Defence Forces Personnel Data

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

Questions (115)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

115. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount of sick leave taken by members of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service in each year since 2000, by officer and enlisted personnel per service, in tabular form. [6513/19]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Defence

In line with other sectors, sick leave statistics for the Permanent Defence Force are compiled annually and provided to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (D/PER). These statistics are used in order to track the level of absenteeism across the Public Service. The absentee rates for the Public Service are then published by D/PER.

As per Defence Force Regulation A12, sick leave may be granted to a member of the Permanent Defence Force, on the recommendation of a Medical Officer, or if not practicable, on the recommendation of a civilian medical practitioner.

The total number of sick leave days taken by members of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service, in each year since 2005*, by officer and enlisted personnel, as advised by the Military Authorities, are set out in tabular form below.

Year	Army Officer	Army Other Ranks	Air Corps Officer	Air Corps Other Ranks	Naval Service Officer	Naval Service Other Ranks
2018	1314	69290	314	7691	622	7502
2017	1309	63382	533	5912	475	6706
2016	1210	61966	517	4359	229	6872
2015	1354	54909	515	4328	358	6669
2014	1487	46837	510	4132	420	5488
2013	1502	48498	404	4223	387	5008
2012	1600	45448	200	3190	284	4830
2011	1799	50200	195	2592	359	5359
2010	1529	57507	404	3326	411	5648
2009	1805	52900	350	3392	281	5823
2008	1592	60173	259	6910	366	4686
2007	1307	59810	304	7801	221	7234
2006	1490	60556	229	12245	196	5934
2005	1660	53992	357	10853	397	4466

*All absences due to ill health are recorded on the Defence Forces Personnel Management System (PMS). However, sick leave data is not captured on this system prior to 2005. Accordingly, it is not feasible to compile the figures for the years 2000 to 2004 inclusive, due to the large amount of work required in extracting and calculating the totals manually.