I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. As I explained earlier to-day, those Orders, which are of minor importance, were made under the Emergency Imposition of Duties Act, and have to be confirmed by legislation within a period of months. I desire to have this Bill enacted by the Dáil to-day, so that it can go to the Seanad for enactment there in view of the fact that it has to be law before 1st May. There are only three Orders to be confirmed. The Bill, I may say, is in the usual form, and there is nothing worthy of comment in its sections. The three Orders are separate and distinct. The first relates to an amendment of the duty on cotton wool. Under the Finance Act, 1940, a duty was placed upon cotton wool and a provision was inserted in the duty imposed by that Act to the effect that cotton wool which had been medicated would not be liable to duty. It was found necessary to amend the definition of medicated cotton wool, and the purpose of this Order is to make it clear that medicated cotton wool was exempt from duty when the wool contained at least 15 per cent. of boric acid, when it had been treated with oleoresin of capsicum in accordance with the British Pharmaceutical Codex, or had been treated with any medicament other than boric acid or oleoresin of capsicum, and formed a single consignment not exceeding 14 lbs. in weight, consigned to one person only. That amendment of duty was merely for the purpose of preventing evasion of the Order. The alteration does not affect in any way the position in respect of the supply of cotton wool.
The second Order, No. 222, reduces the duty on assembled electrical motor chassis to 15 per cent. There is in fact none of these chassis being imported, but, in order to facilitate anybody who might get one, the duty was reduced to a nominal one of 15 per cent. Order No. 223, as I explained earlier, was made solely for the purpose of obtaining power to grant licences for the free importation of goods which were subject to duty, where the Act imposing that duty or the Order imposing that duty did not itself give that power to grant licences for free importation. Again, the position is that the enactment of the Order is merely a formality. In respect of a number of the items mentioned in the Order, the duty has since been suspended altogether by an Emergency Powers Order. I do not think, therefore, it can be said that any of these Orders is of major importance, but it is necessary that they should be confirmed by law, because, owing to the provisions of the Emergency Powers Act, if an Order made is not confirmed either because the Dáil refuses to confirm it, or because a Bill is not presented to the Dáil for that purpose, then a similar Order cannot be made again, and difficulties would arise if that situation were created by failure to enact this Act before 1st May.
