Tusla Customer Charter

The Child and Family Agency is the dedicated State agency responsible for improving wellbeing and outcomes for children. It represents the most comprehensive reform of child protection, early intervention and family support services ever undertaken in Ireland.
 

Tusla provides the following range of services, for more detail click on the name of the service you are interested in.

Tusla is committed to continuous learning and quality improvement in the provision of services to children and families, and to providing a professional, efficient and courteous service in accordance with the 12 Guiding Principles of Quality Customer Service (details below) from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - you can read more about the principles here.  

To find out how these principles relate to Tusla, click on the box that names the principle.
 

Our commitments

Tusla is committed to providing services that support and promote the development, welfare, education, and protection of children and young people, the effective functioning of families and the continued care for adults who use our services.

When we engage with you, we will greet you politely and treat you with courtesy and respect, regardless of your gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, or ethnicity.

What you can expect from us

Contacting us

Contact details for our most frequently requested services are provided in section Get in Touch on our website. Local contact details are displayed in our local offices.

Responding to you

Contact by phone

If you phone us:

• we will answer your calls promptly and courteously. If lines are busy, you may be diverted to a voicemail.  If you leave a message a person will return your call promptly
• the staff member will identify themselves and their area of work when answering
• based on the information provided callers will be directed to the correct member of staff/department
• in the event that it is necessary to transfer a caller, the staff member will advise the caller of the reason for the transfer and the name of the individual or department they are being transferred to
• voicemail messages are updated as appropriate to indicate staff availability

Written correspondence

If you contact us by letter or email we will:

• provide clear, timely and accurate replies to all correspondence we receive
• respond in plain English/Irish avoiding, if at all possible, the use of technical terms and jargon

When you make an application to us

We will process your application and respond to you in a timely manner.

Data Protection

Tusla values an individual’s rights and freedoms in respect of privacy and fully complies with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Complaints and Unsolicited Feedback 

We welcome and value our service users' views, suggestions and comments, whether positive or negative, on all aspects of our services. This feedback helps us to identify what we are doing well and to address and rectify any shortcomings so that we can provide you with a better quality service.

We would like you to tell us if you have a comment, compliment or complaint. The section of the website Feedback and Complaints , will give you information about how to give us your feedback and the supports available to you.

Appeals

Separate from a complaint process, Tusla decisions in relation to the following may be appealed or reviewed:

• Home Schooling Application
• Fostering Assessment
• Inspection Report - Early Years Provider
• Child Protection Notification System listing
• Freedom of Information Request
• Data Subject Access Request
• Child Abuse Substantiation Procedure
• Ending of a Fostering Placement

For information on each appeals process please contact the relevant Tusla staff you have been working with.

Service Users with disabilities

We will make every effort to ensure that access to all areas of our premises and to all of our services is available for people with disabilities.

Tusla has access officers to assist people with disabilities accessing our services and those employed in our services.

Visitors to our offices

If you visit us in person, we will:

• treat you in a courteous and respectful manner at all times
• ensure that our reception and meeting facilities are fully accessible to all our service users, comply with health and safety standards, and are maintained to the highest standard

Equality and Diversity

We will respect the principles of equality and the diversity of our service users in the delivery of our services. We have information leaflets about our services available in a range of languages

If you need a translation, signing or interpretation service, our staff will arrange this for you if you give us advance notice.

Acht Na dTeangacha Oifigiula 2003 agus An Ghaeilge | Official Languages Act 2003 and the Irish Language

Táimid tiomanta dár ndualgais faoi Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003  agus an tacht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2021 a chomhlíonadh agus déanfaimid ár ndícheall a chinntiú gur féidir le úsáideoirí seirbhíse ar mian leo a ngnó a dhéanamh linn trí Ghaeilge é sin a dhéanamh. Déanfar ár bhfoilseacháin, de réir mar is cuí, a tháirgeadh i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla

We are committed to meeting our obligations under the Official Languages Act 2003 and the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 and will endeavour to ensure that service users who wish to conduct their business with us through Irish can do so. Our publications will, as appropriate, be produced in both Irish and English.

Information

Websites and publications.  To see our full list of publications click here.

We will:

• Provide and maintain our websites to ensure that they are easily accessible, up-to-date and informative
• Produce publications that are clear, address user needs and are available on our websites
• Publish our Performance and Activity data - click here to see our Performance and Activity data

Choice

Tusla funds many services to provide supports to the public on our behalf including 120 family resource centres across the country

We will communicate with you using your preferred method providing it is consistent with data protection legislation

Consultation and Evaluation

This charter was developed in consultation with families, foster carers , staff from Tusla funded agencies and Tusla staff.

Tusla is committed to dialoguing with people who use our services to understand their needs and their journey through Tusla services. 

Tusla consults with stakeholders when developing our Corporate Plan.

Better Co-ordination

We will endeavour to ensure that our services work in an integrated manner.

We will work collaboratively with other services to make every effort to ensure “that children, young people, families and adult service users have timely and equitable access to integrated services, that enable positive outcomes, that the public trust and that staff feel supported by and have trust in.”

Internal Customers

Our staff are our internal customers. Tusla will focus on the factors that contribute to a positive employee experience to assist us in delivering for children and families in Ireland.  More information for staff is available on the internal Tusla staff hub and in the People & Change Strategy.

How you can help us help you

We understand that engaging with Tusla Services may be occurring at a demanding time in your life; however, we ask that where possible please;

• Be on time for appointments
• Let us know if you cannot keep an appointment with us
• Let us know of any changes of address, telephone number or email
• Tell us in advance if you need a translation, signing or interpretation service
• Treat our staff and other people who use our services with courtesy and respect. Behaviour that is physically or psychologically abusive or threatening to our staff or other people who use our services is not acceptable

Action Plans

Tusla’s Action Plans are its Corporate Plan and yearly Business Plan, which are available by clicking the links below:

For More Information about Tusla visit our website www.tusla.ie

This charter was developed in consultation with families, foster carers, staff from Tusla funded agencies and Tusla staff.