Feargal Quinn (Independent)

The French Government made an announcement on Tuesday, which was reported yesterday, that it would abandon its intention to introduce a carbon tax. The French Government said the tax would make France uncompetitive against a number of countries in Europe without a carbon tax. This is a reminder that we would like to see some things, such as a carbon tax, but other matters take priority at this stage. One of these priorities is jobs and the economy. While we would like to see a carbon tax at some point in the future, if the French Government has decided it will not introduce it until there is European agreement on taxation - which there will not be, I gather - we should rethink our intention to introduce a carbon tax at this point.

There are other things people wish to aim at in this area. One example is the €64 million the EU has allocated to encourage freight to move from road to rail. It sounds very good but the Rosslare to Waterford rail link has carried no freight since 2006 when the sugar companies closed down. The revenue it receives only amounts to 2% of the cost of running the rail link. I can understand the urgency, the need and the wish to switch from road to rail but there are some things that will not happen through wishful thinking.

If we are to move on something, I refer to an old hobby horse of mine. Next Sunday, we will wake up in better humour because there will be an extra hour's daylight every evening for the next six or eight months. This is because we are changing the clocks on Saturday night. If we joined central European time, we would get an extra hour every evening the whole year round. The good news is that Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister in the UK, is now considering this. We tried this 20 to 30 years ago for three years but we moved away because Britain changed. I ask the Deputy Leader to get the Minister to encourage the British to move in this direction. The benefits from energy saving, lives saved on the roads and tourism are such that moving one hour ahead and joining France, Germany, Spain and the rest of Europe has all sorts of benefits. We would not have to do it on our own if we can encourage the British to move at the same time.