I beg to move the following amendment (67):—
To insert at the end of the section a new sub-section as follows:—
Nothing in the foregoing sub-sections shall prevent the Minister from exercising his discretion in regard to applications that may be made to him by individuals or sporting associations to vary in any manner the period which is declared by this section to be an excessive period for the purposes of the section.
When we were discussing the section last evening the House was in favour of granting many of the proposed restrictions. I do not know whether it occurred to Deputies that if these restrictions were granted and no power were given to the Minister to relax them on certain occasions, we would be prohibited from holding a number of interesting competitions here from time to time. I dare say Deputies know that motor rallies are held in various places and motor races have been held here from time to time. Some of these competitions entail continuous driving. Perhaps that is not the case, to a great extent in this country so far, but elsewhere there have been competitions entailing continuous driving—driving over a period, say, of 24 hours. If the restrictions that were agreed to last night were to apply to motor races it would be impossible to hold these competitions here. I do not think the interests of the country would be served by any such action, and I am sure it is not the wish of the House that these competitions should be prohibited.