I am always optimistic, although sometimes my optimism is misplaced.

We could not have a conversation today without discussing Brexit. The position seems to have gone from bad to worse again. Prime Minister Theresa May now faces a motion of no confidence and will not come to Dublin today after all. I see no benefit, from the perspective of people in the United Kingdom, Ireland or the European Union, in the Prime Minister being replaced by someone else at this stage. I wish her well in her battle and hope she wins it. If she does, under Tory Party rules, the matter will put to bed for at least a year. Mrs. May has a difficult task. We all need some certainty into the future and I hope she defeats the motion.

I was at two events during the week attended by the former British Prime Minister, John Major. Mr. Major spoke in Longford on Monday at an event marking 25 years of the Downing Street Declaration. That is something on which the House may wish to reflect. We marked 20 years of the Good Friday Agreement, and it was important that we did so, but the work Albert Reynolds and John Major did in 1993 to secure the Downing Street Declaration was also important and we should remember it. I also attended an event organised by the Institute of International and European Affairs at which John Major stated the UK should revoke Article 50, stop the clock, return to the start and examine what should and must be done. I echo those sentiments as, I expect, others may do in their contributions.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, has engaged in another kite-flying exercise, this time regarding penalty points. He has decided not to go through the transport committee and to ignore pre-legislative scrutiny by making an announcement to distract people from the fact that he is not doing anything else in his Department.

Stepaside Garda station is reopening.

It is not open yet and it will not be anything like what it was either.

We need a much more nuanced and thorough approach on penalty points. We also need proportionality. We need to consider the idea of targeting repeat offenders differently from people who are caught for the first time. For instance, the case of someone caught speeding by a detection van in a transition zone where the speed limit changes quickly from 120 km/h to 50 or 60 km/h is slightly different from somebody caught travelling at 180 km/h on a motorway. There are also very different road conditions. There are speed limits of 60 km/h on the Stillorgan dual carriageway, yet many rural roads have speed limits of 80 km/h. We need proper speed limits and we must consider proportionality and how much people can afford to pay in fines. In Finland and Sweden, fines are based on earnings, which means those with a lot of money are hit more than those with very little money. That is not to say that people on small incomes should be speeding but income should be taken into consideration. Much can be done on speeds. As Senator Paddy Burke said, in ten years we will have driverless cars and all kinds of technology keeping an eye on us. However, one would hardly be caught speeding in Dublin because one can hardly get around the place. There are major tailbacks everywhere.

There are more people in work.

There are more people in cars anyway because insufficient public transport has been provided. Buses in Dublin are full.

I ask the Senator to reach a conclusion.

I also wanted to mention climate change, on which Ireland has been ranked the worst in Europe by a fair margin. We need to deal with this issue.

There is really nothing more I need to say other than that.

This Christmas many people will be buying gift vouchers or will be looking at that. Legislation has been stalled relating to expiry dates and so on. I gather the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, was dealing with it at one stage. Will the Leader indicate where that legislation is?

I appeal to people to exercise caution. They are nice to get and use but they often end up in drawers unspent. Companies change hands, restaurants go out of business and people lose their money. I appeal to people to ensure when they get them that they use them up and enjoy them.