Feargal Quinn (Independent)

Almost every year for the 16 years I have been in the Seanad, I have made the point that we should have an extra hour of daylight in the evening. I was delighted that, even if I have not been heeded in this House, the British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, has been listening to somebody like me. He is now giving serious consideration to the proposal that Britain should add an extra hour of daylight year round. We could do this by joining central European time. We would have an extra hour in the evening year round and, while I acknowledge the concomitant loss of an hour in the morning would not be pleasant in mid-winter, it would bring huge benefits in terms of road traffic safety, tourism and other areas. I have said in the past that we should be willing to leave the nursery even if nanny does not come with us. The argument against change has been that we do not want a time difference between Dublin and Belfast but perhaps we should act alongside the British to join central European time.