Fórsa has raised concerns about the increasing incidents of aggression faced by front office members and Department of Social Protection (DSP) customers across the Intreo Centre (IC) network, which consists of over 60 centres, during recent Departmental Council and Department of Social Protection (DSP) Health and Safety committee meetings.

The combination of staff vacancies, long queues, the cost-of-living crisis, and customer inquiries about delayed payments has escalated the potential for verbal and physical abuse towards staff and other customers. While only a small minority of DSP customers are engaging in such behaviour, it has a corrosive impact on staff morale.

Paul MacSweeney, Assistant General Secretary with responsibility for members in the DSP, highlighted the need for a safe working environment for frontline staff. He stressed the importance of prioritising the filling of IC vacancies by DSP and, in the meantime, reducing the unsustainable workloads faced by members: “Fórsa's concern is, above all, for the health and safety of our members. To that end, the union has continued to communicate with management at the Department of Social Protection, and to propose measures that would take some of the pressure off the staff there.

“The current situation is unsustainable. In the continuing context of insufficient staff numbers, there are tangible health and safety risks, both for the staff working there and for service users attending the office.

He continued, “Our frontline members should be able to go about their working day in a safe working environment and that is not what members are reporting to us.

“The filling of vacancies in ICs needs to be prioritised by DSP and in the interim unsustainable workloads experienced by our members must be reduced. The opening hours of ICs will need to be examined and limited until the majority of vacancies are filled.”

The unfilled vacancies have also led to the suspension of work-life-balance initiatives such as blended working and greater restrictions on taking annual leave. Members have advised Fórsa that apart from workplace stress they are moving to other civil and public sector employers in their areas because they offer greater opportunities to balance their life and work commitments.

The work environment will remain challenging for our Clerical Officers, Executive Officers, Intreo Centre Managers, Community Welfare Officers, Service Officers, and other IC staff until the filling of vacancies is prioritised, staffing levels are increased to reflect IC caseload, and more robust protocols are agreed to give better protection to frontline staff and adequately penalise anti-social behaviour.