asked the Minister for Labour in view of the widespread concern with regard to the problem of absenteeism in employment the action he intends to take to encourage an improvement in the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Absenteeism in Employment.
24.
As the Deputy will be aware, a ministerial task force was set up in 1983 to examine the problem of absenteeism. The task force reported to the Government earlier this year. The Government considered the report and took decisions on a range of initiatives to be pursued at national level. Details of these initiatives were set out in a press statement which the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism released on 29 September 1985. I will send the Deputy a copy of the statement and he will see from it that the issue of absenteeism impinges on the responsibilities of a number of Departments of State, Government agencies and other organisations.
I must stress that the resolution of problems of absenteeism is primarily a management responsibility which is best tackled at the level of the firm. It is hoped that the inititatives to be pursued by the Government will have positive effects but they are no substitute for effective action on absenteeism control in the workplace.
Does the Minister's Department hope to mount a campaign to educate managers into taking positive action to curtail absenteeism in industry or indeed in the public service where it also applies?
The Deputy is aware of the recommendations in the report and that a special role for the Irish Productivity Centre to promote measures to reduce absenteeism has been recommended. That body are under the control of the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism and, from the point of view of the Department of Labour, they seem to be the ideal body to be concerned with productivity of which absenteeism is clearly a very direct relevant factor. They are the body between the trade unions on the one hand and the employers on the other in the private or public sector and are best qualified to deal with it. I stress my support for the recommendation in the reply here and the report itself that absenteeism can best be tackled at management level. They need encouragement and assistance from Government agencies and it is our intention that the Departments of Social Welfare and Finance and the Irish Productivity Centre should assist in the matter.
I agree with the Minister that we should do everything by way of encouragement and assistance in the matter. Will the Minister not accept that it seems unfair that a person in the public sector who never misses a day's work should get the same pay, conditions and superannuation benefits as a person who misses a number of days for whatever reason? Will the Minister consider, in conjunction with the Minister for the Public Service, having some incentive for people who do not absent themselves from work?
Obviously that matter is more appropriate for the Department of the Public Service.
When I asked that Minister he said he did not know about absenteeism in the public service.
The White Paper on the Public Service published recently by the Government makes provision for the recognition of merit. In so far as industry in other areas has made provision for financial reward for good time keeping and a high rate of attendance, there is no logical reason why the same arguments could not be availed of in the public service.