Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

I can inform the Minister that an extra hour of daylight in the evening in winter would be of huge benefit to productivity in the construction industry. It is a real problem for us when it gets dark at 4.30 p.m. or 5 p.m. rather than 6 p.m. It has a huge impact on the construction industry. Given that it can take an hour and a half to set up for the day, it can be a real bummer when one has to stop working early. We are often told that one of the main reasons for putting the clocks back in October is to ensure kids do not have to go to school when it is still dark on winter mornings. Irish children tend to start school between 9 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. each day, which is later than in continental Europe. We should bear in mind that primary and secondary schools in Italy open at 8 a.m. each day. Children there deal with the darkness in winter without getting run over on their way to school.

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