The CSO has released numbers this morning showing that the amount of time lost to industrial disputes has jumped from 4,179 days in 2008 to 329,706 days last year. The jump amounts to a 7,889% increase in days lost to industrial action over 2008.

The one-day national strike on November 24th last  was undoubtedly the biggest single contributer to the jump. Almost 250,000 public sector employees including teachers, nurses, prison officers and even Oireachtas staff took part.

The amount of disputes almost doubled year-on-year from 2008′s number of 12 to 23.