Could we have from the Ministers responsible, some indication of what their intentions are regarding future sittings of the Dáil.
QUESTION ON ADJOURNMENT. - PROGRAMME OF BUSINESS.
It may be that the business at present ready will be finished to-morrow. If not it will be finished on Thursday. There are several very important Bills just on the point of being ready for introduction Bills like the Shannon Scheme Electricity Distribution Bill, the Land Bill, and the Intoxicating Liquor Bill. These are almost ready and will provide a great deal of work for the House. But because they are heavy and complicated measures to get ready there is a lack of business at the moment. It is rather unfortunate that the House will have, I am afraid, after a comparatively light period, a very heavy period, but it has not been possible to avoid that. Every effort was made to get these measures ready with all the expedition possible, but delays have occurred.
The Minister has not gone very far towards telling use what his proposals are.
We propose to sit to-morrow, and perhaps to-morrow a further statement will be made.
I am making this request now because I heard that it was the intention on the part of the Government to move the adjournment to-morrow for several days, and while that, in itself, seems to be a curious comment upon their business capacity, there is another consideration that moved me in this matter. I think there is a certain lack of candour when Ministers told us to-day that the reason why they must take the Agricultural Estimate and the other Bill to-morrow was because of other reasons.
No, it was at my request. I would not have mentioned this but for the fact that Deputy Johnson has raised that point. It would be convenient for me to be out of the House on Thursday, and I asked the Minister for Finance to try to arrange that Estimate for me to-morrow. Of course, if that could not have been done I would have made some other arrangement, but if it suited the convenience of the House I asked him to make that arrangement for my benefit.
I accept that, if it had nothing to do with the proposal to adjourn to-morrow night.
Nothing whatever.
When the Minister is giving this information and taking the House into his confidence, would he also give us a forecast as close as he can, as to when we are going to have the dissolution?
The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 26th January.