One-third don't use up holidays

A THIRD of all Irish people do not take all their holiday entitlements, a new online survey has indicated.

A total of 162 subscribers to gohop.ie’s website responded to an online poll which measured how many had not taken all their holidays.

Some 18 per cent said they did not take them all and 15 per cent said they were left at least three days shy of their full entitlement. Another 18 per cent do not intend to take all their holidays this year. Gohop.ie is a website and travel agency which specialises in bespoke holidays. Its subscribers would be inveterate travellers.

A more comprehensive national survey carried out by website hotels.com earlier this year found nearly two-thirds do not take all their holiday entitlements and 40 per cent had between two and three days left over.

However, Irish workers are a long way short of their American counterparts where a third take no vacation at all despite having some of the shortest vacation time in the developed world.

Gohop.ie commercial director Stephen McKenna said the inability of Irish workers to take all their holiday entitlements is a “disturbing trend” which has increased as a result of the recession.

“The bottom line is that people are working more diligently, trying to impress and hold on to their jobs,” he said. “Alternatively, people simply do not have the funds to take all their holiday entitlements.”