Plans to abolish civil servant privilege days rejected

Plans by the Government to abolish privilege days for civil servants have been rejected by an aribtration board.

Plans by the Government to abolish privilege days for civil servants have been rejected by an arbitration board.

The Department of Finance wanted to scrap the two days additional leave under the Croke Park Agreement, which it says would have saved €4.6m a year.

The arbitration board, chaired by senior counsel Turlogh O'Sullivan, found that the Government had not demonstrated that cutting the days would amount to a significant saving.

It also states that removing the days would create a sense of grievance "disproportionate to any gains".

The two privilege days enjoyed by civil servants date from the time before Independence and were designed to mark "the King's birthday" and "Empire Day".

The two-days leave, one at Christmas, the other at Easter, will now be added to civil servants annual leave.

"There was no cash saving to the employer in reducing overall levels of leave," said general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union Tom Geraghty.