Feedback & Complaints

Listening and responding to your views helps us to continuously improve. Family Carers Ireland is committed to ensuring that all our communications and dealings with the public and our supporters are of the highest possible standard. We welcome both positive and negative feedback. Therefore we aim to ensure that:

• it is as easy as possible to make a complaint;
• we treat as a complaint any clear expression of dissatisfaction with our operations which calls for a response;
• we treat it seriously whether it is made by telephone, letter, fax, email or in person;
• we deal with it quickly and politely;
• we respond accordingly – for example, with an explanation, or an apology where we have got things wrong, and information on any action taken etc.;
• we learn from complaints, use them to improve, and monitor them at our Board.

If you have feedback or a complaint:
If you have a comment or complaint about any aspect of our work, you can contact your local Support Centre by phone, letter, email or in person. The contact details for your local resource centre are available on the website. When writing please give us as much information as possible and let us know how you would like us to respond to you, providing relevant contact details.

Alternatively you can contact:
Mary Conway, Head of Corporate Services,
Family Carers Ireland, Market Square, Tullamore, Co. Offaly
Email: mconway@familycarers.ie
Hours of Business: Monday - Thursday 9.00 am to 5.30 pm; Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm; Closed between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm each day.

What happens next?
If you complain in person or over the phone at our Support Centres or National Office, we will try to resolve the issue there and then. Similarly, if you complain by email or in writing we will always acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days, and do everything we can to resolve it within 30 working days. If this is not possible, we will explain why and provide a new deadline.

What if the complaint is not resolved?
If you are not happy with our response, you may get in touch again by writing to The Head of Operations at: Family Carers Ireland, Market Square, Tullamore, Co. Offaly. The Head of Operations will ensure that your appeal is considered at Executive Management level and will respond within two weeks of this consideration by Executive Management team members.

Alternatively if you are dissatisfied with the outcome your complaint, you can contact the HSE Consumer Affairs Corporate Office. They will examine the request for review and appoint a Review Officer if appropriate to carry out the review of the complaint.

The Review Officer may carry out a new investigation of the complaint or recommend that a local re-investigation of the complaint be carried out by a Designated Officer independent of the initial investigation team.

You can appeal in writing to the HSE at: Consumer Affairs Corporate Office, ‘Request for Review’ HSE, Block 4 Central Business Park, Clonminch, Tullamore, Co. Offaly OR HSE: Head of Consumer Affairs, HSE, Oak House, Millennium Park, Naas Co. Kildare-Telephone: 1890 424 555.

Independent Review:
If you are dissatisfied following the Family Carers Ireland or HSE review, you may seek a review by the Office of the Ombudsman/ Ombudsman for Children:

Office of the Ombudsman - Telephone: 1890 223 030 Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.ie

Office of the Ombudsman for Children - Telephone: 1890 654 654 Email: oco@oco.ie.