The Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality is inviting written submissions from interested groups or individuals in relation to issues raised by the Brighter Evenings Bill 2012.

Committee Chairman David Stanton TD said: “The Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality would like to invite further submissions which may be relevant to the issues raised during the Second Stage Debate. The Committee has already conducted a discussion on this topic in November 2011. The Bill proposes to allow the Minister to report on the costs and benefits of moving Ireland to the Central European Time Zone. The Bill also proposes to allow the Minister to move the clocks forward by one hour on a three year trial period, and then to do so permanently if required, and for connected purposes.”

The Bill can be accessed at http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2012/9612/b9612d.pdf Written submissions should be sent electronically by email (MS Word or equivalent) and should be received not later than 3pm on Friday 12th September 2014 at the following email address only: brightereveningsbill@oireachtas.ie

It is essential that submissions are concise and to the point. Submissions should address that specific matter under consideration, and should not contain any unnecessary or superfluous material that does not relate directly to the subject.

The Committee will consider any suitable written submissions received and may decide to invite a number of contributors to public hearings should it be considered necessary. Those making submissions should be aware that any submissions made to a Committee may be published either as part of a Committee report, or separately, if the Committee decides to do so.

Further details on making a submission can be accessed http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/justice/Invitation-for-Submissions—Brighter-Evenings-Bill.docx.