The half days enjoyed by civil servants in summer were deemed by the vast majority of respondents to a timesofmalta.com poll as "a privilege".

More than 80 per cent of respondents answered that the half-days were "a privilege" and just under 20 per cent said it was "a right".

"I dare say it is an undeserved privilege at the expense of all the rest of the hard-working Maltese," one respondent said.

Another commented that this was a "relic" of the times when air-conditioning units were unavailable in offices and was typical "of the inertia in the public service where things are not changed because no-one can be bothered".

A number of respondents commented that now that government offices were air-conditioned there was no need for half days in summer.

"I can sympathise with a worker who has to work under the blazing sun in mid-summer, but why are civil servants accorded this privilege when they work in an air conditioned office and are not exactly doing a hard physical job?"

"It is utterly useless talking about competitiveness and increased production when such a large proportion of the population have the benefit of half days in summer and spend the rest of the year idling about," another respondent said, adding that now was the appropriate time for the government to do something about it.

A respondent said it was "ridiculous" that for three months the public could only talk to civil servants for a "couple of hours" daily.

One respondent pointed out civil servants worked a total of 2,080 hours a year, equivalent to a 40-hour week, because they worked extra hours in winter to compensate for the summer half days.

A number of respondents, most of whom owned up to being civil servants themselves, said half days were a right as they worked longer hours during the winter months to compensate for the shorter days in summer. One said it was an issue of flexible hours.

Another respondent said it is a right to the few who really give their utmost and a disgraceful privilege for the rest.

Some respondents lashed out at civil servants, accusing them of not doing much work anyway. "First they barely earn their wages by being irresponsible, uncooperative and lazy in general and sometimes even downright rude and then they expect to work half days in summer!"