Seán Ó Fearghaíl
Ceist:78 Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will respond to points raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46686/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 9 December 2010
Ceisteanna (55)
Freagraí scríofa
On 1st November, there were 967 staff in my Department participating in the work sharing scheme, 926 of whom are female and 41 are male. This is 18.5% of the Department's staff.
All applications for participation in the scheme are considered in the context of the operating requirements of individual business units and of the Department as a whole. While all reasonable efforts are made to facilitate requests from staff to participate in the work sharing scheme, it is not always possible to approve such requests as regard has to be had to the Department's obligations to provide an acceptable level of service to its customers.
The operation of the work sharing scheme does not assist the Department in complying with its employment control framework or associated funding, nor does it make it more difficult to do so. The operation of the scheme is entirely neutral with regard to those matters. For example, two people working half-time count the same under the employment control framework as one full-time person.
In circumstances where an individual Department is in excess of its agreed total staffing and is seeking to reduce numbers, granting work-sharing applications without replacing the hours of work lost would of course contribute to achieving a reduction. My Department is not in that position. The number of staff employed in my Department has increased in recent years, mainly through redeployment from other Departments. This was done in response to the greatly increased workloads arising as a result of the economic downturn and the total number of staff currently employed by my Department is at its employment control framework total.
I wish to assure the Deputy that my Department fully implements civil service policies on gender equality and work/life balance and it has appropriate monitoring and training arrangements in place in that regard. There is absolutely no question of gender being taken into account when staff apply to change their work attendance pattern. The fact that the vast majority of people availing of work sharing are female is simply because the vast majority of applications are from female members of staff, reflecting the life choices made by the Department's staff, both male and female. In that regard, I would point out that 69% of the Department's staff are female. My Department does not regard this statistical outcome as a matter that requires some initiative to redress.