I move:
That Seanad Éireann approves the following Order: Winter Time Order, 1982.
Winter Time Order, 1982: Motion.
As this is the first time I have spoken in this House, I would like to offer my congratulations to you, Sir, and to Senator Honan who has just been appointed. The best wish I can have for her is that she will have a term here of not less than four years.
This order complies with an EEC Second Council Directive on summer time arrangements concerning the harmonisation of the summer time period throughout EEC member states. The order is a follow-up to the Winter Time Order 1981 (S.I. No. 67 of 1981) which the House approved on 11 March 1981. The principal effect of the order is that we will have a similar period of summer time in 1983, 1984 and 1985 as we have had for the past two years that is, from the last Sunday in March to the fourth Sunday in October, that is, 27 March 1983 to 23 October 1983; 25 March 1984 to 28 October 1984; 31 March 1985 to 27 October 1985.
The summer time period in these years will begin one week later than prescribed in the Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971 (No. 17 of 1971).
The Commission consider that the harmonisation of the summer time period would help the efficiency of transport, communications, commerce and contracts generally between the countries concerned. Discussions with a view to the standardisation of the "summer time" period have been going on for several years. There are several problems of course, including the fact that natural time in the United Kingdom and here is substantially different from that of the continental member states. The Commission have accepted this and have taken cognisance of this in the directive by prescribing that the summer time period should end one month earlier in the continental member states than in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that is, 25 September, 1983; 30 September, 1984; 29 September, 1985.
This is a most favourable arrangement from our point of view as we have always favoured the longest possible summertime period and the public, when consulted about the provisions of the Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971, were in favour of having our period of summer time synchronised with that in the United Kingdom.
A minor consequence of the order will be that the time of change from winter time and vice versa will be 1 o'clock in the morning Greenwich mean time rather than 2 o'clock.
I now call on the House to approve the order.
Question put and agreed to.