Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, offer my sympathies to the families bereaved at the weekend. It is always good to have discussion and discourse on road safety issues. One death is one too many.

I wish to reignite a discussion which took place here last year, namely, whether the clock should go back one hour this weekend. There is considerable research which shows that there are fewer accidents in the morning than in the evening, that people are more alert in the morning than in the evening and that there are far more pedestrians about in the evening time than in the morning. Therefore, I call on the Leader to update the House on what progress is being made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs on this issue at international level. Perhaps we could make some headway on this issue during Ireland's Presidency of the EU during the first six months of next year. I accept there is a need for international agreement in this regard. However, road safety issues are paramount. I believe lives would be saved if this simple action were taken.

I commend the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance on their efforts in what is a diplomatic war abroad to ensure that legacy debt is dealt with. It must be remembered that we have a population of only 3 million people.