‘Privileged’ civil servants afraid to say where they work

Civil servants are afraid to admit they work in the public service because of perceptions they are privileged and cosseted, a new survey has found.

Such workers have also lost a sense of pride in their work and are concerned about their ageing profile, it found.

The Finite Lives - Part 1 - A Report on how the Civil Service Deals with Dying, Death and Bereavement Among its own Members, was prepared by Independent Senator Marie Louise O'Donnell following an initiative by Taoiseach Enda Kenny earlier this year.

Looking at how the Civil Service deals with issues related to death among its 30,000 staff, Ms O’Donnell found there is no co-ordinated end-of-life training for Civil Service line managers.

Strategic approach

She called for a strategic and co-ordinated approach to end-of-life issues in all government departments and agencies.

Seventy-five civil servants died in service over the past two years, with almost 7,000 having been bereaved over the same period.

The report recommended all departments and agencies should support their staff in planning for the end of life and suggested use of the Irish Hospice Foundation's Think Ahead programme.

Ms O’Donnell found evidence of “great vulnerability” and anxiety among civil servants due to debt, reduced health benefits and lack of financial certainty, with no foreseeable promotional prospects.

She found a loss of a sense of pride in their work as public servants, with some saying they are afraid to admit being so employed because they were perceived as “privileged and cosseted”.

Ageing profile

Their ageing profile had also become an issue, with the average age of staff at departments and agencies surveyed at 46.

The report was launched at Dublin Castle on Thursday by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who said it illustrated “the all-pervasive nature of support needed at our most testing moments. This work is already changing practice within the civil service.”

Part two of the report, to be completed next year, will explore how the State interacts with people facing dying, death and bereavement.

Earlier, at a launch in Dublin of the commemorative and 30th anniversary programme for the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) in 2016, the Taoiseach commended "the sacred nature of the work of hospice people". He said "we are all in this together. There is no truer maxim."

Describing IHF founder, the late Dr Mary Redmond, as "a visionary, a beautiful person, a remarkable presence", he said he was "fully supportive" of the IHF's work and encouraged people all over the State to get involved with their local hospice. "Death is on its way, just like the election," he said.

Assisted dying

Asked later by The Irish Times whether he had any views on assisted dying legislation Mr Kenny replied "no".

Asked for his personal views on any possible removal of the eighth amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn, he said: “I’ve set out a process on this. Personal views on the eighth amendment are irrelevant now. We’re going to have an election in between.

“I have set out a process and there will be a full national discussion in a proper, sensitive fashion on what might be done - and then consider what options should be taken.”

Pressed on what his own personal views might be, he said: "My personal views are irrelevant. Everybody will have their say and everybody will have their view and as I said, in the Fine Gael party, if we can achieve a consensus on what might be done and what should be done, everybody will have a free vote. They will vote according to their conscience."