Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I thank the Minister for his answer. Will he accept that the sick leave rate in his Department is relatively high within the public service outside of the Prison Service? One of the factors to explain this might be the fact that Department staff must deal with the public, who themselves are sometimes in distressed states, which would cause the staff a great deal of stress.

What support structures does the Minister feel confident exist already, and what structures is he considering putting in place which would help minimise worker stress levels which result in this level of sick leave in his Department? Is there any general discussion among his officials with regard to tackling the levels of sick leave, which seem to be static over the past few years?

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