Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome. This is my first time to address her in the Chamber. As I told her privately yesterday, she has taken on a tough portfolio and I wish her the best with it.

Research produced by the ESRI last year indicated that workers exposed to bullying and harassment showed high levels of mental distress, anxiety and ill health.There is ample anecdotal evidence that at least one in ten workers experience bullying leading to episodes of low self-esteem, anxiety and even suicide.

While much work has been done by organisations in drawing up and implementing dignity at work policies, I believe there is an epidemic of workplace bullying the likes of which has never been seen here previously. Last year, I hosted a series of meetings with individual workers who related horror stories to me of bullying incidents and the associated impact on their mental health. Paragraph 5 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 (Code of Practice Detailing Procedures for Addressing Bullying in the Workplace) (Declaration) Order 2002 describes bullying.

There is a huge difference between robust management and bullying in the workplace. I recall that during my time as president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland a colleague contacted me to tell me they were suffering horrendous bullying over their timekeeping. When I asked what the problem was with their timekeeping they said, "Well, I am usually in by 9.05", to which I replied that that was not really bullying but a management issue. That is what it is all about.

I have looked into the eyes of the cowardly bullies. I have seen the bullies first-hand, and the way they work. They take the individual and destroy them psychologically. They break them down bit by bit until they become a shadow of their former selves. It is in the loneliness of that existence that I raise this issue in a debate on mental health. It is when one is in one's sitting room, bedroom or dining room at 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning looking into the darkness and wondering why one has found oneself in this position. Usually, those who suffer from what I call character and personality assassination are the strongest, best workers one will find. They are the most innovative and friendly on the staff. They are the ones who are held in the highest esteem by colleagues, yet they are the ones who are broken down.

Only last week a person came to see me. It took him two years to realise what was happening to him, and it involved sly remarks such as "We've heard enough from you, John; we don't need to hear any more" or "John, don't attend the next meeting; we don't need you" or "John, would you stop trying to make out that that job you're doing for us is the greatest thing that ever happened". That is what slowly brings a person down. Sadly, I have experienced two examples of that in my lifetime. I am convinced to this day those people took their own lives for one reason only - they had been broken by the managers they worked with, and I mean they were destroyed by them.

Currently, there is only a civil redress option for those affected by workplace bullying but within the criminal justice system there is legislation entitled the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. We are crossing into two Departments here, and probably three and four - perhaps we should look across all Departments - but when we talk about bullying and the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act the Minister of State might work with her colleague, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform. We must put bullying onto this footing. All of us talk about managing bullying among children in schools. Yesterday, we had statements on the murder of the MP, Joe Cox. Politicians in this House and in the Dáil, from all parties and none, related stories of the horrendous treatment they are getting online including telephone calls or people coming into their offices and pounding the table. That in itself is a form of bullying. It is time we took the bully out of the equation and became a bully-free society that will not tolerate that type of attack on an individual.

Every person has a right to their dignity. Every person has a right to do what it is they believe is the best by way of their work, their contribution to society or whatever else, yet we have those who would seek to destroy, and I am not talking about physical destruction but the mental destruction that takes place. While it crosses a number of Departments, the Minister of State can take the lead on this issue and offer those who are suffering this type of horrendous treatment a lifeline by saying she will take an interest in bullying in the workplace and its effect on the mental health of the people. If she does that, she will do the greatest service that has ever been done to those suffering from this horrendous condition. I thank the Minister of State for her time.