§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many public holidays there were in each of the past five years in(a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland, (d) England, (e) the Netherlands, (f) France and (g) Italy. [7497]
Mr. John M. Taylor[holding answer 9 December 1996]: The information requested is shown in the following table:
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 England 8 8 8 8 8 Wales 8 8 8 8 8 Scotland1 8 8 8 82 8 N.Ireland 10 10 10 10 10 Netherlands3 9 9 8 8 8 Italy 10 10 10 10 94 France 11 11 11 11 11 Source: Official Journals of the European Communities. Notes: 1 Subject to regional, local and institutional variations. 2 There was an additional bank holiday on the 8 May 1995 to link with commemorative arrangements for the 50th anniversary of VE Day. This was in addition to the existing 1 May 1995 bank holiday; in practice, most employers in Scotland observed one of these two holidays. 3 Liberation day (5 May) is observed in the civil service and by some trade groups. It is listed as a public holiday in the "Official Journal of the European Communities" in some years but not others. 4 Immaculate Conception Day (8 December) is not listed as a holiday in the "Official Journal of the European Communities" for 1996 but remains a public holiday in Italy.