Public Accounts Committee: Prison officers' sick leave is double the civil service average, the Public Accounts Committee will be told today. The PAC is discussing the section of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the management of sick leave in the prison service.
The report shows the average amount of sick leave taken by each prison officer in 2002 was 19 days, and a similar number of days was averaged in 2001. Across the civil service the average was 9.3 sick days per person, and this was nine and eight days respectively for primary and secondary school teachers.
Replacing officers on sick leave costs the prison service 15 per cent of its total overtime bill, which was €60 million last year.
The report also shows a wide variation between the different prisons in the amount of sick leave taken by officers. The highest levels were recorded in Cork, with 34 days' sick leave per officer in 2002; the Curragh and Limerick, with 25 days each; and Portlaoise, with 24 days average per officer. In contrast, low security prisons like Shanganagh, Loughan House, Fort Mitchel (Spike Island), along with Arbour Hill, recorded levels of sick leave between nine and 14 days per officer.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, also discovered that a large number of days are taken by a relatively small number of officers. For example, Cork Prison had 16 officers with a continuous period of sick absence in excess of 183 days. Seventy-five officers who have been on sick leave for more than 183 days account for 27,600 of the 179,000 days lost over a three-year period. Limerick and Portlaoise also recorded a small number of officers absent on sick leave for long periods.
Commenting on those figures, Mr Purcell said that in Limerick officers' homes were attacked and their families intimidated by criminal elements, leading to some officers being absent from work for prolonged periods due to stress.
In Cork and Portlaoise the age profile of the officers contributed to the high levels of sick leave. There were also 75 injury-on-duty related absences in those prisons over a two-year period.
In relation to Arbour Hill, he pointed out that the majority of prisoners there are sex offenders, who are less problematic and easier to manage. They are also older and more mature than the average prisoner.
Mr Purcell examined the various measures aimed at combating the level of sick leave in the prison service, including an employee assistance programme and an intervention programme, intended to deal with individuals' personal and medical problems.
Disciplinary procedures were also used to deal with this issue, he pointed out, and as a result between 1998 and 2001, 294 officers were put on sick leave without pay. This was suspended while the POA challenged it unsuccessfully in the High Court, and in 2002 48 officers had the privilege of sick leave with pay withdrawn for 12 months, and a further 40 officers had the privilege of uncertified sick leave withdrawn.