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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 28 Mar 1985

Vol. 357 No. 5

Written Answers. - Public Service Absenteeism.

507.

asked the Minister for the Public Service if he can give an estimate of the number of man-days lost each year through absenteeism in the public service as a percentage of total days worked; the annual cost to the Exchequer through absenteeism in the public service; the extent to which this absenteeism is believed to be alcohol-related; and the plans or programmes his Department has to combat the problem.

Details of the number of man-days lost each year in the public service through absenteeism are not recorded centrally. Preliminary results of a survey confined to the non-industrial civil service in respect of the year 1982 indicate that the average number of working days lost through sick leave in that year was nine, which represents approximately 3.9 per cent of the average number of scheduled working days.

In the absence of any firm estimate of absenteeism rates for the public service as a whole it is not possible to supply the annual cost figure requested by the Deputy. Moreover, assessments of the cost of absenteeism may vary depending on what cost elements are taken into account and on factors such as the nature of the sick pay scheme.

It is difficult to estimate the extent to which absenteeism in the public service is alcohol-related as in many cases alcoholism may not be cited as the reason for absence. The introduction of programmes to deal with alcoholism will hopefully result in the availability of more information in this regard.

A programme to deal with alcoholism in the Civil Service has been agreed under the conciliation and arbitration scheme and was circulated recently in booklet form to civil servants. The programme operates through welfare officers in Departments and through personnel officers and the chief medical officer. Similar programmes exist or are being introduced in other areas of the public service.

I can also tell the Deputy that the Institute of Public Administration has been commissioned to carry out a research project aimed, inter alia, at analysing the volume and pattern of absenteeism in the Civil Service and selected public bodies with a view to identifying specific implications for policymaking.

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