The Irish Mail on Sunday

Dept of Social Protection and Dublin council top the list for staff f irings

- By Ken Foxe news@mailonsund­ay.ie

JUST two State organisati­ons accounted for more than half of all firings disclosed since the start of 2016: Dublin City Council and the Department of Social Protection.

A dozen employees have been sacked and a further three suspended from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection since the start of 2016.

The department also had 20 cases of bullying or sexual harrassmen­t in 2016 and 2017.

Those dismissed were fired for ‘serious misconduct’. The suspension­s involved investigat­ions into similar alleged cases of misconduct.

Six staff fired for ‘gross misconduct’

Meanwhile, 16 staff were sacked by Dublin City Council. Of these, 14 were sacked for failing to ‘provide regular uninterrup­ted service’, one was for gross misconduct, and one was for failing to return after a career break.

A survey of 31 councils nationwide and 17 Government department­s through Freedom of Informatio­n requests has revealed that 50 people have lost their jobs in that period.

More than 90 complaints of bullying and five of sexual harassment were received.

Social Protection refused to give details on how many cases of bullying or sexual harassment there had been this year, saying it would affect its management of industrial relations.

The capital’s main local authority had by far the most disciplina­ry activity of the 48 public bodies examined, all of which were asked to provide, under the FoI, details of all sackings, suspension­s, bullying and sexual harassment cases since January 1, 2016.

Eight people were also suspended by the council over the past two years, including six for ‘gross misconduct’. It also dealt with seven complaints of bullying and two of sexual harassment.

Several local authoritie­s and Government department­s refused to provide details of how many employees had faced serious disciplina­ry action. One of them, Roscommon County Council, said providing the detail could have a ‘significan­t adverse effect’ on its ability to manage staff.

The Department of Finance also declined to provide details on suspension­s and bullying, saying the public interest in preserving the privacy of the people involved outweighed the public’s right to know.

The Department of Foreign Affairs investigat­ed four complaints of bullying or sexual harassment, which resulted in disciplina­ry action against one officer.

Three Government department­s recorded no sackings, bullying, sexual harassment, or suspension­s over the past two and a half years.

Reporting a clean bill of health were the Department of Transport, the Department of Children and the Department of Rural and Community Developmen­t, which was formed last July.

Several others – including the Department­s of the Taoiseach, Public Expenditur­e and Culture – had no major disciplina­ry events to report.

Two department­s, Justice and Health, said they had each dealt with a complaint of sexual harassment.

A relatively high number of bullying complaints were recorded by Cork County Council, with 13 such complaints made over the period.

The council said these issues were dealt with under its ‘dignity at work’ policy and it did not break down figures of which, if any, involved sexual harassment.

Three department­s recorded no sackings

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