Madam, – I was disgusted to read the article (Front page, April 16th), regarding the now defunct civil service “banking time flexi half hour”, informing the public that “Civil servants [are] hoping to regain a free half hour” and that a motion at the Public Service Executive Union Conference “called for the restoration of the perk”.
No such motion was put before conference. The motion that was put to conference requested a slight bit more flexibility one day every fortnight and was the equivalent of asking to be allowed to attend work that day from 9.30am to 5.30pm rather than 9am to 5pm due to family or other commitments. In fact, the proposer, Gerry Enright, spoke twice to the floor, both times clarifying that his motion was not calling for a restoration of the “banking time flexi half hour”, a conclusion that anyone who listened to him or read his motion would be in no doubt about – especially given that his motion began, “This Conference acknowledges the ending of the banking time flexi half hour. . .” The motion continued: “. . .and instructs the incoming executive to seek the restoration of the arrangement where it was possible to key in or out up to half an hour into core time on Thursdays or Fridays without incurring an infringement”. – Yours, etc,