Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I also wish all my colleagues a happy Bloomsday. I was able to take part in a Joycean event earlier today in St. Stephen's Green. It was fantastic to see so many people there. The green is looking at its best at this time of year. It is under the control of the Office of Public Works. Deputy Costello is absolutely right. This is a fantastic occasion to celebrate Irish literature throughout the world and particularly in Dublin.

I thank Deputy Costello for raising this matter. I acknowledge the international importance and recognition afforded to great Irish writers and, indeed, James Joyce is among these. Bloomsday is well recognised beyond these shores and internationally with the highlight of the Joycean year, of course, being the Bloomsday festival. The 2011 festival incorporates a large programme of events that commenced on 4 June leading up to today's celebrations.

Bloomsday has become a day on which fans of James Joyce celebrate the man and his unique skill as a wordsmith. The day has grown into a significant event for our capital city. Visitors from all over the world travel to Dublin to participate in the Bloomsday festival, to walk the streets like Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus.

This year, Bloomsday is a much more significant international event, with Dublin's designation as UNESCO City of Literature. Dublin is one of just four cities, worldwide, that has been, deservedly, awarded this designation. Dublin as a city of literature means offering a new, creative tourism that is all about encouraging visitors to experience the Irish literary life directly so that they can have an authentic engagement in the real cultural life of our city. For a short while many feel that they too are part and parcel of Dublin life.

On the particular issue of the designation of 16 June as a national holiday, the legislation which provides for public holidays is the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. This Act provides that certain days may be prescribed as public holidays. At present, there are nine public holidays, including the first Monday in June, in addition to statutory annual leave entitlements. Any proposal for the provision of an additional public holiday would require careful consideration. Not least we would need to consider the implications and impact of any such designation on employment and for the economy at large, in particular the extra costs it would impose on employers.

Were Bloomsday to be designated a public holiday - I stress no such designation is at this moment being contemplated - it would be necessary to undertake detailed and substantial consideration of issues arising, including wide-ranging consultations with relevant stakeholders. Among the matters to be considered would be the impact of any such increase in public holidays on the competitiveness of firms, in particular small and medium enterprises with smaller workforces, and in terms of output and the impact on employment. Proposals of this kind cannot be considered without regard to the wider interests of workers and the enterprises in which they are employed.

The proposal being made by the Deputy, involving a new and additionally designated national holiday, on an annual recurrent basis, would need serious examination and consideration on a wide number of fronts. For example, the selection of a particular day to be a public holiday would also need to be considered in the light of tradition, custom and practice in designating such days. This can be seen with St. Patrick's Day, which is of significant importance from both a national and international perspective. Any newly-designated national holiday would have to be measured against the substantial national and international status achieved by our current designated national holidays. In the current challenging economic circumstances, the matter of designation of an additional national holiday is not among the Government's priorities. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I expect it would probably require the agreement of the troika before moving on the issue.

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