Staff at Ennis General Hospital have been defended, despite reports which indicated that it had the  highest absenteeism rate of any such facility nationwide.

HSE figures showed an average of over 9% of staff at Clare’s County Hospital call in sick each day

However, local representatives say these figures did not take a number of mitigating circumstances into account, including long term absences for a number of staff.

Councillor Mary Coote Ryan feels staff deserve the public’s support