A new survey has revealed that almost one in five parents do not read to their children.
The survey was conducted by Amárach Research for Eason booksellers with a sample of 1,000 people over the age of 16.
Close to a quarter of those surveyed were parents with young children.
The survey suggests that four in five Irish people were encouraged to read by their own parents.
Almost seven out of ten were read to as a child.
But 18% of parents surveyed admitted to never reading to their own children.
Men were found to be more inclined to pass the responsibility over to female partners.
One third of parents cited time pressures as a reason for not reading more to their children.
The survey was launched today as part of Eason's 'Get Into Reading' campaign with the support of author Cathy Kelly and new children's laureate Niamh Sharkey.
