41 Mr. G. Brady asked the Minister for Finance the number of employees in the public service; the number of workdays lost through sick leave during the past year; and the number of medical certificates issued.

The number of employees in the public service on 1 January 1991 was 199,400 approximately, including about 26,300 in local authorities.

Responsibility for the monitoring and control of absenteeism in the public service is a matter for local management, local authorities, health boards, Garda Síochána, etc., and data on absenteeism throughout the public service is not recorded centrally. However, the nonindustrial Civil Service for which I have direct responsibility numbered about 27,300 on 1 January 1991 and on the basis of a survey carried out in 1986 it is estimated that approximately 3.3 per cent — 2.7 per cent certified, 0.6 per cent uncertified — of working days per person are lost annually due to sickness in the Civil Service. I have no information on the actual number of medical certificates issued.