Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-12-20

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] PM - surprise visits to state services

[01] PM - surprise visits to state services

During surprise visits to three different state services in Athens on Tuesday, Prime Minister Costas Simitis said he had noted staff shortages that the government planned to correct.

Accompanied by Labour Minister Tassos Yiannitsis, the prime minister carried turned up unannounced at a state nursery in Agia Varvara, the Korydallo branch of the Social Security Foundation (IKA) and a branch of the Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED) in Peristeri.

In a press conference afterward, Simitis said he was generally pleased with what he saw but noted staff shortages in both OAED and IKA, while the nursery was apparently oversubscribed and unable to accept all the children in the area. He said that he would continue to carry out such surprise visits, in order to gain an accurate picture of how state services worked - since these were a reflection of how the government's policies worked.

The main problems in OAED, he said, were personal services for citizens, created a lack of staff, rather than organisational deficiencies. He said the government planned to restructure OAED to make it more efficient in fighting unemployment.

He also noted staff shortages at IKA, including shortages of medical specialists in certain fields, and announced that the government would go ahead with large-scale hiring of new staff, as demanded by IKA staff and management.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article