Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
938. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of allegations of bullying made by departmental staff against departmental staff in each of the past five years, and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if she will detail what actions are being taken by her Department to investigate the allegations, or if they are being investigated. [17804/23]
View answerMy Department is committed to creating a working environment free from bullying, harassment and sexual harassment. All complaints from employees of the Department are treated seriously and managed in accordance with the procedures set out in the Dignity At Work policy, the Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work (S.I. 674 of 2020) and the Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work (2022).
The Dignity at Work policy is the anti-bullying, harassment and sexual harassment policy for the Irish Civil Service. This policy is available to all employees on the Department’s internal information hub, Stór and is publicly available on the gov.ie website.
Training on the Dignity At Work policy is provided through my Department’s Induction course for all new entrants. My Department also raises awareness of the policy at staff fora held as part of the Department’s Staff Engagement Strategy. To mark Workplace Wellbeing Day 2022 my Department recorded a video on Dignity At Work which is available to all staff on the DSP Wellbeing youtube channel.
Officials in my Department’s HR Division engage early with all parties to a complaint to promote the use of informal resolution and mediation, in line with the Dignity at Work policy and best practice. Formal investigations only take place where those methods have been exhausted and if warranted in accordance with the policy.
The number of complaints containing allegations of bullying made by departmental staff against departmental staff in each of the past five years and to date in 2023 is set out in the table below. All of these complaints were fully managed in accordance with the Dignity At Work policy with two resulting in formal investigations carried out by an external workplace investigator.
|
Year |
Allegations of bullying |
|
2018 |
8 |
|
2019 |
9 |
|
2020 |
6 |
|
2021 |
7 |
|
2022 |
5 |
|
2023 to date |
0 |
