A senior medic tonight hit out at business chiefs for accusing doctors of condoning bogus illness claims and issuing sick notes.
Isme, which represents small firms, claimed €1 billion was being lost to absenteeism every year, the vast majority of which was down to workers faking illness.
But the Irish Medical Council (IMO) insisted it was naive and unrealistic of firms to expect doctors to police their
employees.
Dr Ronan Boland, IMO GP chairman, said: "I find some of the statements made by Isme to be surprising to put it mildly.
"They haven't produced any evidence to back this (the figures) up.
"While clearly some companies have problems with inappropriate illness, I find this extraordinary." Isme claimed GPs were issuing sick certificates with an ATM-like mentality.
A survey of 750 companies, carried out by the group, found employees are off for an extra six days on average, on top of holidays and other authorised leave.
Company bosses insisted that around 83%, or five of those days, were taken by workers feigning sickness.
With over 1.1 million people working for small businesses, Isme claimed 6.6 million days were being lost every year.
Mark Fielding, Isme chief executive, said medics were condoning unauthorised absences over fears they would be sued for casting doubt on the claims.
"It is also quite obvious, based on the survey results, that unauthorised absences are being tacitly condoned by the medical profession, too busy to investigate and advise and too fearful of our litigious environment," Mr Fielding said.
"It has now become completely unrealistic for a business to expect a full compliment of staff on any given day." Mr Fielding claimed employers would rarely question a doctor's note and workers realised this.
"We, as employers, cannot question a GP's note without a great deal of hassle and no hope of reversal and the
malingerer knows that," Mr Fielding said.
Dr Boland, who has been a practising GP for 17 years, said doctors can only act on the medical history available to them.
"It is unrealistic and naive of Imse to expect that a patient's general practitioner is going to act as the policeman
effectively for a small company," he said.
PA