Daily Mirror: 2,000 civil servants sick rap

ALMOST 2,000 civil servants face disciplinary action because of unacceptable sickness records.

The Department for Social Development was the worst offender according to figures produced by Finance Minister Peter Robinson.

Poorly staff from the 11 departments and agencies face a warning or notice of dismissal.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "It is appaling that so many civil servants are failing to live up to basic professional standards.

"All taxpayers want is for the people they pay to turn up to work and do a decent job - every penny counts."

A total of 1,838 people were undergoing "inefficiency action" under statistics gathered at the end of last month.

There are around 30,000 employees across the service.