptly as possible;
•  attend appointments arranged in a timely manner.