They're letting themselves go: council officials right across Ireland are taking Hector O hEochagain’s advice to heart and taking time off to go racing. Last week staff from Kildare county council and Naas town council were granted unofficial holidays to attend the Punchestown festival. All full-time council staff were granted two “privilege” days in addition to their annual leave.

Council staff in Kerry, Galway and Waterford are also enjoying similar perks, despite record unemployment, the crisis in the public finances and demands for savings in the public sector. But councils insist that they are not taking taxpayers for a ride.

Charlie Talbot, a spokesman for Kildare council, said that staff were given time off to attend Punchestown “as long as their work is done”. He said that part-time employees are given additional leave on a “pro-rata basis”. The council has over 1,000 full-time staff.

“The festival is over 100 years old and is part of the county’s identity,” Talbot said. “It is traditional for local businesses to close. The council used to close but now remains open. Staff stagger their time off so that services are not affected.” Naas town council also gives its staff two days off to attend the race meeting.

This year Punchestown organisers delayed the start time of the first race until the early evening to let people work a half-day before heading to the track. The five-day festival attracted 106,000 spectators last year but organisers believe only 90,000 attended last week.

Employees of Waterford county council are also given a discretionary half-day each year to attend the Dungarvan Show in July and the Tramore races in August. A spokesperson said: “The civic offices in Dungarvan do not close to the public and adequate staff numbers are required to remain on duty to ensure a full service to the public. A similar situation applies to staff based in the civic offices in Tramore who are allowed a discretionary half-day to attend the August meet of the Tramore races.”

Padraig Corkery, spokesman for Kerry county council, said staff have traditionally been give three half-days for the races at Tralee, Listowel and Killarney. The council is now seeking to “phase out” these additional holidays and is in discussion with unions representing staff.

Galway county council gives staff two half-days during race week at Ballybrit in August, and a further half-day for a race meeting in September. A spokesman said that in 2008 a revised arrangement was put in place to keep the council offices open.

Galway city council gives staff 1.5 days leave for the races in July. “This provision has been in place for over 40 years,” a spokesman said. “The leave is staggered over the duration of the week and the council offices remain open for business as normal.”

Phil Hogan, Fine Gael spokesman on local government, said that granting “any additional leave during the current economic climate” sends out a bad message. “In the current economy, every workplace is being reviewed in an attempt to lower costs and improve efficiency, so I would expect county managers to tighten up this situation,” he said.

Councils may have difficulty revoking these long-standing arrangements, however. Management at Galway city council attempted to withdraw additional time off for the races two years ago, arguing it was not included in the national wage agreement. But the council was forced to back down following negotiations with Impact, the union representing council workers. A compromise was reached, allowing staff time off as long as City Hall remained open throughout race week.

Staff at Leitrim county council also won a Labour Court case last month, forcing management to give them time off to attend a non-existent festival.

Management had sought to cancel a traditional half-day to attend a local regatta after it was discontinued due to the worsening economic climate. But Impact argued the annual festival leave had been an entitlement to employees for many years and there were “other festivals” staff could go to.

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