Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

In fairness, people appreciate and most of the people who interact with the Department will appreciate the sheer escalation and volume of activity that staff have had to deal with in the past four to five years. There is an increase in the numbers presenting and the type of interaction we have now is different from the interaction we would have had previously because not alone are we providing income support but we are also trying to assist people through activation services into employment. One is dealing with people who can often be in very difficult circumstances. That is stressful. Obviously many of our staff work on the front line. We have a high proportion of staff who are absent on stress relative to other Departments. It is the nature of the activity in which they are involved.