Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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405. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department and public bodies and agencies under her remit that operate in direct contact with members of the public have policies in place for members of the public to report instances of sexual harassment or assault that occur on the property of her Department or public body or agency under her remit; if so, if these policies are publicly accessible on the relevant website; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31750/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In line with the general policy across the Civil Service, my Department aims to promote respect, dignity, safety, and equality in the workplace. This policy applies equally to persons working in my Department and members of the public who need to attend at offices of the Department. My Department is clear that that all forms of bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment are unacceptable. Both staff and the public have a duty to behave in an acceptable and respectful manner while attending the Department’s offices. My Department’s Customer Charter, which is available on Gov.ie, commits my Department to ensuring that our public offices are fully accessible for all and comply with Health and Safety standards. This includes ensuring zero tolerance for instances of sexual harassment or assault.

As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has a number of offices that operate in direct contact with members of the public. In that regard, internal policies and guidelines are in place for all staff regarding how to best assist distressed customers and in relation to dealing with and reporting health and safety incidents of all kinds, including reports of sexual harassment or assault that might occur in our offices.

In addition, officials of my Department will act on any reports they receive of alleged abuse of customers, consulting or involving as appropriate other relevant agencies such as the HSE or An Garda Siochána and in conjunction with National Policies and Procedures such as ‘Safeguarding Vulnerable Persons at Risk of Abuse’ and ‘Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children’. Where staff observe individuals behaving in an unacceptable manner in an office they will also take immediate action.

Customers also have the facility to register complaints, either directly with a staff member or by email, and details in this regard are also available on my Department’s website.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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406. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under her remit have policies in place for employees to report instances of sexual harassment or assault that occur involving other employees or members of the public or on the property of her Department or each public body or agency that operate under her remit; if so, if these policies are publicly accessible on the relevant website; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31769/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Dignity at Work policy is the anti-bullying, harassment and sexual harassment policy for the Irish Civil Service. This policy came into effect on 20th February 2015. The Dignity At Work policy is available to all employees on the Department’s intranet site, Stór and is publicly available on the gov.ie website.

My Department is committed to creating a working environment free from bullying, harassment and sexual harassment. Complaints from employees of the Department made under the Dignity at Work policy are treated seriously and managed in accordance with the procedures set out in the policy and in the Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work (SI 674 of 2020) and the Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work (published this year by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission).

My Department also provides support and guidance for employees who wish to report instances of any type of mistreatment by members of the public. This guidance includes clear procedures for managers on how to deal with such instances and is set out in office notices titled '04/2018 Mistreatment of DSP staff by members of the public' and '08/2022 Social Media and Health and Safety Guidelines'. Both of these documents are internally available to all employees on the Department’s intranet site.

Agencies operating under the remit of the Department have similar policies and procedures in place. The Citizens Information Board policy is available internally to its employees on their intranet site and the Pensions Authority policy is available internally to its employees as part of the Pensions Authority Employee Handbook.