asked the Minister for the Public Service the number of days lost through sickness in the case of manual and clerical workers in the public service during the past year; and the number of medical certificates that were issued during that period.
Written Answers. - Sick Leave in Public Service.
670.
The information sought by the Deputy is not available in my Department, which is not responsible for the administration of sick leave schemes in the public service as a whole. However, arrangements are being made at present for an annual review of sick absence in the non-industrial civil service and I will let the Deputy have details of the results of that review when the figures become available.
For the Deputy's information, I should mention that a "once-off" survey of civil service sick absence, conducted some years ago, showed that the average amount of sick leave taken in the civil service (13.4 days per annum) was broadly in line with the sick absence rate (13.1 days per annum) in manufacturing industry at that time.