Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
20. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the full year cost of introducing three new bank holidays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41432/22]
View answerFrom next year the Government is introducing a new permanent public holiday in celebration of Imbolc/St. Brigid’s day. This will be the first Monday in every February, except where St. Brigid’s day, the 1st day of February, happens to fall on a Friday, in which case that Friday 1st February will be a public holiday. The Government wants to ensure that the public holiday provides for a long weekend. The first St. Brigid’s day public holiday will be Monday 6th February 2023.
Due to lack of data, it is not possible to generate a historical estimate for the impact of a one-off public holiday using Irish data. Previous analysis by the UK Office for National Statistics estimated the economic impact of an additional one-off public holiday would reduce annual gross national income by between 0.3% and 0.4%. Assuming that this reduction in economic activity is passed through in terms of reduced tax revenue on a pro rate basis – which may not be the case – this would indicate a cost to the Exchequer of between €220 million and €300 million. This estimate is based on forecast tax revenue for 2022 of €75.8 billion, from the Department of Finance’s spring economic forecasts as set out in the Stability Programme Update.
The second cost to the Exchequer would be in terms of lost work hours resulting from the public holiday. While, in practice, a sizeable portion of the public service will continue to work on a public holiday, there will be additional entitlements to time off in lieu. The Revised Estimates for Public Services 2022 estimates an Exchequer pay bill of €21.9 billion for 2022, or just over €60 million per day – which provides an estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of a public holiday. It is emphasised that these costs are notional in the main and will not lead to additional expenditure for the Exchequer. A large part of the public service is salaried, and so their pay and subsequently the cost to the Exchequer will be the same irrespective of a public holiday. These numbers only provide an indicative estimate of the potential economic cost of an additional public holiday to the Exchequer and do not capture positive aspects including benefits of leisure from an additional day off for many, as well as any further community and societal benefits.
