Several unnamed departments have called for a cap on the service's popular job-sharing scheme, which allows officials with significant personal commitments to work on a part-time basis.

Several complained that they lacked sufficient staff on Mondays and Fridays due to the overuse of the scheme. This meant other staff were unable to take leave on these days.

Some are also seeking restrictions on the number of schemes civil servants can sign up for.

At present there is no limit on the number of schemes an individual can take advantage of simultaneously, which can lead to a "totally ineffective presence in work".

"Officers availing of study schemes combined with work-life balance schemes can be out of the office for much of the year, " said the report.

According to the report, around 15% of all civil servants avail of the service's job sharing scheme while another 4% work on a term-time basis, where they take unpaid leave during school holidays.

The Department of Finance, which oversees the civil service, said it had no plans to implement any of the restrictions suggested in the report. A spokesman said, however, that individual departments could operate the schemes as they wished. He said the service's work-life balance schemes were not in difficulty.

"There might be problems in one or two small offices but we don't see it as an overarching problem."

He said the report had also highlighted the benefits of the schemes, such as "reduced stress, increased morale, enhanced quality of life, more effectiveness on the job and a reduction in casual sick leave".

The Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU), which represents clerical officers, who are the heaviest users of the scheme, said it was opposed to any restrictions.

The union's incoming deputy general secretary, Eoin Ronayne, said there were problems with the operation of the scheme in some offices but that restricting access was not the solution.

"The answer is to improve human resource skills training among managers for this kind of work. Managers should be resourced properly so they can handle flexible working, " he said.