Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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276. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the shared model for Civil Service training and development includes suicide prevention training for Civil Service staff; if so, if such training is mandatory, and if not, if he will make such training mandatory with the provision of a refresher online course available to staff to be completed every three years thereafter. [45652/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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OneLearning, the new Learning and Development Centre for the Civil Service, is responsible for providing Civil Service Core Training.  As a newly established organisation OneLearning is in the process of developing appropriate training modules for all Civil Servants and making these available on an incremental basis.

While specific suicide prevention training for civil service staff is not currently provided, relevant training is provided across training modules dealing with people management, building resilience and customer service.  Training content in these modules provides Civil Servants with:

- Awareness of the tools to build and strengthen personal resilience

- A professional approach in handling challenging customer service situations, and

- An understanding of the support available from HR Units in Civil Service organisations and the Civil Service Employee Assistance Service (CSEAS). 

The CSEAS is the internal Employee Assistance Program for the Civil Service, it operates on a regional basis under central management in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and is an important shared service element of the human resource structure in the Irish Civil Service. It plays a key part in an ethos of promoting employee wellness and organisational effectiveness. The CSEAS provides a wide range of free and confidential supports to staff and management designed to assist employees to manage work and life difficulties.  This includes information for those in suicidal distress and those who have been affected by suicide.

OneLearning will continue to work with CSEAS to ensure that the training developed for Civil Servants is relevant and provides awareness of the tools and supports available to those who may be experiencing  issues with their mental health.