I desire to move the Second Reading of this Bill. It is a short, two-clause measure, and its object is to extend the Shop Hours Act which was passed in 1926 and which will expire on the 15th July next if this Bill or some similar measure is not passed into law. The Dáil might like a very short account of how the Act which this Bill proposes to extend came into being. There has been no general legislation governing shop hours and matters of that kind since 1912, and, of course, things have moved very much since then in regard to the hours of work and the hours for opening shops. I will quote, as an instance, one of the provisions of the Shops Act of 1912. It provides that no young person under the age of 18 years shall be employed in a shop for a longer period than 74 hours in the week. I need hardly say we have advanced very far from that. There is nobody who would now think of putting such a section as that into an Act of Parliament. In 1922 or 1923, certain difficulties arose between employers and employees in Dublin and elsewhere with regard to the hours of work. There was considerable confusion, there were strikes and threats of strikes, picketing, and general disturbances. As a result, a Bill was introduced into the Oireachtas in 1925, which fixed the closing on week nights at 6 o'clock, and on Saturdays at 7.30 in so far as drapery shops were concerned. There was some dissatisfaction with regard to that measure and a feeling among certain traders that the hour of 7.30 was too early.
A Bill amending the 1925 Act was introduced in the later months of the session of 1925. With regard to this measure a difference of opinion arose between the Dáil and Seanad on one particular point and that was the hour for closing on Saturday night. The Dáil wanted to fix the hour at 9 o'clock and the Seanad at 7.30. The matter was referred to a Select Committee of both Houses. Evidence was taken from parties interested and eventually a measure of agreement was reached whereby the hour was fixed at 8.30 on Saturday night. As they appear in the Act, the hours are 9 to 6 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9 to 6.30 on Fridays and 9 to 8.30 on Saturday nights. This measure has been in operation since 1926 and, generally speaking, there has been satisfaction. I do not say there is complete and entire satisfaction amongst all the sections affected, but in any case the Act has prevented the state of affairs that we had in 1923, 1924 and 1925 before the first Act was passed.
The object of this Bill is to continue the existing Act for a further period. The Bill does not regulate the hours of working, though undoubtedly it has the effect of limiting the hours which an employee will work. It does not follow that when the shop is closed the assistant is automatically released from duty. There are instances in some shops, smaller business places, where an assistant may have to remain for a half or three-quarters of an hour or more doing work of various kinds— putting up stock and generally tidying up after the day. Apart from this Act that is now in operation there is nothing to prevent young people working from 12 to 15 hours a day. I have already quoted a section from the Shops Act which indicates that no young person is to work more than 74 hours in the week.
I should like to see a much more comprehensive measure dealing with the hours of working in shops than either this Bill or the Act it proposes to continue. We have had no such legislation since 1912. In England they have an Act that was introduced in 1928. Before that they had the Defence of the Realm Regulations which to some extent did operate to restrict the hours of opening. In Britain, too, they are at present engaged in a big inquiry into the whole position with a view to regulating hours, etc. I am anxious to have such an inquiry into matters here, but in the meantime, until that inquiry is established, I am strongly in favour—and I hope the House will also be strongly in favour—of continuing the existing position until we are ready to put something more comprehensive in the place of the existing Act. I suggest the proper thing to do is to continue the existing situation which, though it may not be entirely satisfactory and may have many faults, still has resulted in doing what it purported to do, that is, to bring peace to the particular business concerned—peace between employers and employees.
I would like to refer to Deputy Lemass's amendment. With regard to the general principle comprised in the amendment I am quite in favour of it, but it is doubtful if the suggestion which the Deputy makes is a practical one in view of the time available. The present Act expires on the 15th July. What I fear about Deputy Lemass's proposal, if it were accepted, is that we would not be able to have a satisfactory inquiry of the type that, I am sure, Deputy Lemass as well as I would wish to have within the time available and at the same time have legislation enacted as a result of that inquiry in time before the present session closes. That is the difficulty that I see in regard to the amendment. I am in favour of the general principle in the amendment, and I would like the inquiry to be held, but I think it would be a much bigger matter than the Deputy anticipates. I do not think it could be satisfactorily done inside a month, because not only does the amendment suggest that the Act should be examined with a view to amendments that might be made in it as a result of experience, but it also brings in a very much wider question, the advisability of extending the terms of the new Bill to include other trades and to operate in areas outside Dublin and district.
I am in favour of having general shop legislation governing closing hours and the work of employees applied to districts outside Dublin, and to trades other than the special one mentioned here; but while the Act applies to Dublin only it does not mean that there are not other provisions of various kinds governing the hours of opening shops in districts outside Dublin. Sometimes regulations are made by order of an urban council or some other local authority, and sometimes by agreement between employers and employees. While the hours are not general, still there are outside Dublin certain regulations which are observed. I suggest to the House, and especially to Deputy Lemass, that we should pass this Bill now. I will not say with certainty that there was a general understanding when the Act was passed in 1926 that something would be done by the Government during the life of the Act, which was approximately three years, to inquire into the whole question and to introduce legislation. I do not know what steps have been taken in that direction, or whether anything has been done. What we do know is that the life of the existing measure is running out, and there is no doubt that if the Act is allowed to expire, and as we have no fresh legislation from the Government, we will be thrown back to a position of chaos, confusion, general disturbance and uncertainty such as existed in 1924 and 1925. I do not think there is anybody who will say that was a good state of affairs, or that it was anything we should look forward to without anxiety. The proper course for the House to take in the circumstances is to secure that the existing measure is continued. I am prepared to support Deputy Lemass or anybody else in any steps he takes to hurry up an inquiry such as he advocates here, or to force the Government to expedite any action they may have in their minds in regard to this matter.
I think it is necessary that it should be done. I think it is necessary that we should have a scheme of comprehensive legislation governing the whole question. In the meantime, I believe that we cannot get a satisfactory enquiry in a month and that it is essential that we should have the Act continued; there should be no hiatus between the time when the present Act shall expire and new legislation takes its place. Accordingly, I ask the House that they should pass this Second Reading.