Joan Freeman (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to draw attention to mental health in the workplace, especially following the VHI report on mental health in the corporate workplace. The VHI released a study during the summer called Mind Matters, which examined mental health and resilience in corporate workplaces in Ireland. One in five corporate employees feels extremely or very stressed and this increases to one in four in the cohort aged 34 years and under. One in five employees has missed work in the past year due to stress, anxiety or depression.Half of those surveyed feel the need to disguise the stress they are under at work in order to maintain their career prospects. These are troubling figures. Just 16% of those surveyed said they were extremely satisfied with their lives, whereas 21% of people - essentially one in five - are extremely or very stressed. In a recent case, a business executive who had been required to deal with out-of-hours work emails, including some at midnight, was awarded €7,500. This shows that technology in the workplace can increase the pressure on workers. In many cases, this compounds the plight of workers who are terrified about not being able to pay their rent or make their mortgage repayments.

Many staff in this building know about the toll that workplace stress can take on employees' mental health. I am asking the Seanad, and the Oireachtas as a whole, to show an example to employees here by taking up some of the advice of the VHI expert group. For example, the expert group has suggested that resilience training should be provided to maintain employees' mental health. I feel strongly that there should be flexible options. I recently stayed in an apartment in town that overlooks some offices. I was horrified to see people working until all times of the day and night. The reality is that there is no flexibility, especially for young people and young parents. I suggest that we should be showing flexibility to Oireachtas employees, for example by enabling them to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. In some cases, they have to work until 10 p.m. We should ensure their working conditions and working hours are flexible. I think we should show an example. I would be more than happy to talk about these issues with the human resources people in Leinster House.