Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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168. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has considered implementing additional public bank holidays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16317/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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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.

An extra holiday has implications of a broad nature in terms of costs and productivity and has cross-government issues to be explored.

Any proposal for the provision of an additional public holiday would require careful consideration and wide-ranging consultations with relevant stakeholders. 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 already dealing with the unpredictability of the Covid-19 crisis.