The Republic has the second-lowest rate of sickness behind Greece in the European Union, according to a new survey published today.
The Third European Survey on Working Conditions monitored employee sick days in the 15 members of the European Union in 2000.
The rates are defined as the proportion of the employed national workforce who had taken at least one day off work in the previous 12 months because of sickness or occupational injury.
Greece had the lowest rate of absenteeism with 6.7 per cent followed by followed by Ireland with 8.3 per cent and Portugal with 8.4 per cent.
The countries with the highest rates were Finland with 24 per cent, The Netherlands with 20.3 per cent and Germany with 18.3 per cent. The average for all the countries was 14.5 per cent.
Dr David Gimeno, of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, and his colleagues said the research provided preliminary evidence about how each EU country was performing but that more detailed studies to confirm the results were needed.