COUNTY councils across the country have been asked to support a motion calling for reduced opening hours of 'greedy' supermarkets during Christmas week.

Superquinn has become the first retail giant to announce its support of the move, promising to slash its opening times. It follows concerns raised by supermarket employees that they are not being given enough time off to spend with their families.

The motion, adopted by Limerick County Council, has been circulated to all local authorities for consideration in their December meetings.

As a result, retail giant Superquinn has given a commitment to cut opening hours for the week by 15 hours including the abolition of 24-hour trading on 23-24 December as was operated last year.

The move is seen as a coup by Limerick councillor Eddie Wade, who says he is continually approached by supermarket staff over the long hours they are asked to work over the week.

"They say they finish on Christmas Eve and don't get home till 9pm; then they only have Christmas day off and they are back in on St Stephen's Day. They have no family time with their kids.

"In my opinion supermarkets have just gotten greedy; they should close at 4pm on Christmas Eve.

A spokesperson for Retail Ireland, a wing of the business group IBEC which represents supermarkets, said the issue of opening and closing hours and their effect on staff is a matter for management and employees.