Civil servants told to wear more clothes to save energy

CIVIL SERVANTS were asked to use a maximum of one bar on electric heaters and to wear warmer clothing to work to save costs and energy, newly released State documents reveal.

The instruction might sound like a secret addendum to the recent Budget. In fact, it was a money-saving initiative promoted 30 years ago, declassified State papers show.

A Department of Foreign Affairs staff notice from November 1979, which appeared to have been circulated to other departments, recommended a wide range of basic measures to reduce energy costs at a time of rising oil prices.

And 30 years before the lavish use of chauffeur-driven cars became a symptom of the Celtic Tiger, civil servants were urged to curb their use of hired transport.

There was an “increasing tendency to use chauffeur driven cars (provided by Murray’s) for journeys in Dublin”, a notice to Foreign Affairs staff in 1979 revealed.

A total of £4,650 was paid to Murray’s for hire of cars for officers at the department, not including hire for foreign visitors, the memo noted. Officers were also urged to cut the number of overnight stays they made.

The other, more general memo on cuts read: “We have been asked for our co-operation in the saving of fuel and electricity . . . The steps would reduce the possibility of power cuts in the coming months”.

Electric fires should not be used “except in exceptional circumstances” and when possible “one bar should be used instead of two”.

Staff should wear “a reasonable amount of clothing” as “wearing additional clothing will make lower temperatures tolerable”, the memo instructed.

Staff at the Dublin office faced a sweltering summer as they were told to keep ventilation (window and door openings) to a minimum, while fans were only to be used “when essential”.

“Only those lights necessary for reasonable working conditions should be switched on” and lights should be switched off when going for lunch or at the end of the day, the memo said.

Civil servants were also asked to switch off electric typewriters and electric office machines when not in use. However, “as photocopiers take some time to warm up those in constant use may be excluded from this instruction”, the memo read.

The use of kettles and stoves should be arranged to avoid waste and hot water was to be used sparingly. Staff were told to “never wash under a running tap”.

A person was to be appointed in each building to monitor these instructions and make sure that they were implemented.

The cost-saving measures came in a year when oil import prices increased by 60 per cent and the budget deficit was forecast at £500 million (£200 million more than budgeted for), according to a Department of Foreign Affairs briefing note in December 1979.