Industrial disputes resulted in 2,569 days being lost between January and March this year, the lowest first quarterly total in five years.
According to data released today by the Central Statistics Office this morning there were three disputes in the first quarter of this year, involving three organisations and 1.361 workers.
Manufacturing accounted for 60 per cent of the days lost while other services accounted for 38.5 per cent.
The first quarter total for 2004 is lower than the 3,081 days lost during the same period in 2003. More than 37,000 working days were lost last year due to industrial action.