CIVIL servants face increasing violence, the conference has been told. Delegates called yesterday for the introduction of insurance cover similar to that provided to gardai and "other workers in confrontational-type employment".
Proposing the motion, Ms Mary Farrell of the Association of Tax Inspectors said civil servants today were dealing with a very changed society.
Members had been horrified to learn from press reports that videotapes of a tax inspector had been found in the home of a Dublin criminal being investigated by the Criminal Assets Bureau. White CAB members had insurance cover, there was none for colleagues in life-threatening situations, such as agriculture officers investigating "angel dust" distribution.
Ms Vanessa McCarthy of the probation and welfare branch said her members often dealt with people guilty of violent offences who were going through periods of high stress. The severity and frequency of attack were increasing.
"We can't change society," she said, "but we can take our lives in our own hands and seek compensation and adequate protection for those liable to violence and intimidation."
Spruce House, off St Stephen's Green, was evacuated recently because "dynamite" was stored in the basement, the conference heard. The building houses civil servants from Government Departments and Coillte, the Irish Forestry Board.
But Coillte, which admitted storing the material there, denies it was dynamite. "What appeared to be a few sticks of dynamite and a number of detonators" were material of "a non-explosive practice type. One live detonator was identified", which was dealt with by the Army Ordnance section.
Early last year dangerous chemicals were found stored in the same building.
It emerged they had been seized by Department of Agriculture officials investigating the sale of "angel dust".
Delegates at the conference passed a motion calling for new safety guidelines for Government buildings and adequate training for all staff.