People to be asked whether to keep Summertime and Wintertime

It's likely that Irish people will be asked whether the country should keep Summertime and Wintertime clock changes.
The Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan is proposing to establish a new interdepartmental steering group to lead a national consultation on the issue. 
It comes after the European Union requested all member states to indicate whether or not they support the proposal to opt out of permanent Summertime or permanent Wintertime from 2019 onwards. 
This national consultation exercise, being proposed by Minister Flanagan, will help in deciding an Irish position on the proposal to scrap or maintain the clock changes that happen twice a year.
Most EU Member States have a long tradition of Summertime arrangements, most of which date back as far as the First and Second World Wars or to the oil crisis in the 1970s. EU legislation on Summertime was first introduced in 1980.
Under EU directives, member states of the European Union are required to switch to Summertime on the last Sunday of March and to switch back to their standard time (Wintertime) on the last Sunday of October. 
In his State of the Union Address recently, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposed to end seasonal clock changes in Europe in 2019. 
As part of an assessment of the current arrangements, the Commission held a public consultation in summer 2018 which received 4.6 million responses, the highest number ever received in any public consultation organised by the European Commission. 84% of respondents were in favour of ending seasonal clock changes.

In light of these elements, the European Commission has concluded that Brussels should no longer regulate seasonal time changes and that member states should be free to decide whether they want to be in summertime or wintertime and handle the matter at national level.
Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune is in favour of scrapping the clocks changing entirely. 

MEP Clune said: “ I welcome this move the Department of Justice to encourage Irish people to have their say in summertime arrangements. It is important that people voice their opinions on this matter if they wish to have a say in the debate.

“At European level Irish people took part in a public consultation and Ireland voted overwhelmingly to stop the clock changes. There are many benefits to ending the process of changing the clocks each year such as improved outcomes for road safety and economic benefits. In addition brighter evenings in winter would have a positive benefit for public health,” added MEP Clune.