It is proposed to take the business on the Order Paper as from Item No. 3 (Constitution (Amendment No. 24) Bill), public business not to be interrupted at 12 o'clock.
Order of Business.
Would the President give some reasons as to why public business is not to be interrupted at 12 o'clock, thereby depriving the House of the opportunity of discussing the motions on the Order Paper down for Private Members' time?
As the Deputy is aware, it is usual for the Government to take Private Members' time during the session in which the financial business of the year is being dealt with. If that were not done it would mean that the session would have to be prolonged into the late summer because there would be a disorganisation of Government business. Ample opportunity is given to the Opposition to criticise the Administration and Government policy on the Estimates. Therefore, there is no need to make provision for Private Members' time.
I intend to oppose the President's proposal to take Private Members' time for Government business. There are a number of motions on the Order Paper to be taken in Private Members' time, their purpose being to force the Executive Council to take certain definite decisions and make more explicit statements than members of the Government have made up to the present on matters that are pressing in a most distressful way on certain sections of the community, whether these be the unemployed people in the towns or the farming community throughout the country. The President is taking up the time of the House with measures such as we had yesterday, all intended to obscure the economic situation by the political considerations that he wishes to distract the minds of the people with and to enable the Ministry further to withdraw themselves from public criticism. If it is usual for the Government at this period to take the time of the House entirely for Government business, the House realises and the country realises that we are meeting in very unusual circumstances. The measures the Executive Council are using all the time of the House on at the present time are all unusual measures; measures that are not calculated either to inform the House or the country as to what steps the Government are going to take in connection with some of the matters outlined in the motions that appear on the Order Paper. I think that the President, before taking Private Members' time, should at least let the House know, by a statement covering the motions that appear on the Order Paper, what he is going to do in connection with the various matters there referred to, all of which are matters of urgent importance to the people of the country who are suffering severely economically.
I should like to join in the protest against taking Private Deputies' time, seeing that there are on the Order Paper several urgent motions. One referring to the unemployment problem has been there for a considerable time, and has not yet been debated, while others deal with pressing public questions which should have been raised at an earlier date, only that no opportunity was afforded. If the Government is going to forbid the allocation of time to deal with motions put down by Private Members, it looks as if we will not reach the stage when we can have a discussion on them during the present session. Some of these motions are of primary importance, not only to the agricultural community, but to the workers. It is preposterous to have Private Deputies' time limited to the extent that it has been limited recently.
I believe the motions on the Order Paper in the names of Private Deputies are of much more importance than the Bill we have been discussing. The time allocated to Private Deputies is comparatively small, if unemployment and other questions are to be dealt with. More time should be devoted, in accordance with the rules of the House, to these questions. I wish to protest against the present practice continuing.
I should like to hear some protest from the Labour Party concerning the motion on the Order Paper in their name.
We protested for ten years when the Deputy's Party was in power, but that did not get the problem nearer solution.
It is obvious that members of that Party do not take their motion seriously. It is either a serious motion or it is humbug. Let them make some statement now.
The opportunity which the Opposition is looking for has been afforded, practically every day, during the session, and a good deal of time was given to discussing the problems referred to. If they want more time we will put forward the Vote for the Executive Council, when they will have their opportunity. I am quite prepared to bring forward that Estimate and to give them an ample opportunity of discussing it. I do not think any evidence can be put forward to show that we are burking discussion, or preventing members speaking on these questions as long as they choose. As practically every Deputy is aware, it was the practice in the past that this period of the year should be devoted to financial business.
Question put: "That public business be not interrupted at 12 noon."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 58; Níl, 48.
Tá
- Aiken, Frank.
- Bartley, Gerald.
- Beegan, Patrick.
- Blaney, Neal.
- Boland, Gerald.
- Boland, Patrick.
- Bourke, Daniel.
- Breen, Daniel.
- Briscoe, Robert.
- Browne, William Frazer.
- Concannon, Helena.
- Corkery, Daniel.
- Corry, Martin John.
- Crowley, Fred. Hugh.
- Crowley, Timothy.
- Daly, Denis.
- Derrig, Thomas.
- De Valera, Eamon.
- Doherty, Hugh.
- Dowdall, Thomas P.
- Flinn, Hugo V.
- Flynn, John.
- Flynn, Stephen.
- Fogarty, Andrew.
- Gibbons, Seán.
- Goulding, John.
- Hales, Thomas.
- Harris, Thomas.
- Jordan, Stephen.
- Kehoe, Patrick.
- Kelly, James Patrick.
- Kelly, Thomas.
- Kennedy, Michael Joseph.
- Kilroy, Michael.
- Kissane, Eamonn.
- Lemass, Seán F.
- Little, Patrick John.
- McEllistrim, Thomas.
- MacEntee, Seán.
- Maguire, Conor Alexander.
- Moore, Séamus.
- Moylan, Seán.
- Murphy, Patrick Stephen.
- O'Briain, Donnchadh.
- O'Dowd, Patrick.
- O'Grady, Seán.
- O'Kelly, Seán Thomas.
- O'Reilly, Matthew.
- Pearse, Margaret Mary.
- Rice, Edward.
- Ruttledge, Patrick Joseph.
- Ryan, James.
- Ryan, Martin.
- Ryan, Robert.
- Sheridan, Michael.
- Smith, Patrick.
- Traynor, Oscar.
- Victory, James.
Níl
- Anthony, Richard.
- Belton, Patrick.
- Bennett, George Cecil.
- Broderick, William Joseph.
- Brodrick, Seán.
- Burke, Patrick.
- Byrne, Alfred.
- Dolan, James Nicholas.
- Doyle, Peadar S.
- Fagan, Charles.
- Finlay, John.
- Fitzgerald, Desmond.
- Fitzgerald-Kenney, James.
- Good, John.
- Hogan, Patrick (Clare).
- Holohan, Richard.
- Keyes, Michael.
- Lynch, Finian.
- MacDermot, Frank.
- McDonogh, Martin.
- McFadden, Michael Og.
- McGovern, Patrick.
- McMenamin, Daniel.
- Minch, Sydney B.
- Cosgrave, William T.
- Costello, John Aloysius.
- Curran, Richard.
- Davin, William.
- Davis, Michael.
- Dillon, James M.
- Dockrell, Henry Morgan.
- Morrisroe, James.
- Morrissey, Daniel.
- Mulcahy, Richard.
- Murphy, James Edward.
- Nally, Martin.
- O'Leary, Daniel.
- O'Mahony, The.
- O'Neill, Eamonn.
- O'Reilly, John Joseph.
- O'Sullivan, John Marcus.
- Pattison, James P.
- Redmond, Bridget Mary.
- Reidy, James.
- Rice, Vincent.
- Roddy, Martin.
- Rogers, Patrick James.
- Thrift, William Edward.
Tellers:—Tá: Deputies Little and Traynor; Níl: Deputies Doyle and Bennett.
Question declared carried.