Our Service Users’ Charter

Service Users' Charter PDF

How to make a complaint about a member of staff

We provide a range of services in accordance with the provisions of four pieces of legislation for which the Standards in Public Office Commission is responsible:

  • Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001;
  • Electoral Act 1997 (as amended);
  • Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014; and  
  • Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015.

 

The services we provide include:

Ethics Acts

  • publish guidelines and provide advice on compliance with the legislation;
  • administer the disclosure of interests and tax clearance regimes;
  • investigate possible contraventions of the legislation;

Electoral Acts

  • publish guidelines and provide advice on compliance with the legislation;
  • administer and report on regulatory regimes for disclosure of political donations, election expenses, state financing of political parties and the registration of “third parties”;
  • conduct enquiries as necessary;

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices)(Amendment) Act

  • administer and report on expenditure of the parliamentary activities allowance;

Regulation of Lobbying Act

  • maintain an online lobbying register;
  • monitor compliance with registration and return provisions;
  • make decisions under certain provisions of the Act;
  • implement and maintain a code of conduct for persons lobbying;
  • provide guidance and assistance; and
  • investigate and pursue contraventions of the legislation.  

Our work requires engagement with various stakeholders that include:

  • Ministers/Ministers of State
  • Members of the Oireachtas, i.e. TDs and Senators
  • Irish MEPs
  • Special Advisors to Ministers
  • Political Parties/Candidates
  • Local Authority elected officials and staff
  • Persons in designated positions and directorships in the civil and public service
  • Third parties
  • Corporate donors
  • Persons lobbying
  • Members of the public

Our Service Users’ Charter sets out what you can expect from us when you contact the Commission.

Contact by telephone

  • If you contact us by phone we will:
  • · Answer your call promptly
  • · Give you our name when we answer your call
  • · Be courteous and helpful to you at all times
  • · Answer your query in full
  • · If we cannot do so immediately, we will take your details and call you back as soon as possible
  • · Respond to all voicemail messages promptly

Written correspondence

If you send us a letter, email or online enquiry we will:

  • Acknowledge your correspondence within five to six working days
  • Ensure you receive a full reply to your written correspondence within 28 days. If we are unable to meet this deadline, we will contact you to explain why and let you know when to expect a full response
  • Give a contact name and contact details
  • Write to you in simple and clear language and avoid using technical terms

Visitors to the Office/Outreach events

If you visit us in person we will:

  • Treat you with courtesy, respect your privacy and be fair in our dealings with you
  • Meet you at the agreed time if you have an appointment
  • Provide appropriate facilities for meetings
  • Keep our public offices clean and tidy and ensure that they meet health and safety standards

Service through Irish

We will assist people who wish to carry out their business with us through Irish

  • Correspondence received in Irish will be answered in Irish
  • We will publish key documents including our Annual Reports in Irish and English
  • We will ensure that information leaflets aimed at the public are available in both Irish and English
  • An Irish version of our website will mirror as far as practicable the English version
  • We will meet our other commitments under the Official Languages Act 2003 and the Commission’s Official Languages Scheme as published on our website

Equality / Diversity / Disability / Privacy

  • We commit to dealing with you without discrimination or prejudice
  • We will respect equality and human rights in accordance with Public Sector Duty principles
  • We will aim to have our services and facilities easily available and accessible to you
  • We will respect your right to privacy

The contact email for our Access Officer under the Disability Act is: accessofficer@sipo.ie

Staff Complaints

We have a policy for handling complaints against members of staff, which is available on our website. You can also ask for details by contacting us directly.

Help us to help you

You can help us to give you a high quality service:

  • Please state your complaint as clearly and as concisely as you can
  • Please send us copies of relevant documents when submitting your complaint
  • Treat our staff and our service with respect
  • Make comments or suggestions about the service you receive

Consultation and feedback

We are always interested to hear suggestions on how we can improve our service. If you would like to comment or make a suggestion please e-mail info@sipo.ie

Where to get more information

This document is available on our website www.sipo.ie. You can also find details of our other activities, policies and contact information on our website.

Where to find us

Our full contact details are available on the “Contact” webpage.

Our address is Standards in Public Office Commission, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773. The Office is open Monday to Friday between 9.15 am and 5.00 pm.

 

Phone: Sipo +353 1 639 5666

Lobbying +353 1 6395722

Email: Sipo enquiries info@sipo.ie

Ethics and Electoral complaints complaints@sipo.ie

Lobbying enquiries info@lobbying.ie

 

FOI officer: foi@sipo.ie

Data protection officer: dataprotection@ombudsman.ie