asked the Minister for the Public Service if, in view of the fact that messengers employed in Government Departments at present work a 44 hour week, which is well above the national average, he has any plans for reducing their working week.
Written Answers. - Departmental Messengers.
43.
The grade of messenger in the Civil Service has a gross working week of 44 hours. The normal lunch break for messengers is 1¼ hours a day which means that their nett working hours are 37¾ hours a week. I do not accept that this is well above the national average. On the contrary, the present working hours of messengers compare favourably with the hours of similar workers in other areas of the public and private sectors. I have no plans to reduce the present working week of messengers.