It was suggested that certain of those Bills might be put through the remainder of their stages. Now what the Seanad can agree to do is to put numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 through and leave the last one over to be dealt with in Committee.
ORDER OF BUSINESS.
AN CATHAOIRLEACH
I wish to have the Local Government Electors Registration Bill referred to a Committee and postponed until we have time to put down amendments to it.
AN CATHAOIRLEACH
The way that would be decided would be this: you could vote against a motion to suspend the Standing Orders in order to enable the other stages of Nos. 3 and 4 to be put through, and if the majority voted against it, it would have to stand over for Committee.
I should like to suggest that in view of the fact that we must meet again in a day or two it would be much more dignified not to put any of the Bills through further stages. I think that a certain amount of the criticism of the Seanad is due to the fact that naturally, and, I think, wisely, members do not read the Bills until they pass the Dáil. We then come to what looks like a non-controversial Bill on the Second Reading and find that on a little more consideration it may require some amendments. I personally strongly favour that in every Bill, unless there are very urgent circumstances, you should at least reach the Committee Stage. If when you get to the Committee Stage you find that no one has any amendments, it is pretty clear that it is a non-controversial Bill, and we should not go further in approval of it, but that we should meet again and take the Committee Stage. It will only take a couple of minutes if there is no controversy. That is also emphasised by the fact that in one of these Bills, regarded as more or less non-controversial, the Minister has a verbal amendment which he would like to have introduced.
AN CATHAOIRLEACH
If that is the general opinion of the House we will pass on to Sir Hutcheson Poë's motion.