Government departments paid out €153,500 in compensation to staff over claims of bullying in the last five years.
The Department of Education paid out €50,000 to one staff member in the department over an allegation of bullying, and the Department of Justice made one payout of €22,500 to a staff member over bullying allegations in 2014.
The Department of Agriculture has paid out €81,000 in compensation claims to two members of staff who allege they were bullied in the workplace.
The figures on the amount paid out by Government departments were obtained by Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins after a series of parliamentary questions.
The Department of Finance revealed it made a settlement with a member of staff over bullying allegations, but the department stated “there is a legal obligation not to disclose the amount paid in compensation due to a confidentiality agreement”.
The Department of Defence, which answers to the Taoiseach, also confirmed it settled one case of alleged bullying and harassment of a civilian member of staff in 2015, and the amount awarded in the settlement was confidential.
Mr Collins said the fact that half of the total HR payouts for bullying allegations came from the Department of Agriculture was “concerning”.
“The relevant line Minister should investigate the manner of these cases of severe bullying, and whether there is a particular trend, and if so, deal appropriately with it. While it’s heartening that each department and State agency has anti-bullying policies in place, it’s clear that bullying is still taking place based on the fact that payouts were awarded,” he said.
Deep distress
“These are, I would assume, the tip of the iceberg. There may be many more bullying cases across Government that, while they didn’t result in a payout being made, caused deep distress to the staff member on the receiving end of the harassment.”
“There can be no tolerance of bullying in the workplace. If the State has been forced to pay compensation, then there is a problem” Mr Collins said.
Additionally the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht outlined that a State body under its remit, Waterways Ireland, had paid out a settlement of €80,000 to a member of staff over bullying claims in 2015. The State body is in charge of managing Ireland’s inland waterway and rivers.
The Office of Public Works made a series of payments totalling €4,100 to compensate several members of staff for delays in processing anti-bullying complaints over the last five years.
The Civil Service reformed its “Dignity at Work” anti-bullying and harassment guidelines in 2015 to improve awareness and reporting of incidents of bullying. The policy states “aside from the impact upon the individual and colleagues, such behaviour can harm working relationships, undermine morale and damage efficiency across the workplace”.
