Cabinet has given the go-ahead to an extra Bank Holiday on March 18th this year.
It will move to St Brigid's Day from 2023.
At its meeting this morning Ministers confirmed a four-day Bank Holiday weekend around St Patrick's Day.
The 18th of March will be an extra bank holiday this year as a pandemic bonus.
The extra date will be kept next year, but will move to fall around St Brigids Day.
Ministers also confirmed a pandemic bonus for healthcare workers.
They'll be given a tax free €1,000 bonus if they worked in Covid exposed clinical settings.
Already opposition parties have called for that definition to be expanded, including People Before Profit's Paul Murphy.
It comes as the Dáil resumes today for the first time this year, with the issue of violence against women expected to dominate the agenda.
Reporting by Sean Defoe
