Customer Service Commitments

Please note: The content on this website has not been signed-off and is not final.

Customer Service Charter

The National Shared Services Office (NSSO) is a statutory civil service office, established under the National Shared Services Office Act 2017. The NSSO is directly responsible for delivering business Shared Services within the civil service and, as part of its wider leadership role, it also provides expert guidance and support to other public service sectors in progressing their Shared Services commitments. The NSSO is reorganising Government financial management. This involves the transfer of the administration of the finances of 48 Government Departments and Public Sector Bodies (PSBs) to the NSSO. A single finance technology platform will replace 31 financial management and reporting systems across Government Departments and offices. This customer charter sets out mutual expectations in this context for both Suppliers and PSBs.

Consistency, Equity and Confidentiality

• The NSSO/FSS will administer the agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) fairly, reasonably and consistently.
• The NSSO/FSS will protect and respect equality and human rights within our services, procedures and processes in accordance with Public Sector Duty principles.
• The NSSO/FSS will treat the information you give us in confidence and ensure that it will not be used or disclosed except as provided for by SLAs.

Courtesy and Consideration

• You can expect to be treated courteously, with consideration and in a non-discriminatory way in your dealings with the NSSO/FSS.
• We expect you to treat the NSSO/FSS officials with courtesy and to give them all reasonable co-operation.

Information and Assistance

• You can expect to be given the necessary information and all reasonable assistance to enable you to clearly understand your obligations as provided for within the SLAs.

• We expect you to advise the NSSO/FSS in a timely manner of developments (such as change of address, commencement or cessation of business) that are relevant to your organisation.

Complaints, Review and Appeal

• There are comprehensive complaints and appeal procedures open to all customers of the NSSO/FSS. We encourage you to avail of these if you are in any way dissatisfied with the service you receive from us.
• You should note:
  • that if you make a complaint, the NSSO/FSS will deal with it promptly, impartially and in confidence
  • that availing of the NSSO/FSS’s own complaints procedures will never prejudice your right to raise issues with:
  • the Ombudsman (to be decided, supplier?)
  • the Disability Act (to be decided, supplier? Potential interaction. officer PSB Disability)
  • or
  • The NSSO/FSS also has anUnreasonable Complainant Conduct Policy in place (to be decided, i.e. contact from suppliers)

• For full details see Comments, Complaints and Appeals.

Customer Service Standards

Overview Our customer service standards tell you about the standard of service you can expect from us. We aim to provide a high quality service. We want to make it easy for you to do business with us. We aim to provide the service you need quickly and without fuss. These commitments and standards recognise changing customer expectations. They also reflect increasing digital capability. Our service delivery can vary between peak and off-peak periods. We very much appreciate your patience and understanding during these peak periods.

Commitments and Standards

We have a secure . This means we can securely send and receive emails that contain sensitive business information. We will carefully protect information you give us. Customer details are treated confidentially. We will continually review the information on our site to ensure it is up-to-date and written in plain language to make it easy for you to understand. Queries and forms submitted via email will be dealt with within 20 working days and 25 working days during peak periods, unless otherwise notified by the NSSO/FSS. Where a full reply cannot be issued within 20 days we will send an interim reply and indicate when you can expect a detailed

Accessibility

• We will ensure that our offices are accessible to people with special needs and that a quality service is provided. Our accessibility statements and contact details for the NSSO’s  can be found on the NSSO website.
• We will ensure that our website and online services are accessible.

Languages

• We will provide a service to those who wish to conduct business in Irish.

Complaints and appeals

• If you are unhappy with any aspect of our customer service we will deal with your complaint impartially within 20 working days.
• If we have made a mistake we will say we are sorry and put it right as quickly as possible.
• Anyone who is unhappy with how we have dealt with their issue can ask for a review. Full details of how this process works are contained on this website.
• Information about how to make a complaint to us is set out in How to make a complaint.
• The NSSO/FSS has an in place.

Accountability We are committed to tracking our progress in the delivery of these customer service standards. We will measure our performance against the standards set out in the Services Level Agreements and publish the results in our annual report.

Our Commitment to Quality Service

The provision of quality customer service is an essential element of the modern Public Service and the NSSO/FSS endeavours to offer the highest possible levels of service provision and delivery to its customers. We are committed to delivering the highest quality of service in accordance with the 12 Principles of Quality Customer Service, and to ensuring that a customer service ethos is embedded in everything we do and is embraced by everyone in our organisation. The NSSO/FSS is committed to providing a professional, efficient and courteous service to all our customer. We have a responsibility to provide clear information and to make dealing with us as easy as possible. We will treat all our customers equally and make every effort to ensure that the services we provide reflect your needs and expectations.