Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In considering a move to a four day working week in a public service context, there are two main concerns – the cost to the taxpayer and ensuring the continuity of services to the public.

There would be substantial costs associated with any move towards a four day working week in the public service. It is not clear that increased productivity would be sufficient to offset that cost. This is of particular importance in the context of public facing and emergency services that must be provided on a seven day basis where any reduction in core hours would result in a requirement to recruit significant additional staff. A detailed analysis of the costs would involve a considerable degree of complexity, given the number of employees and organisations encompassed within the public service. However, a very high level assessment based on the pay bill for 2024 puts the approximate estimated cost at up to €5 billion per annum. This may be a conservative estimate, given the premiums associated with overtime and agency staffing, which would likely be required to ensure the same level of services could be delivered with reduced core hours.

Maintaining the accessibility of public services to citizens would also be a huge challenge in the context of a four day working week in the public service. For example there is no evidence available, that this Department is aware of, on the operation of school systems on a four day week. There would also be significant challenges in the delivery of health care services and other emergency services – Gardaí, fire services, etc. – with a shorter working week. These are essential public services and any reduction in the core hours worked by staff in these sectors would have significant implications for service delivery.

There are also concerns about wider labour market and economic impacts if the public service were to move to a four day working week but the private sector did not. For example, childcare costs could be impacted by such a move. The implications of the proposal for a four day working week need to be carefully considered for the entire labour force, not just in the public service. Any move by the public service in isolation could also have serious consequences for, in particular, small to medium businesses already struggling in the face of increased energy costs and other pressures.

In addition to this, there are already a number of different flexible work arrangements available in the civil and public service, including work sharing, shorter working years, career breaks and remote working. As well as this, it is only a short time since a significant exercise was undertaken in relation to working hours in the public service by the Independent Hours Body. This resulted in a reduction of working hours across the public service, with the civil service net working week reducing from 37 hours to 35 hours.

In my role as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform I have to ensure that quality public services are delivered to the Irish people in a manner that delivers value for money to the Irish taxpayer.

With this in mind, and in light of the large potential costs and disruption to critical services I do not believe that it is the right time to consider a transition to a four day week.