Government to oppose EU daylight proposals

The Government is set to reject EU plans to scrap the daylight saving time system amid fears that having two time zones on the island of Ireland could cause post-Brexit chaos.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan will ask cabinet colleagues to back his recommendation to block Brussels plan to remove the long-existing summer/winter- system at the weekly ministerial meeting this morning.

Under EU proposals it has been suggested that daylight savings time, which was designed to help farmers but which is regularly criticised by the wider public, should be scrapped by April 2021.

The plan was backed this spring during a vote at the European Parliament.

However, after a public consultation process, the Irish Examiner understands Mr Flanagan will bring a proposal to Cabinet today to block the change, saying it will cause too many problems. It is expected the Justice Minister will tell Cabinet colleagues that daylight saving time should not be changed as it will automatically result in different time zones being in place in the Republic of Ireland and the North.

In addition, he is likely to tell ministers the creation of a “patchwork” time-keeping system across Europe would prove unworkable in the long term.

And, saying his views are supported by the wider public, he will tell Cabinet colleagues eight out of every 10 people are opposed to any changes to the current system.

The issue is likely to be discussed at a cabinet meeting which will also see Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty announce plans for a clampdown on bogus self-employment, as the problem is considered rife in the private sector. The move has been reported in recent days to include plans to raise fines for people or companies found to have been taking part in the practice.

However, Labour senator Ged Nash has claimed that the moves will mean little unless detailed industry actions also take place to rid sectors of the problem.

This morning’s Cabinet meeting is also expected to see Education Minister Joe McHugh follow up on his comments in the Dáil last week about historic sexual abuse in schools. It is expected he will emphasise the State has failed to protect victims of sexual abuse and that its compensation scheme is not working.

He will outline some of his initial discussions with attorney general Seamus Wolfe about intentions to changing the existing scheme and potentially how this may be done.

The discussion and last week’s Dáil comments by Mr McHugh and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were prompted by High court judge Iarfhlaith O’Neill saying on Monday that the State misinterpreted a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which resulted in victims of child sexual abuse being refused access to a redress scheme which they are entitled to receive.