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Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe with Secretary General Robert Watt

Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe and the Secretary General Robert Watt today published the results of a survey of general public customers of the Civil Service commissioned by their Department.

The purpose of the survey was to ascertain satisfaction levels with services received, as well as more general perceptions of, and attitudes towards, Civil Service Departments and major Offices. This series of 7 surveys began in 1997 with the most recent previous survey undertaken in 2015.

The main findings are:

• Overall satisfaction levels for service delivery and outcome are the highest recorded to date. 83% of customers were satisfied with both the service received (up from 76% in 2015). 82% were satisfied with the outcome of their most recent contact (also up from 76% in 2015), and 87% said service levels are mostly meeting or exceeding expectations (up from 83% in 2015). 
• The service delivered by Civil Service staff continues to rate favourably, while interactions in person show particularly strong improvements.
• The public’s perceptions of civil service efficiency, trust, independence and equality have all increased.

Minister Donohoe said:

The very positive results, for example in terms of overall satisfaction with services and outcomes, reflect the commitment of civil servants to the provision of quality services. I note that interactions with Civil Service staff were rated very well and civil servants, particularly frontline staff should be proud of this achievement.