During the Order of Buiness in the Seanad, I said: Senator O’Toole called for a debate on the actions taken to avoid strike action because of the cuts in the budget.A newspaper article last week stated: “The Health Service Executive (HSE) has said that it is ‘seriously concerned’ that industrial action in the radiotherapy services, which forms part of the campaign currently under way across the public service, has the potential to compromise patient safety"...

Irrespective of the industrial action being planned or the purpose thereof, it must not target the weakest in our community or permit those who are undergoing cancer treatment to be hindered or put in any form of danger. If we are to take industrial action, although I hope we are not and I support Senator O’Toole’s belief that we have to find a way of avoiding it, let us consider what has happened in the country in recent weeks. The European Central Bank and the IMF have expressed serious concerns about Greece, Spain and Portugal but Ireland is not included in this list because of the steps we have taken. We should not throw away our advantage.

Almost every year for the 16 years I have been in the Seanad, I have made the point that we should have an extra hour of daylight in the evening. I was delighted that, even if I have not been heeded in this House, the British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, has been listening to somebody like me. He is now giving serious consideration to the proposal that Britain should add an extra hour of daylight year round. We could do this by joining central European time. We would have an extra hour in the evening year round and, while I acknowledge the concomitant loss of an hour in the morning would not be pleasant in mid-winter, it would bring huge benefits in terms of road traffic safety, tourism and other areas. I have said in the past that we should be willing to leave the nursery even if nanny does not come with us.

The argument against change has been that we do not want a time difference between Dublin and Belfast but perhaps we should act alongside the British to join central European time.