Dan Neville
Ceist:1269 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Defence the number of Defence Force members who reported sick and unfit for duty due to work related stress for 2003 and 2004. [1286/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 26 January 2005
Ceisteanna (1206)
Freagraí scríofa
The military authorities advise that the information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in either electronic or paper format. Such information could only be obtained from the existing medical records of individual personnel by examining all sick reports on their files for 2003 and 2004 in order to identify those recorded as suffering from stress or stress related illnesses. It would then be necessary to examine the individual clinical records of each of these people to discover whether there might be any work related matter contributing to their condition. This task would involve an inordinate amount of time and resources.
The Defence Forces have a comprehensive protocol for training in stress management and for the conduct of after incident stress debriefs. In addition to the professional services of Medical Corps personnel, the Defence Forces have 33 personnel trained in stress management by the Stress Management Institute, Dublin. Stress awareness programmes are conducted for military personnel prior to their departure for overseas service. Suitably trained personnel also travel with a medical officer to overseas units to conduct stress briefing for personnel, prior to their repatriation from overseas service. With regard to critical incident stress management, there are currently some 30 personnel trained in critical incident stress management (CISM) in the Defence Forces. Their training is based on training received from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.