Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I join my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, in welcoming Deputy Quinn's return to an area in which he has a particular interest and his attempt to tee up a good news story for me.

The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which implemented EU Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, provides for an entitlement to nine public holidays per annum. One of those nine public holidays is Easter Monday. The average public holiday entitlement in the EU at present is approximately 11 days per annum.

The Government's initiative was to reinstate the annual military parade at Easter to commemorate the Rising of 1916. It was not the intention to create any additional public holiday in this context and the Government has no proposals at the moment to increase public holiday entitlements.

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