Giving an extra ten days leave to all public sector workers would cost the State more than €1bn, according to the Minister for Public Expenditure.
The Government says it intends to reward frontline workers for their efforts during the pandemic.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has called for ten days of extra leave to help its members deal with burnout and fatigue.
Minister Michael McGrath says the efforts of healthcare staff have been immense, but costs also need to be considered.
"For ten days leave across the health service would be a minimum cost of €377m.
"Given that you would have to involve a level of overtime and agency staff to provide the necessary cover the cost would almost exceed half a billion euro.
"And if you were to provide the same ten days leave across the full public service the cost would exceed one billion euro, so the costs are very significant."
