asked the Minister for Labour the approximate rate of absenteeism in Ireland and in other EEC countries now and ten years ago.
Written Answers. - Absenteeism Rate.
544.
No firm comparative data are available on rates of abseenteeism in this and other EEC countries over the past decade.
The 1975 and 1977 EEC Labour Force Surveys provide some information on the extent of short-term absences in member states — short-term absences being mainly absences of one and two days' duration. The rate of such absences in this country was 2.9 per cent in 1975 and 3.7 per cent in 1977 compared to a community average of 4.3 per cent 1975 and 4.2 per cent in 1977. This placed us fourth lowest of the nine member states in 1975 and fifth lowest in 1977.
No comparable data is available to me for longer-term absences or for absence rates as a whole in EEC countries.