Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to recognise the death yesterday morning of the founder of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. This was a man who founded one of the most successful states in the world, Singapore, and did so without any violence or war. I got to know Lee Kuan Yew some 30 years ago. We kept in touch and communicated a great deal. Singapore, although tiny, is now one of the wealthiest nations in the world. This was achieved by Lee Kuan Yew. I take this opportunity to express our sympathy to his family and to the people of Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew was a wonderful man. When I was in touch with him some time back I expressed my disappointment that according to him he ate only half of the plate of food served to him because he was trying to stay healthy and do his bit for world hunger and told him that that was not good for the grocery business. He later responded that he had changed his mind and would in future only order half a plate of food. I wanted to express my sympathy on the death of this man whom I got to know well over the past 30 years.

There is another issue I would like to raise today, which I have been raising twice a year for 21 years now.I refer to the brighter evenings campaign. This coming weekend we will get an extra hour of daylight in the evening, which we will lose in October. The problem would be easily solved by moving to Central European Time. There is quite a movement in Britain to do so and I believe it would be possible for us to do so too. One benefit to more daylight hours is a reduced number of road accidents. There are also huge benefits to be gained in the sport, entertainment and tourism sectors. We should urge the British to do the same, because it is unlikely that we will find it easy to make a move on our own without Northern Ireland joining us at the same time.

I wish to make one last point. People from Spain have told me they were impressed by our social welfare system, because in Spain they get the dole only for one year, and after that they must do social work. Therefore, in Spain one will see people cutting grass, cleaning streets, sweeping roads and doing similar jobs, because they do not get the dole forever. If a person has received the dole for a year, he or she must undertake social work to retain the payment. We should consider a similar scheme here, because it would encourage people to do a world of good for the area in which they live as well as helping the nation.