LIMERICK-based Senator Paul Gavan has urged the government to make St Bridget’s Day a permanent public holiday, rather than a one-off for 2022.
The Sinn Féin Senator said: “I welcome the decision by Government to create a new public holiday next year, as a thank you to workers for the grit and determination over the past two years.
“However, I would argue that it does not go far enough, the people have not only earned this holiday in recent months, but they have always done so. When we consider the toll of the last 10 years or so with the economic downturn and now Covid-19, this extra public holiday has been hard earned.
“Ireland scores bottom of the league table when it comes to Public Holidays across Europe. Our counterparts in Austria, Sweden, Portugal, and Poland enjoy 13 Public Holidays, while in Greece it’s 12 days and France, Germany and Finland enjoy 12, Ireland falls well behind with only nine.”
He added: “We continue to fall behind on benefits for workers in terms of the right to sick leave and other basics for struggling workers and families. We can make a small difference with the implementation of this new public holiday but we must ensure it becomes a permanent one.
“As the pandemic has taught us we really need to strike a better work-life balance. This additional public holiday must not be a ‘once-off’, but rather a permanent addition to tilt the balance between work and leisure a little more towards working families”.
