The Property Registration Authority has been described as 'top of the league' for sick leave across all public service bodies at the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee. The PRA manages the registration of land and titles for property nationwide.
Fianna Fail TD Ned O'Keeffe said that based on a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, staff in the PRA had taken an average of 16 days sick leave in 2007.
That compared with an average number of sick days per employee across the civil service of 11 days.
The head of the PRA, Catherine Treacy, said the sick leave levels were a matter of serious concern to her, and that measures were being put in place to address it. However, she pointed out that 90% of such absences had been medically certified.
She also said that 44% of staff had taken just three sick days or fewer, and that nearly a quarter had taken no sick days at all.
She said that 20 people on the staff of the agency accounted for 30% of the sick days taken.
She said that the PRA had included data for staff registered as disabled. Other bodies had not included those statistics.
Department of Finance official Mary McKeown said the Department took the sick leave issue very seriously.
She said it was in talks with unions about an updated policy to address management of sick leave. She also said the issue of sick leave could have serious implications for an officer in the civil service.
Abuse could lead to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal, and could affect promotional prospects.
The Comptroller and Auditor General's report on sick leave in the public service published past August found that sick leave was costing the civil service at least €64m.
It found that in 2007, 5% of available working time was lost due to sickness. On average, 59% of staff took sick leave.
Half of all sick leave was taken by clerical officers, averaging 16 days.
