The Property Registration Authority (PRA), which manages the registrations of titles and lands around the country, is “top of the league” for sick leave across civil service bodies, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee has been told.
Fianna Fáil TD Ned O’Keefe said that a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General found that staff in the PRA had taken an average of 16 days sick leave in 2007.
The report said the average number of sick days per employee across the Civil Service was 11 days.
The chief executive of the PRA, Catherine Treacy, said that the sick leave levels recorded at the agency were a matter of serious concern for her, insisting that measures were being put in place to deal with the issue.
However, she said that 90 per cent of sick leaves recorded in 2007 had been certified by a doctor.
She also said that 44 per cent of staff had taken three sick days or fewer, with nearly a quarter not taking any sick days at all.
Ms Treacy said that 20 members of staff accounted for 30 per cent of the sick days that were taken.
Ms Treacy said that her agency had included in its returns for sick leave data, had taken into account disability leave.
Department of Finance official, Mary McKeown, said the department took sick leave “very seriously” and was in talks with trade unions on the introduction of a new policy in this area.