Sir, - It is naive of the Higher Civil Servants Staff Association to offer pressure of work as an excuse for the recent lapse in the performance of work in the Department of Justice. At management level, a person in charge is expected to be aware of all the work coming into his or her area of responsibility, and be able to put a priority rating on the various elements of it.
He or she then allocates the work to the staff resources available. If he has insufficient resources to complete important work on time, it is his duty to report the problem to his superior officer. This duty is an essential element of his work; it is part of what he is paid for. If the superior officer has not enough resources to get the urgent work done on time, he passes the problem further up.
Obviously, in the recent Department of Justice case this process failed. Whatever link failed to pass the problem up is where the guilty party is. It is as simple as that. Pressure of work is not an excuse. - Yours, etc.,
Dunmore Road,
Waterford.