I move:
That Seanad Éireann hereby approves the Summer Time Order, 1967, made by the Minister for Justice under the Summer Time Act, 1925 (No. 8 of 1925).
Summer Time Order, 1967: Motion of Approval.
This Order fixes the period of Summer Time for the year 1968.
The period of Summer Time will extend from the 18th February to the 27th October.
The House is, no doubt, aware of the background to the making of this Order. The position is that the British Government announced earlier this year that legislation would be introduced to provide for a new Standard Time in Britain (and Northern Ireland). They have made an Order fixing Summer Time for 1968 from the 18th Feburary to the 27th October and they have circulated a Bill for a new British Standard Time effective from the 27th October, 1968. The proposal in the Bill is that Britain will have a new Standard Time all the year round, which will be one hour in advance of Greenwich Mean Time and will be the same as that for Western European countries generally, i.e., the equivalent of the traditional Summer Time.
Standard Time in this country has been the same as that in Britain since 1916, Greenwich Mean Time. The Summer Time Act, 1925, provides that during the period of Summer Time the time is to be one hour in advance of Greenwich Mean Time. The period of Summer Time is prescribed in the Act but the Act empowers the Minister for Justice to vary the period either generally or in respect of any particular year or years. An Order was made in 1926 extending the period in the Act slightly to accord with a change that had been made in Britain. The period fixed by the 1926 Order is the normal Summer Time and it would apply in any year since if the Minister for Justice did not make a specific Order varying it. Many such Orders have been made. If no Order had been made for 1968 the period of Summer Time in that year would be from 21st April to 6th October.
In the light of the British decision to adopt a new Standard Time the Government decided that the period of Summer Time for 1968 should be fixed by Order to commence on the 18th February, which coincided with the date in Britain, and to end on the 27th October. This will allow time to have a full examination made of the whole question and, if in the light of that examination, it seems right to do what the British are doing, it will be possible to have the new Standard Time in operation by 27th October, 1968.
There will, in any case, be ample opportunity on a future occasion for a debate on the whole subject of the desirability or otherwise of extending Summer Time. As Senators are no doubt aware, I have invited the public to make known their views on the subject. Copies of a note on Standard Time and Summer Time are available on request from my Department and copies are also in the Library.
In the meantime, I ask the House to approve this Order.
The Order proposed seems a sensible solution to the immediate situation and it would clearly be foolish for the sake of a month or so or six weeks to have different time from Britain at this particular point without considering whether or not it was a good thing. I seem to recall that during the war we had different time from Britain. They had double summer time. This gives rise to problems which are not insuperable and is something which we should not turn down, as in the case of another matter, where we should take into account our own interests and not necessarily follow Britain.
In this instance what Britain is doing is getting into line with the rest of Europe. When we come to deal with this matter it will probably be appropriate to consider whether we wish to be out of line with Britain or whether for domestic reasons we should maintain our own time. We can also consider whether we should maintain the existing practice of following Britain. This is something we can properly discuss when the Government decides what proposals to put to us in this respect later on.
I am glad to know that some information is available and that the Government have sought the views of the public on this subject. It might be useful if the Order on standard time and summer time were circulated, that is, if it does not contain other information on the pros and cons of the proposal. If it is simply a legal note telling us the date it starts, then perhaps it can be left for us to delve for in the Library but if it deals with some of the pros and cons of the different arrangements in regard to Summer Time all the year round then it will be useful to have some information on it. In any event, we have no difficulty in accepting this Order.
I welcome the acceptance by the Seanad of the Order which is putting us in line not alone with Britain but as Senator Garret FitzGerald said with Western Europe generally. This is part of the general scheme of those islands in moving in accordance with the British community. The document in the Library is purely an information document. When we have the various recommendations and views we have invited from the public in my Department we will consider them fully. There are arguments for and against this, but my own view is that the argument is overwhelmingly in favour of having a continuous summer time over here, the same as in Britain and Europe, in effect adopting Central European time.
Question put and agreed to.