I move:
"That the Dáil do now adjourn until Wednesday, November 4th."
Financial Motions. - Adjournment of Dáil.
I want to protest very strongly against the Dáil not meeting next week, especially in view of the reason which the President gave this morning for not meeting, namely, that there was no work to be done. I suggested then, and I suggest now, that the motion standing in my name, No. 18 on the Order Paper, does provide very important work for the Dáil. There is no motion that we have had before us since the Dáil met that is more important from the point of view of the people than the motion which asks the Dáil to consider remedial measures for providing useful work for those who are unemployed and to meet the special needs of agriculture. That is a matter which ought to concern Deputies, as it does undoubtedly concern the people of the country. If we sat next week to consider this motion we would be only responding to the appeal made in the recent Pastoral of the Bishops, in which they asked people of all political opinions to sink their differences and join together in an endeavour to find a solution for our social and economic problems which will be in accordance with the traditions of Catholic Ireland. I believe that there is very important work to be done, even if we did nothing else next week but discuss that motion. I do not wish to go into any argument in support of that; I think the thing is obvious; but I protest strongly against the adjournment.
I should like if the President would tell us exactly what the members of the Government were doing during the adjournment. Before the adjournment there were at least four Bills the First Reading of which was taken and which have not yet appeared. There are other Bills the introduction of which was promised before the adjournment, but which were not introduced then and have not been introduced since. Have the members of the Government been absolutely idle during that time? No evidence that they have been attending to their duties has been furnished to us. The sole reason why it is proposed that the Dáil should not meet next week is because of that inactivity of the Government and the failure of the Government to do the work which they had to do. If the Government will not give us facilities to discuss the matters that they want discussed, they should not deprive the Dáil of the opportunity of discussing matters that the Opposition want to discuss. We think that the matters which the Opposition are drawing attention to are in the main and in the long run much more important than the various measures which the Government have in contemplation. There are urgent social and economic problems to be solved, and the proposal of the President to adjourn until next Wednesday week means that the Dáil is going to be denied the opportunity of expressing its views on the manner in which a solution of these problems should be sought.
I wish to protest against the adjournment. The Dáil has been on holidays for four months, the greater part of which was spent, apparently, by the Government preparing a Coercion Bill. Then they come here and spent last week discussing that Coercion Bill and now they have no more work to do. I say that while the agricultural industry is in its present very depressed state it is the duty of the Ministers, who apparently were too busy settling disputes between the Chinese and Japanese during the last few months, to consider that situation and to propose measures for its relief. I suggest that next week could be very usefully devoted to considering the condition of affairs in this country, particularly in regard to agriculture. It is unfair and unjust that Ministers, who are paid good salaries for doing the people's work, should start this kind of general holiday stunt. If they want a general holiday, let them go to the people, and the people will be very glad to give them a chance of a general holiday.
The best case I have heard for the adjournment has been made by the three Deputies to whom we have listened. There is an absolute lack of appreciation of what the problem of Government is, of what an economic problem is, and a lack of interpretation of what the Bishops stated in their Pastoral last week. Just consider for a moment the motion that Deputy O'Connell wants us to discuss next week. On the one hand, he asks apparently for money, which must come from somewhere, and there is only one place to find it, and that is in the people's pockets. On the other hand, he wants remedial measures considered for the purpose of relieving the major industry of the country, the one industry in which the major portion of the wealth of the country is involved. The Deputy lightly puts down that motion, having in mind I presume what the Bishops stated, that we ought to sink our political differences.
Mr. O'Connell
It was put down before that.
What effect will that motion have in bringing about the sinking of political differences in order to solve economic problems?
It was put down on the 10th October.
The two Parties opposite are more anxious to bring out the differences, political or otherwise, which may exist in order to get any political advantage they can out of it.
Mr. O'Connell
Nonsense.
Not a single pronouncement has been made by any Party as to what would contribute towards relieving either the economic or the unemployment situation.
We are denied the opportunity.
We are to come here to talk. The last Deputy who spoke is an expert in that business.
You are undoubtedly.
I talk sense when I am speaking and that agitates the Deputy's mind much more than he thinks. We are asked to sink our political differences in order to find a solution for our economic problems. I should like to see some effort made at sinking differences in order to find a solution for our economic and social problems on the part of the three Deputies who have just spoken.
Mr. O'Connell
It was not accepted.
Deputy Lemass is, above all things, as he would say himself, a man of sense.
You are right for once.
Of course he talks a good deal too much for a man of sense. Men of sense are usually rather economical in their utterances.
There must be a lot of sensible men in Cumann na nGaedheal.
The Deputy should follow the example I give in that connection.
What about the Minister for Defence last night?
The Deputy got out of swaddling clothes much too soon. The Executive Council, when it considers any proposal, takes a long time to consider the heads of it and to decide upon them to make sure that they are in the best interest of the country. When that is done, what is the next step? The Deputy knows well that the various instruments making up the decision of the Executive Council are sent to the draughtsman. How many Bills are before the draughtsman's office at present? The Deputy never considers that. He would rather make his speech on the adjournment first and find out afterwards. That is the problem to be solved—whether we can get out of the machine that is turning out Bills, more Bills, or Bills more quickly. As far as the Executive Council's decision on them is concerned, it was given a considerable time ago.
On what?
The various measures introduced, which are at present in the hands of the draughtsman, and which he is endeavouring to make so simple that even Deputy Davin will understand them.
Does that apply to the Transport Bill?
Question put.
The Dáil divided : Tá, 66; Níl, 55.
Tá
- Alton, Ernest Henry.
- Beckett, James Walter.
- Bennett, George Cecil.
- Blythe, Ernest.
- Bourke, Séamus A.
- Brennan, Michael.
- Brodrick, Seán.
- Carey, Edmund.
- Cole, John James.
- Collins-O'Driscoll, Mrs. Marget.
- Conlan, Martin.
- Connolly, Michael P.
- Cosgrave, William T.
- Craig Sir James.
- Crowley, James.
- Daly, John.
- Davis, Michael.
- Doherty, Eugene.
- Dolan, James N.
- Doyle, Peadar Seán.
- Duggan, Edmund John.
- Dwyer, James.
- Fitzgerald, Desmond.
- Fitzgerald-Kenney, James.
- Good, John.
- Gorey, Denis J.
- Hassett, John J.
- Heffernan, Michael R.
- Hennessy, Michael Joseph.
- Hennessy, Thomas.
- Hennigan, John.
- Henry, Mark.
- Hogan, Patrick (Galway).
- Holohan, Richard.
- Jordan, Michael.
- Keogh, Myles.
- Law, Hugh Alexander.
- Leonard, Patrick.
- Lynch, Finian.
- Mathews, Arthur Patrick.
- McDonogh, Martin.
- MacEoin, Seán.
- McFadden, Michael Og.
- McGilligan, Patrick.
- Mongan, Joseph W.
- Mulcahy, Richard.
- Myles, James Sproule.
- Nally, Martin Michael.
- Nolan, John Thomas.
- O'Connell, Richard.
- O'Leary, Daniel.
- O'Mahony, The.
- O'Reilly, John J.
- O'Sullivan, Gearóid.
- O'Sullivan, John Marcus.
- Reynolds, Patrick.
- Rice, Vincent.
- Roddy, Martin.
- Sheehy, Timothy (West Cork).
- Thrift, William Edward.
- Tierney, Michael.
- Vaughan, Daniel.
- White, John.
- White, Vincent Joseph.
- Wolfe, George.
- Wolfe, Jasper Travers.
Níl
- Aiken, Frank.
- Allen, Denis.
- Blaney, Neal.
- Boland, Gerald.
- Boland, Patrick.
- Bourke, Daniel.
- Briscoe, Robert.
- Broderick, Henry.
- Buckley, Daniel.
- Carney, Frank.
- Carty, Frank.
- Cassidy, Archie J.
- Clancy, Patrick.
- Clery, Michael.
- Colbert, James.
- Cooney, Eamon.
- Corish, Richard.
- Corry, Martin John.
- Crowley, Tadhg.
- Davin, William.
- Derrig, Thomas.
- De Valera, Eamon.
- O'Connell, Thomas J.
- O'Kelly, Seán T.
- O'Leary, William.
- Ryan, James.
- Ruttledge, Patrick J.
- Ryan, James.
- Doyle, Edward.
- Everett, James.
- Fahy, Frank.
- Flinn, Hugo.
- Fogarty, Andrew.
- Gorry, Patrick J.
- Goulding, John.
- Harris, Thomas.
- Hogan, Patrick (Clare).
- Houlihan, Patrick.
- Jordan, Stephen.
- Kent, William R.
- Killilea, Mark.
- Kilroy, Michael.
- Lemass, Seán F.
- Little, Patrick John.
- Maguire, Ben.
- McEllistrim, Thomas.
- MacEntee, Seán.
- Moore, Séamus.
- Morrissey, Daniel.
- Murphy, Timothy Joseph.
- Sexton, Martin.
- Sheehy, Timothy (Tipp.).
- Smith, Patrick.
- Tubridy, John.
- Walsh, Richard.
Tellers:—Tá: Deputies Duggan and P.S. Doyle; Níl: Deputies G. Boland and Ca ssidy.
Question declared carried.
The Dáil adjourned at 2.10 p.m. until Wednesday, 4th November.