Allister meets Rivers Agency on Staffing Concerns
20 February 2008
Jim Allister QC MEP has met with senior DARD and Rivers Agency officials, to raise concerns relating to staffing matters within Rivers Agency.
Mr Allister said,
“A number of Rivers Agency staff, all Protestants, have contacted my office in recent months with complaints of the manner of treatment they have been receiving.
I am aware of a large number of complaints, concerning the manner in which staff appointments are made, and in perceived imbalance in terms of community background of appointments. The same allegations have been made regarding promotion procedures, and in the unsatisfactory manner in which complaints are handled.”
“The sheer volume of complaints from Protestant employees is alarming in itself. Indeed, I am further concerned at the apparent apathy of senior Management, both of Rivers Agency and DARD, in their failure to admit that a problem exists. This, despite the fact that DARD’s own equal opportunities unit has ‘off-the-record’ admitted there is, ‘…an undercurrent of sectarianism’ within Rivers Agency.”
“To date, my understanding is that not one of the many complaints from Protestant employees has been upheld. This, despite the fact that a number of individuals have had to leave positions of employment on ill health grounds, such is the stress of their working environment within Rivers Agency –this has got to stop.”
“The situation has become increasingly worse over a number of years, particularly in Rivers Agency sites at Omagh and Craigavon. I look to Rivers Agency, and particularly to DARD’s Equal Opportunities Unit to demonstrate a much greater vigour in facing up to their responsibilities, of securing harmonious working environments which treat persons from all community backgrounds equally.
ENDS
