Customer Service Charter

Vision 

Our vision is to deliver a step change to the economic and social contribution that tourism makes to the lives of all the citizens in Ireland. This will not mean that all the citizens will be directly involved in tourism or that tourism will be present in every town and village but it does mean that the incremental jobs and exchequer revenue that tourism creates will better enable the government to improve public services and/ or reduce the tax burden on Irish citizens.

Customer and Visitor Charter

We are committed to providing both our business clients and our visitors with a professional, efficient and courteous service. The purpose of this Customer Charter is to set out the nature and quality of services, which our customers can expect to receive from Fáilte Ireland. We will treat all customers with respect, dignity, professionalism and efficiency, and, our customers are requested to treat Fáilte Ireland staff and each other in a similar manner. The term "customers” refers to Irish tourism client companies, overseas buyers and stakeholders who engage in our Business Services as well as visitors who we engage with as part of our Visitor Information service. These standards equally apply to others we engage with, including the general public, Government Departments, key partners and media. (Note: the publication of a Customer Charter is not intended to create any new legal rights for customers.)

Telephone Enquiries

Fáilte Ireland's head office in Dublin will be available to answer your calls during the hours of 9.00am-5.30pm, Monday-Friday. Our aim is to answer all calls quickly. We will identify ourselves and our area of work, be polite and helpful, and do our best to provide our customers with clear and correct information. If we cannot give an answer straight away, we will take the customer’s details and call the customer back at a suitable time. We will only connect callers to voicemail when the person they wish to speak to is unavailable and we will do our best to respond to voicemail messages within one working day. Our main office telephone number is 0818 888800.

Written and Electronic Communications and Website Content

We shall endeavour to respond to enquiries from customers with sensitivity and the minimum of delay, fostering a climate of mutual respect between Fáilte Ireland and customer. We will also ensure that our websites are kept up to date, and contain information relevant to our customer base

We will acknowledge all communications from customers sent to customersupport@failteireland.ie within 48 hours of receipt Monday-Friday. We offer a separate customer service contact email for members of our accommodation Quality Assurance schemes qualityassurance@failteireland.ie, which we also endeavour to respond to within 48 hours of receipt Monday-Friday.

We aim to respond to communication sent by post to Fáilte Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, 88 - 95 Amiens Street, Dublin 1, D01 WR86, within 7 working days of receipt. In the event that a full response within 5 working days is not possible, we will send an interim reply explaining the nature of the situation and a progress report.

Appointments

We will be available to meet punctually with customers, by appointment, during normal office hours and, where it is unavoidable, we will try to accommodate requests outside of such hours resources permitting. We will greet visitors politely, be fair and helpful and deal with their enquiries as quickly as possible. We aim to provide appropriate facilities for meetings and ensure that our offices are clean and safe.

Physical Access
We will continue to maintain an office and meetings environment that is efficient and well maintained and that complies with occupational and safety standards and, furthermore, that facilitates access for people with disabilities. For further information on accessibility please contact our Facilities Manager at facilities@failteireland.ie.

The Provision of Information

We will take a proactive approach in providing information that is clear, timely and accurate, is available at all points of contact, uses appropriate channels and meets the requirements of people with specific needs. We will provide our programmes and services in a manner that respects customers’ rights to privacy and confidentiality and we will make every effort to ensure we adhere at all times to the General Data Protection Regulations. We will provide customers with an easy mechanism to query the personal data we hold on them and to have that data changed or removed, as they require. We will continue to support the provision of general information relating to Fáilte Ireland activities in a way that is open and enhances its accountability to the general public.

Equal Status Policy

We are fully committed to providing a service that is accessible, accommodates diversity and is relevant to all our customers and accommodates the needs and aspirations specific to particular groups and seeks equality of outcome.

Official Languages Act 2003

This Act has the primary objective of ensuring better availability and a higher standard of public services through Irish or bilingually (Irish and English). We will liaise with the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht so as to ensure compliance in relation to implementing the requirements of this legislation.

Complaints

We want to know when we get it wrong or could do better so welcome any customer feedback, whether it’s complaints, compliments or comments. By letting us know how we’re doing; you can help us improve our services. All complaints should be sent in writing to customersupport@failteireland.ie

We will deal with complaints in a professional and fair manner. Every effort will be made to resolve the complaint early and to the satisfaction of both the customer and Fáilte Ireland. Complaints which cannot be resolved immediately by Customer Support are escalated to the relevant divisional Manager. Complaints which cannot be dealt with satisfactorily at Manager level may be escalated to the Head of Division. In the event that the complaint is not dealt with satisfactorily, it may be escalated further to Director level. The customer will receive notification within 48 hours of each escalation and the expected response time and status. The complaint will be treated in confidence unless the complainant wishes otherwise (and subject to our obligations under the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003).

Freedom of Information

Fáilte Ireland is a prescribed organisation under the Freedom of Information Act 2014. The Freedom of Information Act 2014 (the FOI Act) is designed to allow public access to information held by public bodies which is not routinely available through other sources. Access to information under the Acts is subject to certain exemptions and involves specific procedures and time limits. FOI requests to Fáilte Ireland must be made in writing and addressed to The Freedom of Information Officer, Fáilte Ireland, 88 - 95 Amiens Street Dublin 1 D01 WR86. The request must state clearly that the request is made under the FOI Act, specify the preferred form of access, such as inspection of the originals or copies. If information is desired in a particular form, this should be mentioned in the application.
In addition to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, the Data Protection Acts 1988, 2003 and General Data Protection Regulations of May 2018 also apply to Fáilte Ireland. The Data Protection Acts protect the privacy of individuals whose personal data is being processed. Personal data is information relating to a living individual who can be identified from the data itself or in conjunction with other information held.

Feedback

We regard feedback as the key to understanding the needs and expectations of our customers. We encourage staff to use their day-to-day contact with customers as a means of gathering feedback on the quality of service provided. We evaluate individual activities and services to clients on an ongoing basis as well as undertaking independently surveys of client businesses and visitors to ensure we are appraised of the perceptions of the client base on the quality of our services.

Location

Local offices follow their respective normal commercial practices, including public holidays. Details of our offices can be found by following this link.