I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The purpose of this Bill is to make the legislation in connection with weeds applicable to the whole of the State. Under the existing legislation there is such a thing as county option; each county council can adopt or can refuse to adopt the legislation, as the case may be. When the Agricultural Seeds and Weeds Act of 1909 was going through the British House of Commons, the Irish Party had this provision inserted; otherwise they were prepared to vote against the Bill and possibly throw out the Government. The provision, anyhow, was inserted, and since then the various counties in this country have either decided to enforce the legislation or not enforce it. There are eight counties in the Saorstát that have not adopted the Act and these eight counties are: Wicklow, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare, Sligo, Leitrim and Cavan.
In the case of a county that has decided to enforce the legislation and that is bordering on a county not enforcing it, it is unfair to the farmers who are trying to eliminate noxious weeds and we desire to rectify that position. The second point brought into this Bill which is not in the existing legislation is that the Civic Guards will help in the inspection work and will report cases where they think farmers are not getting rid of their weeds properly, and they will see that the cases are dealt with. As in the case of the Seeds Act, recently passed, this measure covers the whole code of weeds legislation and repeals the former measure that I have referred to.
