department of social and family affairs annual report 2006 - Welfare.ie

More documents

Recommendations

Info

John Hynes, Secretary-General and Bernadette Lacey, Director General with Mairéad Nic Con Iomaire and Angela Torsney who received the INPUT Idea of the Year award 2006. (not present: Mary Holmes) commencing in March/April 2007. An evaluation of the pilots will be followed by a phased roll-out of the system to other offices of the Department, commencing later in 2007. > Staff merit awards There are two such award systems in the Department at present: a) Fiúntas - Employee Recognition Scheme The Fiuntas Scheme is an exceptional performance award scheme whose purpose is to increase staff motivation, to recognise exceptional performance and to encourage fresh input and foster a climate of change. In 2006 a total of 126 awards were made to 53 individuals and 73 teams across a wide number of areas of the Department. while a further 53 suggestions, dating from previous years, also received awards. The annual INPUT Awards ceremony was held on 7 December. The “Idea of Year” for 2006, which attracts a bonus award of €750, went to three staff of the Pensions Services Office in Sligo who proposed a number of improvements to the application process for the Blind Person’s Pension Scheme. Award certificates were presented to the winners by the Secretary General. > OBJECTIVE 2 Provide a positive working environment and, in line with equality legislation, promote equality of opportunity for all employees of the Department. b) Input Award Scheme In 2006, a total of 337 suggestions were received under the INPUT scheme. This represents an increase of 20% over the total number of suggestions received in 2005. Of these, 307 were deemed to be valid and 30 were still under consideration at the end of the year. 22 of the valid suggestions received awards during 2006 > The Employee Assistance Service (EAS) The coordination of the Department’s Employee Assistance Service with other Health and Welfare areas, arising from a reorganisation of Personnel functions and areas of responsibility during 2006, will facilitate a more focused approach to annual report 2006 63
goal 6: the department and its staff employee welfare generally. The usage of the Employee Assistance Service during 2006 at over 12% remains high and consistent with average usage over the preceding years. A positive feature of the Service is that over 80% of staff who make contact do so by self-referral. In this regard it is hoped to develop the Service further by the availing of technology developments such as an intranet website providing a wide range of health and welfare information to staff in a speedy and easily accessible way. > Anti-harassment, sexual harassment and bullying policy ‘A Positive Working Environment’ is the Civil Service policy for dealing with harassment, sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace. It applies to all staff working in departments and offices, including staff on contract. The original policy was introduced in July 2000. A revised version of the Policy was published in September 2005. The Policy was revised to reflect subsequent developments at national and EU level as well as taking on board the experience gained in the civil service in the operation of the policy. A copy of the revised policy was issued to all staff in September 2005. The revised policy places a greater emphasis on formal mediation as the preferred means of resolving allegations of this nature rather than the full investigation process. A number of mediators are being trained to assist in this. Information in regard to dealing with allegations of bullying and harassment is also given on departmental management training courses. Seminars to raise awareness and knowledge of the whole area of bullying and harassment have been held for staff. During 2006, a number of awareness raising information sessions on the subject of the Positive Working Environment Policy and the experience of the Department to date of the policy were delivered. Approximately 600 staff drawn from across the Department were involved. The response from the staff regarding these sessions has been very positive. Further initiatives in this area are in preparation. > Health Promotion Programme During the year the Department developed and introduced a number of health promotion initiatives. Following research, a voluntary and subsidised health screening programme was developed and implemented. Approximately 1,500 staff participated in the programme. Allied to this the Department continued to provide information to staff about health and lifestyle issues. Advice on the specific area of stress management was provided through a number of channels; training programmes, information talks and related material. > Promotion of work-life balance for employees The continued support of work/life balance initiatives in the Department, has proven to be a very positive factor in the overall retention policy. The Department has a record of promoting and implementing a range of work-life balance arrangements which allow people to balance work and other responsibilities in a way which suits their circumstances. At the end of 2006 23% of staff were worksharing and 420 staff availed of the term time scheme. The Department’s aim is to operate these arrangements in a fair and reasonable way and to the greatest extent possible, taking into account the imperative to always provide a high standard of service to the public. > Equality and diversity policies In line with the Civil Service Gender and Diversity Policies and its own published commitments the Department is developing a range of initiatives aimed at increasing staff awareness of equality issues as they apply across the broad HR agenda. The implementation of the Department’s Gender Equality Action Plan (based on the Civil Service Gender Equality Policy) continued during the year. A review of the implementation of the Plan will be produced early in 2007. 64
Page 1 and 2:
department of social and family aff
Page 3 and 4:
annual report 2006 0
Page 5 and 6:
Introduction from the Secretary-Gen
Page 7 and 8:
the department - its business and o
Page 9 and 10:
Statutory Agencies There are five o
Page 11 and 12:
2006 in review 2006 - year in revie
Page 13 and 14: - to introduce a Personal Advocacy
Page 15 and 16: 2006 - year in review 14
Page 17 and 18: the department’s goals > Goal 1:
Page 19 and 20: goal 1: retired and older people To
Page 21 and 22: Government is committed to respondi
Page 23 and 24: goal 1: retired and older people 22
Page 25 and 26: goal 2: people of working age To pr
Page 27 and 28: As part of Budget 2006, periods spe
Page 29 and 30: This project has been developed and
Page 31 and 32: Initiatives introduced in 2006 unde
Page 33 and 34: Appendix to Chapter 5 > Development
Page 35 and 36: Goal 2: people of working age 34
Page 37 and 38: Goal 3: children To ensure the well
Page 39 and 40: Ending Child Poverty Special Initia
Page 41 and 42: goal 4: coverage, access and entitl
Page 45 and 46: OBJECTIVE 7 Provide a satisfactory
Page 49 and 50: f) Debt Recovery Considerable effor
Page 53 and 54: goal 5: poverty, social inclusion a
Page 59 and 60: • An emphasis on practical, budg
Page 63: goal 6: the department and its staf
Page 67 and 68: formal training courses, SDU contin
Page 69 and 70: Governance and Management of Resour
Page 71 and 72: goal 6: the department and its staf
Page 73 and 74: improvement programme. This include
Page 75 and 76: submissions from representative gro
Page 77 and 78: appendices Appendix 1: Status Repor
Page 79 and 80: Appendix 2: Summary Of DSFA Budget
Page 81 and 82: Appendix 2: Summary of DSFA Budget
Page 83 and 84: Appendix 2: Summary of DSFA Budget
Page 85 and 86: Appendix 3: Expenditure on Social W
Page 87 and 88: APPENDIX 4: LEGISLATION ENACTED IN
Page 89 and 90: S.I. 169 of 2006 SOCIAL WELFARE LAW
Page 91 and 92: appendices These Regulations retain
Page 93 and 94: appendices for the purposes of impl
Page 95 and 96: S.I. No. 497 of 2006 SOCIAL WELFARE
Page 97 and 98: Regulations currently provide that
Page 99 and 100: (b) refrain from behaviour which is
Page 101 and 102: Improving our telephone answering s
Page 103 and 104: appendices APPENDIX 6: PUBLIC PROCU
Page 105 and 106: Appendix 7: Scheme Name Changes In
Page 107 and 108: appendices 106
Page 109 and 110: Appendix 10: Ministers In Charge Of
show all

department of social and family affairs annual report 2006 - Welfare.ie

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?