Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2005
298 Mr. Bruton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of man days lost in sick leave, the rate per person employed, and the percentage of total man hours lost in this way in his Department. [17929/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 2004, the total number of sick days recorded in my Department, of a total workforce of approximately 4,730, was 63,998 working days. This accounted for 6.6% of the potential working days in the year. The average number of sick days per employee was 13.5 working days and 92.4% of the total number of sick days were covered by medical certificates.
A considerable proportion of the total number of sick days was accounted for by a small number of staff who were on long-term sick leave in the year. A total of 22% of all the sick days were accounted for by 74 staff who were on sick leave for at least six months in 2004. When the sick leave for these staff members is factored out, the average number of sick days per employee was 10.5 working days. A total of 22.7% of my Department's staff took no sick leave during the year and, overall, 38.8% took less than two days.
My Department has identified the issue of addressing and minimising absenteeism as one of the priorities of its human resources strategy. It has now finalised, through its partnership process and in consultation with unions and staff associations, a comprehensive attendance management policy aimed at addressing the issues arising in the context of sickness absence in an effective and balanced manner.
