Millions spent on sick pay for Manx public sector

Public sector sick pay has cost the Isle of Man taxpayer about £48m over the past four years, according to official figures.

The statistics represent the period from 2007-2008 until 2010-2011 and show the loss of about 39,000 working days.

During the same period 147 staff members were given sick pay for 200 days or more within a year.

The departments which claimed the highest amount of sick pay during this time were health and education.

The figures, which were issued by the chief minister in response to a question from MHK Zac Hall, show the average number of sick days taken to have risen from 7.2 days in 2007-2008 to 8.4 days in 2010-2011.

This is higher than in the UK over the same period.