Fewer holidays for Irish workers, says survey

Irish workers get fewer holidays compared to their EU counterparts, a new survey has revealed today.

The research from the website Hotels.com looked at the pay and holiday entitlements of 12 countries across Europe.

When looking at both statutory annual leave and public holiday allowances across the EU, Ireland is almost bottom of the list, with a minimum of 29 days holidays.

In comparison, Swedish and Portuguese workers enjoy at least 39 days holidays a year.

Only the UK has fewer holidays than Ireland, with UK workers only clocking up 28 days of holidays in the working year.

Alison Couper, from Hotels.com, said: “August is often the month when Irish holidaymakers typically head to continental European destinations such as France and Italy, just as residents of these countries escape themselves!

“The results of our research are sure to leave many Irish tourists thinking they’ve drawn the European short straw and wondering what they might do with the extra 10 days holiday a year if they lived and worked in Sweden or Portugal!”