Staff at Cork prison took most number of sick days, audit finds 

At some prisons, up to 18 days were lost per member of staff every year, with Cork reporting the highest rate

A prison audit found  that while the working environment for prison officers was different from other public servants, levels of sick leave remain “at a high level”.

THE annual cost of sick leave in the prison service has spiralled to more than €9m with a single prison responsible for more than 15% of the days lost.

An anti-fraud internal audit carried out by the Department of Justice revealed that 47,627 days were missed due to ill-health in 2019, the latest year for which figures are available.