Prison staff’s 41,000 sick days cost taxpayer €7.5m

More than 41,000 sick days were taken by prison staff last year, at a cost of €7.5m to the taxpayer.

The total of “sickies” is down 1,000 on 2012, when the bill was €7.7m.

In the first three months of this year, 9,029 sick days have been taken, with staff at Loughan House and Shelton Abbey the only ones not to miss a day in the first quarter.