Politicians are waging a campaign of criticism against administrative staff in the health and public services to divert attention from their own policy failures, according to an official of the trade union, IMPACT.
The union, which has over 20,000 administrative employees among its 46,000 members, says staff morale is plummeting because politicians, economists, and commentators misunderstand or undervalue administrative and managerial roles.
The IMPACT national secretary, Mr Kevin Callinan, told the union's delegate conference that administrative staff made up a small proportion of health workers and performed vital front-line and support roles.
"Politicians and commentators glibly characterise these workers as a burden on the health and public services. In fact, most clerical and administrative staff are dealing directly with the public or providing vital support to front-line care staff." Mr Callinan said administrative staff made up around 15 per cent of all health workers.
"Even this modest figure includes significant numbers of front-line carers, including community welfare officers, childcare workers, those who care for the intellectually disabled, and accident and emergency staff. Which of these roles do the knockers want to do away with?" Mr Callinan said the increase in administrative staff numbers was a direct response to demands from doctors, nurses and other professionals for adequate support.
He also denied that the health service was over-managed and said most administrative workers were clerical officers at the lowest level of the staff hierarchy.
There was a direct link between criticism of administrative staff and health employers' attempts to undermine terms and conditions, he said.
The post-election period is a dangerous time for working parents seeking government help for childcare as campaign promises are generally quickly forgotten, the conference also heard.
Ms Dearbhla O'Reilly, of IMPACT's South Dublin branch, told 600 delegates at the Silversprings Hotel that politicians of all parties should be held to their campaign pledges.
"They talked of expanding the amount of crèches and nurseries. They cited examples of their support for financial assistance to crèche owners. Some even promised tax breaks for working parents. But past experience suggests these promises will soon be forgotten."
Ms O'Reilly quoted a recent ICTU survey, which found that 70 per cent of working parents use childcare but only 10 per cent could find places in, or afford, crèches and nurseries, with the rest relying on informal arrangements with relatives and friends.