Letter: ​If you want Stormont departments to get more work done, stop asking so many questions

The number of emails, phone calls, Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, complaints and general enquiries is endless.

How can these departments possibly get any work done when so much of their officers’ time is spent responding to numerous queries, instead of getting on with fixing the potholes or approving planning applications for new housing schemes or factories?

There is already an online DfI website where potholes and road defects can be reported automatically, so there's no need to contact the roads department.

Councillors and MLAs can’t escape criticism either (and I should know, as I used to be a councillor!). The deluge of correspondence coming from our elected representatives would win a prize for the sheer volume of emails and phone calls.

I suspect that no one really thinks about this. After all, when we personally have a problem, it’s just one query or one complaint that we are lodging, and that couldn’t possibly take up much time from our well-paid civil servants.

However, the reality is quite different. The combined burden of these phone calls and emails takes up an enormous amount of officers’ time.

Another issue is the volume of Freedom of Information requests submitted in Northern Ireland. I don’t have exact figures, but if it’s anything like the number of general queries, I am quite sure the total is astronomical.

The FoI system is an important tool for holding departments accountable but if it is overused or abused, it becomes counterproductive in terms of getting things done.

In summary: if you want departments at Stormont to fix your potholes faster, want your refuse collected more efficiently, or want to reduce your council rates, stop complaining so much – and stop asking departments so many questions!

Brian Pope, chartered civil engineer, Banbridge