It is proposed to take the business as on the Order Paper—items Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive. Item No. 2 will be taken in its appropriate place. Public business will be interrupted at 9 o'clock this evening to take Private Deputies' business. If, however, public business be concluded before 9 o'clock, Private Deputies' business will then be taken.
Order of Business.
Will the Vice-President say whether there is any special reason for taking the Courts of Justice Bill before the Vocational Education Bill and the Liffey Reservoir Bill?
I know of no special reason.
Would the Vice-President then say whether he would be prepared, in order to convenience certain members of the House, to take the Vocational Education Bill and the Liffey Reservoir Bill before the Courts of Justice Bill?
Ministers have made certain appointments and prefer to keep to the order of business as announced.
I thought the Vice-President said that there was no special reason for taking the business in the order announced.
I said that I knew of no reason.
Owing to the events which must follow on the Vice-President's decision, I think it is right that I should take this opportunity of asking him whether he is aware that the Government was approached early this morning and informed that, owing to circumstances over which we had no control, we could not give the Courts of Justice Bill the attention it deserves if it were taken as the first item on the Order Paper. In view of that, we asked early this morning if arrangements could be made to substitute some other business between 3.30 and 5.30 p.m. That is the kind of application that is very infrequently made from the Opposition. May I submit to the Vice-President that, if the Courts of Justice Bill does not get the discussion it deserves now, it will be due to the fact that the Government was not prepared to accommodate the Opposition to that modest extent? In that connection, I may say that the House should bear in mind that the discussions on the earlier stages of the Courts of Justice Bill were prolonged and very much drawn out. The business of collating, of going over and calling to mind all that had passed, was no small task when it is remembered that there was no assistance available for the Opposition from permanent officials such as the Minister for Justice had at his disposal. If we ask for one or two hours' postponement of the discussion on this Bill, it seems to me a very peculiar attitude for the Government to adopt to refuse it.
Are the right people not here?
Frankly I may say that we believe that the Bill could be more usefully discussed if certain Deputies who, due to circumstances over which they have no control, are prevented from being here now, were present. They will be here later on. We believe that it would be a good thing to have Deputies present who could make a useful contribution to the debates on the Bill.
The Minister for Education is prepared to go ahead now with the Vocational Education Bill, but, in regard to the Liffey Reservoir Bill, the Minister for Industry and Commerce has made certain arrangements that he cannot alter at a moment's notice.
Very well. Let us take the Vocational Education Bill first.