Public satisfied with local authority services

The Mayor of Clare has launched the findings of a customer survey issued by Clare County Council to determine the level of satisfaction among members of the public with the services provided by the local authority.
The results of the survey, which was carried out by Clare County Council, indicated a high satisfaction rate among members of the public.
The survey was issued between July and September 2010 as part of an ongoing review of the services the council provides and identified services used by the public as well as the level of satisfaction with these services.
The majority of services availed of by those surveyed was in regards to finance, with nearly 450 of the 500 respondents indicating this was a service they availed of in the last year. The next service most accessed was community services, with just under 250 of the respondents indicating they engaged with this service.
The highest level of dissatisfaction expressed by those surveyed was in the area of road conditions, where 29% said they were very dissatisfied and a further 26% said they were fairly dissatisfied. Illegal dumping was also an area where the public were dissatisfied with 24% equally fairly dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.
Meanwhile, the library service had the highest level of customer satisfaction, with 70% very satisfied and 22% fairly satisfied with the service.
The most popular method of making contact with the council was identified as being through public meetings followed by the council website www.clarecoco.ie. The local media was deemed to be the primary source of information about the services of Clare County Council.
Just 11% of respondents stated that they would avail of a service through Irish.
Launching the survey findings this week, Mayor of Clare Councillor Christy Curtin said the results of the questionnaire were very encouraging and a useful indicator of how the council can further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations.
Over 700 people, of the 2,200 customers issued the survey, completed the questionnaire which was posted on the council website and circulated to each of the council’s public facilities throughout the county. Women represented 56% of those who completed the questionnaire. 37% of the respondents were aged between 30 and 49 and 32% were aged between 50 and 65.
The survey results will be made available on the Clare County Council website at www.clarecoco.ie from later this week.