The Irish people are among the happiest and most satisfied with life, a European survey revealed today.
The poll to discover how people across the continent viewed their lives found that although there were serious concerns about some areas of life in Ireland, particularly the health service, Irish people were more optimistic about the future than many other nations.
The survey of 26,000 people from the 25 EU countries and the three candidate countries (Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey) for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions found the Danish are the happiest, most satisfied and most optimistic people in Europe.
In terms of overall satisfaction, people in Denmark gave themselves a score of 8.4 out of 10, and an 8.3 rating for happiness.
The Irish rated their level of satisfaction at 7.7 and their happiness at 8.1, putting them with Finland, Denmark and Luxembourg at the top of the table.
The only area which Irish people gave a low score to was the quality of health services which received a rating of 5.3, well below the EU15 (the countries in the EU before enlargement) average of 6.4.
But Willy Buschak, acting director of the European Foundation said there was also a divide between people in the upper and lower quartiles of wealth and that 28 per cent of people in the country felt they couldn't afford a week's annual holiday, compared to the EU15 average of 24 per cent.
The figures also reveal that 12 per cent of people in ireland have utility bill debts compared with an EU15 average of 7 per cent.
Minister for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen said: "Progressing the work-life balance agenda and other agendas presents a complex set of challenges for policy makers, social partners and families. These challenges, both social and economic, do not necessarily dovetail with each other... we need to take a holistic approach." - (PA)