That concludes the Committee stage, and the Dáil shall now go out of Committee automatically.
ADJOURNMENT OF THE DAIL.
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
I was going to suggest to the Dáil that we should not meet again until Wednesday. It would take a day or two to print this. I expect it to be in the hands of the members by Saturday or Monday, and in order to give time for the printing of any amendments that would be handed in, and to save this kind of mix-up that we were in to-day by getting amendments presented in the Dáil, and which are not fair to absent members, who possibly would come if they saw some of them, I suggest, then, that the Dáil will not meet until Wednesday.
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
The Bill will not be in the hands of members by Saturday.
On Monday.
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
I understand that printers do not work overtime; that, according to the rules of the trade, they do not work on Saturday evenings or Sundays. It will be very difficult to have the Bill in the hands of members on Monday.
Mr. DARRELL FIGGIS
Will not the Bill come before us in the full Report form?
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
I take it that the Dáil orders now that the Bill be printed and circulated when it comes out of Committee.
I beg to point out that there must be certain formalities complied with and that the Bill, having been passed, must be reported immediately to the Dáil. I am allowing two days, and that does not appear to be enough, so that the Standing Orders must have suffered from some disorder at the time you passed them.
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
Under the Standing Orders you cannot have a Bill reported to the Dáil immediately after it has left the Committee stage.
It is clearly on the Standing Orders.
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
The Standing Orders must be interpreted in a different way.
Mr. THOMAS JOHNSON
I would think, from my knowledge of printing, that it would be quite possible to have this re-drafted and printed in its amended form if it could be handed to the printers in reasonable time.
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
It can be handed to the printers to-morrow evening perhaps. It has to be very carefully compared, particularly the concluding Articles this evening. It will certainly be in the hands of members on Tuesday, but there is a very important point when we meet again. In the fourth stage the Bill will come before the Dáil as a motion, and amendments will come before the Dáil, and if, for example, Article 3 is amended, then all the Articles up to 30 and including 30 will be taken as amended, and no amendment can be taken before Article 30. If that procedure is not adopted we will have to take amendments up and down the Bill the whole time, which would involve consequential changes, so that we will have to get amendments, say, to the end of Article 40 or 45 on the Order Paper for Wednesday, and take no other amendments that we get.
Very good.
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
It says that there are two days' notice required in the Standing Orders, but I don't think the President is standing over the Standing Orders now.
Mr. T.J. O'CONNELL
Could we not definitely settle a time for receiving amendments?
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
At 11 o'clock on Monday.
Mr. DARRELL FIGGIS
When will we get the whole report?
AN CEANN COMHAIRLE
As soon as ever it can possibly be got ready.
Professor MAGENNIS
Will it be delivered by post? If so, there is a difficulty. I get the Orders of the Day the following day, or after my return from this Dáil.
Mr. DARRELL FIGGIS
Until we get the Report it is impossible to know what amendments to make.
I think a Constitutional lawyer like Mr. Figgis should know what has happened.
Motion, "That the Dáil do now adjourn," put and agreed to.
Dáil adjourned accordingly at 9.25 p.m.