55. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will reinstate the 'half day Christmas shopping' for public servants, which was a bonus each year on top of their annual leave allowance, but subsequently removed during the Haddington Road agreement. [35587/26]

In 2011, my Department reached agreement with Public Service unions on the standardisation of annual leave arrangements across the Public Service. This included the incorporation of Easter and Christmas privilege days into annual leave entitlements, removing these days as stand-alone leave while maintaining overall leave levels. The revised arrangements were intended to formalise and standardise leave provisions, enhance transparency, and provide greater flexibility in managing business needs. These arrangements remain in place and there are no plans at present to change them.

These changes were implemented in advance of the Haddington Road Agreement 2013, which provided for a range of measures relating to pay, working hours and productivity. As a result, matters relating to privilege days, including local practices such as local Christmas related arrangements, had already been addressed and did not form part of that Agreement.