Seán Kelly MEP, Ireland’s only Member of the European Parliament’s Working Group on the bi-annual Clock Change, has today urged the Parliament’s Transport Committee to vote to scrap the bi-annual clock change when it meets to decide on its report this Monday the 4th of March.
Mr. Kelly has been campaigning for the best part of a decade to scrap the clock change, and speaking from his office in Clonmel this morning (Friday), he highlighted the importance of a positive vote on Monday.
“The EU-wide public consultation on daylight savings time, which was carried out last year, received 4.6 million responses – the highest ever engagement for an EU public consultation.
“EU citizens overwhelmingly supported the abolishment of the biannual clock change, with 84 percent of respondents voting in favour of ending this outdated practice.
“I am calling on colleagues in the Parliament’s Transport Committee to listen to the people and vote to abolish the clock change in Monday’s vote.
“Studies have shown that the disruption caused by the clock change has a detrimental impact on our health. It can lead to weakened immunity and sleeping patterns and in some cases, increased anxiety and depression. It can also impact tiredness in drivers, increasing the risk of accidents”.
Irish citizens were invited to participate in a national public consultation on the matter in October of last year. Mr. Kelly, together with the Chair of the Parliament’s working group on the clock change, MEP Pavel Svoboda, wrote to Minister Charlie Flanagan urging the Government to support their efforts to end the seasonal clock change.
“This is an issue of great interest to my constituents across Ireland-South. I am hopeful that my colleagues in the Transport Committee will show their support for our efforts on Monday so that we can get the required legislation through Parliament and Council as quickly as possible and put an end to this archaic practice”, concluded Mr. Kelly, Leader of Fine Gael in the European Parliament.
