There are currently 10 public holidays in Ireland, including the recent addition of St Brigid’s Day in 2023.

However, People Before Profit have argued that Irish workers deserve another two days off every year.

Dublin Southwest TD Paul Murphy told The Anton Savage Show that this would improve work-life balance and workers’ rights in Ireland.

“There’s also an environmental aspect to this in terms of a significant reduction in emissions that comes with having a bank holiday,” he said.

“Irish workers work longer hours than our EU counterparts, we have less holidays and we have less public holidays.

“So, we now have 10, the EU average is 12, there’s a number of countries in the EU that have 13, there’s some countries that have 14.”

Mother and daughter walking on Narin Beach, Portnoo, County Donegal Ireland. Image: Daryl Mulvihill / Alamy

Deputy Murphy said that “at worst, the negative impact [of bank holidays] on GDP is marginal”.

“The reason for that is because while some sectors of the economy are negatively impacted, there are others that are definitely positively impacted in terms of hospitality, retail," he said.

“Loads of people will be going away, staying in Ireland this weekend, going down the country or wherever and spending more money than they otherwise would have done."

'We have to get real'

Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC) have campaigned against this proposal.

However, according to Deputy Murphy, we “have to get real”.

“I mean, corporate profits in Ireland are at an all-time high,” he said.

“They have tripled over the past 10 years, while workers’ income in real terms has remained stagnant.

“Profits in the retail and hospitality sector are at an all-time high, profits per worker are at an all-time high and have tripled over the last few years."

A person holds and counts budget money. Image: imageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG / Alamy

Deputy Murphy said IBEC "cannot be allowed to hide behind the reality that there is churn in those businesses".

“There’s some small businesses that are undoubtedly struggling and assistance should be given to those small businesses," he said.

“But you cannot hide behind those to say, ‘No, no, all this extra productivity that’s going on, all the extra wealth that’s being created, all of that is going to stay with us, stay with capital, stay as profit'.”

Deputy Murphy said this is the first step in People Before Profit’s ultimate goal of achieving a four-day-work-week.

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Main image: A tropical beach at sunset. Image: NicoElNino / Alamy Stock Photo