Irish near bottom of league for days off

Irish workers have one of the lowest levels of holiday entitlement in Europe, with seven fewer days off per year than people in Italy and Sweden.

In Ireland, the average annual leave entitlement is 20 days, supplemented by nine public holidays. That total of 29 is the same as Germany and Switzerland. The only country with fewer holidays is Britain, where workers are entitled to only an average of 28 days off.

The figures were released in a survey by travel company hotels.com. It found that, of the 12 European countries surveyed, workers in all but Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, and Britain had 34 days or more per year.