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Customer Complaints and Appeals

How to submit a complaint or appeal about a Council service or decision, and what to expect from the process.

Galway County Council’s Customer Charter commits to providing a transparent and simple-to-use complaints and appeals procedure to address your issues. Details of this procedure are available at all public service counters and on our website.

Galway County Council treats complaints and appeals seriously and aims to address them promptly and confidentially. Our strategy focuses on learning from situations where a service is inconsistent or does not operate as expected.

What is a Complaint?

A complaint is when you inform us that you are dissatisfied with the quality of a service we provide. It could be about anything, including:

  • When we do not deliver a satisfactory service.
  • When we provide incorrect information.
  • When you receive a poor quality or below-standard service.
  • When you are unhappy with the quality of service provided by a member of staff.

There is a difference between making a complaint and reporting a fault. For example, reporting a pothole is reporting a fault. It only becomes a complaint if the promised action does not materialise.

What is an Appeal? 

An appeal is made regarding a specific decision by Galway County Council concerning the provision of a service or entitlement to a service.

Who can make a complaint or an appeal? 

Any customer can make a complaint or an appeal. This includes any person, business, organisation, or association that has a reason to contact and deal with us.

When does this procedure not apply? 

There are some areas excluded from the complaints procedure. The complaints procedure does not apply to decisions based on legislation or adopted policies, such as:

Such requests should be made to:

Freedom of Information Officer (FOI) Corporate Services, Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway Email: foi@galwaycoco.ie

Access to Information on the Environment Officer (AIE) Corporate Services, Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway Email: aie@galwaycoco.ie

Data Protection Officer (DPO), Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway Email: dpo@galwaycoco.ie

How to make a complaint

Complaints Process 

Informal complaint – Step 1 

You can bring your complaint to the attention of the staff member you are dealing with in the relevant unit for immediate resolution. You may also ask to speak to the Line Manager in that unit. If the Line Manager is unavailable, you may ask to speak to the Customer Services Officer for that unit.

Formal complaint - Step 2

If you have spoken to the relevant officer about your complaint and they have not been able to resolve it, or you are not satisfied with the result, the next step is to make a formal complaint. You can submit a written complaint to the Customer Services Officer for that unit. You may use our Customer Complaint Form (appendix (i)), available at all public customer service counters or on our website.

Written Complaints can be made as follows: 

  • By Post to the relevant section you may use our downloadable complaint form
  • By email to customerservices@galwaycoco.ie
  • Online by using our online Customer Comment System at our contact us web form.

Your complaint will be fully investigated, and a response will be issued within fifteen working days.

How to make an appeal

You can submit a written appeal to the Unit which issued the decision to you. 

You can do this as follows: 

  • By Post to the relevant unit
  • By email to customersservices@galwaycoco.ie
  • On-Line by using our Customer Comment comment System

If you are unhappy with response provided 

If the complaint or appeal is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may inform the Customer Services Officer in that section in writing. It will be referred to a nominated Senior Officer in that unit for review. In the case of an appeal, it will be referred to a nominated Senior Officer within that unit who was not directly involved in the original decision.

If you are still unhappy 

If you are still unhappy with our response, you can contact the Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is fair, independent, and free to use. The Ombudsman will ask for details of your complaint and a copy of our final response to your complaint.

The best way to contact the Ombudsman is by:

 You can also:

  • Write to the Ombudsman at: 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773
  • Call the Ombudsman on 01 639 5600 if you have any queries

The Ombudsman will not normally investigate a complaint unless the internal complaints procedure has been exhausted. 

 

Complaints and Appeals under the Disability Act, 2005

Customers can use our Complaints Form to file a complaint under the Disability Act 2005. 

Please submit this to:  Access Officer Corporate Services, Galway County Council, Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway. Phone: 091-509225 Email: accessofficer@galwaycoco.ie

An appeal regarding any decision in relation to a complaint under the Disability Act 2005 can be made to the Office of the Ombudsman, as detailed above.

Requests for information or assistance in an alternative format can also be made by contacting our Access Officer or using the request form. 

 

Contact our Customer Service Team

Address

Customer Service
Áras an Chontae
Prospect Hill
Co. Galway
H91 H6KX

Phone numbers

Phone
091 509000

Office hours

Sunday Closed
Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday Closed