Private Deputies' Business. - Payment of Deputies' Expenses—Motion. – Dáil Éireann (11th Dáil) – Wednesday, 1 Mar 1944

Private Deputies' Business. - Payment of Deputies' Expenses—Motion.

Debate resumed on the following motion:—

That Dáil Eireann is of opinion that, in order to preserve the independence of Deputies, it is not desirable that they should be in danger of being regarded as salaried servants of the State; that, in order to enable every citizen, rich or poor, to discharge the duties of a Deputy, if elected by the people to represent them, each Deputy should receive an allowance sufficient to defray the expenses of his work as a Deputy and that in order effectively to secure this object a Select Committee of Dáil Eireann should be appointed to ascertain the average expenses of the average Deputy and to recommend an annual payment sufficient to defray those expenses.

Mr. L. Cosgrave

Before we adjourned the other night, I had digressed for a short period to deal with the question of the dignity of Parliament. If it is conceded that Deputies should receive an allowance, the next question to decide is: What is an adequate allowance? Numerous commissions—I think four, to be exact —have considered this question. The commissions were varied in their personnel and varied in the time at which they operated. Each of these commissions decided that an allowance should be paid to Deputies and Senators. They all decided that that allowance should be free from income-tax. I agree on principle merely that it would be more desirable that the allowances should be subject to income-tax; but, if the allowances are subject to income-tax, even the present amount will very likely be found to be inadequate for the ordinary expenses of a Deputy. If the allowances are to be subject to income-tax, such as the Farmers' Party have mentioned, does it follow that one Deputy may escape with the whole £480, while another will probably have to pay every penny of it in income-tax? There has to be equality among Deputies, and if each Deputy is to be on an equal footing in this connection each must pay the same amount in income-tax.

It is quite easy for the Farmer Deputies to come here and say that the allowance must be subject to income-tax, knowing quite well that they will not pay a penny out of the allowance in income-tax, knowing quite well that they will be able to throw in farm implements or whatever property or stock they have, in order to escape liability under the income-tax code. It is generally conceded that each Deputy has the same privileges and the same rights. If that is so, each Deputy should pay the same amount, and should only be liable for the same amount, and if we decide that Deputies should pay income-tax on their allowances, then let it be at the full rate and let it be the same for each Deputy, with no rebates, because some Deputies may be able to throw in an ass and cart, a tractor, or something else.

It is not generally realised outside that Deputies do a certain amount of work, and some Deputies work extremely hard. I do not say every Deputy does. It is possible every Deputy is not expected to, and particularly where you have political Parties it would not be possible for back benchers in every Party to rise on every matter and join in the debate. If a farmer Deputy leaves his farm, particularly if he is a progressive farmer like Deputy Hughes, he has to pay someone to do the work while he is absent, or otherwise he will lose, largely by reason of the fact that in his absence the men may not be devoting the same time and attention to the work. Similarly, if a Deputy is a businessman, he has to engage a manager, or else chance the consequences; he may lose, or his business may not be run as efficiently. If a Deputy is a professional man, he is taken away from his business, unless he happens to be a solicitor who has a partner to conduct the business for him. If he is a doctor or a barrister, he is away from his business during the time he is attending to his Parliamentary duties. I do not want it to be understood that I think Deputies should make profit out of their positions as elected representatives. They should neither lose nor gain in so far as it is possible to estimate accurately what the losses or gains are likely to be.

The campaign against free allowances to Deputies, or to make the allowances subject to income-tax, has been proceeding for a long time. It started when the Deputies opposite were in opposition. The Farmers' Party, or the non-political gentlemen who masquerade as defenders of the farmers, now come along and, because it goes down at the cross roads, or because the Labour Party can harangue the masses in the cities, they believe it is the right thing to do. I think it is time in this country we realised that appealing to the lowest instincts of the people is not honourable or patriotic.

In my opinion the Farmers' Party and the Labour Party, on the last occasion that they voted on this question, acted dishonestly. They did so for two reasons: (1) they would not make the allowances subject to income-tax and (2) they could go to their constituents and say: "We failed to make the allowances subject to income-tax," knowing at the same time that they were not subject to tax. In my opinion that was dishonest on the part of the Farmers' Party. It was the very negation of patriotism and a mockery of truth. If that is the kind of benefit we are to expect from the entrance to this House of Clann na Talmhan the sooner they fade out of political life the better.

Mr. Halliden

On a point of order. Are we discussing the motion before the House?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That is not a point of order. The Deputy is in order.

Mr. L. Cosgrave

Take your medicine.

Mr. O'Donnell

You have more brains than the whole of the Farmers' Party.

Mr. L. Cosgrave

That would not be hard.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Order.

Mr. L. Cosgrave

If we are to realise our responsibilities to the community, we will have to appeal to their best interests, by enlightening them on whatever policy we believe to be the best; not merely going out and saying that Deputies' allowances should be subject to income-tax, and that they should be in the same position as everybody else. If that is the worst cancer in the body politic then eradicate it. There may be many others, but we do not hear the Farmers' Party or the Labour Party mentioning them. No Deputy desires to be a member of an institution that is being constantly ridiculed or abused. either in the Press or on public platforms. That lowers the prestige and the dignity of Parliament, and detracts from the usefulness of the work which elected representatives of the people can do. If we are to continue on that line then political opportunists who get a few seats can point to the fact that Deputies are not paid allowances, but salaries, and we will never get anywhere. We have been too long going around in circles. The allowances paid to Deputies should, in my opinion, be subject to income-tax.

But I concede that numerous commissions have for a number of years decided otherwise. As different Dála decided that allowances were distinct from salaries it was quite wrong legally for the Farmers' Party to refer to them as salaries. Legally, they are allowances. Of course, legalities need not trouble the Farmers' Party. If they are allowances they should be free from income-tax, and, if not allowances, should be subject to it. We must decide what are adequate allowances and, having decided that, allow them to be paid without questioning at each recurring Parliament or general election.

It may not be generally known that the allowances paid in other Parliaments are in nearly every case far larger than the allowances paid here. In Australia the amount is £1,000, in Canada £800, in South Africa £700 and in New Zealand £450. Each of those countries may be more or less prosperous than we are, but they compare generally with conditions here. These facts are never demonstrated to the people by the Farmers' Party or by the Labour Party when they inform them that the Deputies are getting away with privileges which ordinary people do not enjoy. I believe it is desirable that this matter should be settled once for all, and I urge strongly on the Government the desirability of dealing with the matter now. We had an intimation from the Tánaiste that it was not the intention to set up a committee. I am quite sure that the more mature Deputies on the opposite benches realise that their previous actions on this question were not all that might be desired. If that is so, this is the time to decide, so that when there is an election, or when Deputies think some capital can be gained, they will not persist in haranguing the people on the inequity of this system. I have no desire to have my constituents labouring under the delusion that I am masquerading as an individual who is receiving money for nothing or money under false pretences.

When I asked for the confidence of the electorate I told them that I would serve their interests according to my light in the changed circumstances that time might require. I asked them if they did not believe in my policy not to support me. I do not believe in bartering principles merely to get votes by cheap political propaganda which panders to the worst instincts of the people. If Deputies believe that that is the right thing to do there is an ancient book by Niccolo Machiavelli— with which the Taoiseach is well acquainted—and from that book one can learn all about appealing to the worst instincts of the people or acting along certain lines.

I maintain that we have for a long period been going around in circles, that there has been retrogression, and that if those in a position to judge us say that this is the worst Parliament since we got self-government, then that is no tribute to us after being for 22 years masters of our destiny. It would be irrelevant to go into what contributed to that state of affairs. But I want to urge on the Government the desirability of again examining this question and settling it once and for all.

Deputy Cogan mentioned that all his Party required was a repeal of the Act of 1925. I know, as well as other Deputies the results that will follow. The next step will be an attack on the President, and the attacks will continue until the institutions of the State are wrecked. If that is the function of the Farmers' Party the sooner that dishonest sham is exposed the better. We have to move forward, not backward; we must not go round in circles. As General Collins said: "Ireland is ours for the making. Let us not fail."

Mr. Bennett

I wish to support the motion brought forward by Deputy Dillon in the hope it will put an end to the propaganda that has centred around payments made to Deputies for certain purposes. I deprecate the use of the word "salary" in regard to any sums paid to Deputies. If we admit that Deputies are in receipt of salaries, then we admit that they are servants of the State and at the beck and call of the State or some one else, and so perhaps lose their independence of thought and action. Some of us have given voluntary service to this State and to the country generally in various ways for longer periods than the lifetime of some of the younger Deputies. We refuse to surrender our voluntary work.

If we admit the principle that the sums Deputies receive for their services in this House are allowances, then we need not enter into the question of income-tax which has been raised in this debate. There can be no income-tax if there is no income, and unless we describe the sums received by Deputies as income, then we should not bother ourselves about discussing the taxation of them. If some Deputy on the Farmers' Benches, in his goodness of heart, offers to buy or sell cattle for me at fairs throughout the year, and if I insist that he at least should take from me the out-of-pocket expenses he has incurred, does anybody suggest that the aggregate of the amounts he has received in 12 months must be disclosed as income to the authorities and that he must pay income-tax on these receipts. I do not think that such a suggestion would be made by anybody here. I, for one, will not be a party to any action taken inside or outside this House to lessen the dignity of members of the House. An attempt has been made in the Press, and outside the Press, in every vile way to diminish the respect that should be paid to Deputies who have given, and who will continue to give, voluntary service to the people who elected them.

Deputy Dillon is allowed at least 30 minutes to reply to the various speeches that have been made on this motion, and I do not want to have it said that, for my part, I took up an undue portion of the time allowed for the debate. Three sentences will suffice to say what I have to say on this motion. Firstly, I deprecate the use of the word "salary". Secondly, no case has been made as far as I could hear from any part of the House to establish that the allowance that Deputies receive is too much. It may be too much, but nobody has made the case that it is. That case has not been made even by the Deputies who proposed that we should pay income-tax. I suggest that we should end this matter once and for all by accepting my suggestion, that we drop this insane idea that we are paid servants, and that we have lost our voluntary status. Let us admit that the Dáil was right when it said that there should be an allowance paid to Deputies to pay their expenses. If a sufficient allowance were not made to Deputies to cover such expenses, then it would not be possible for poor men and women to give service in this House to the State.

The Committee which considered this matter suggested an allowance calculated to meet what they thought was the exact amount that would cover the ordinary expenses of a Deputy in the pursuit of his duties. Let it be accepted so as to put an end to this propaganda once and for all, that a reasonable allowance should be made for that purpose or let somebody argue that no allowance should be paid at all, so that those only who can afford to pay their own expenses should come into the Dáil. I do not know whether I should be included amongst such people, but certainly if that were decided, many of the present members of the Dáil would disappear. If it is admitted that there should be some allowance to meet the expenses of an ordinary member let us fix some amount. If the present allowance is too high, cut it down, and if it is too low let us increase it, but by some means or other—and I think Deputy Dillon's suggestion is as good as any that has been made—let us arrive at what the Dáil considers is a reasonable allowance for expenses and so get away once and for all from the suggestion that we are the paid servants of anybody and that there is no one in this country who has any disposition to give voluntary service to the country.

Deputy Tunney rose.

Mr. Dillon

I am concerned to conclude this debate before twenty-past eight.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I shall give Deputy Tunney five minutes to address the House.

Mr. Tunney

In view of what you have said I shall be very brief. At the outset, I should like to say that I think this is a very dishonest motion. First and foremost, an opportunity was given to Deputy Dillon and other Deputies if they were honest and sincere in their professions, to support the motion brought forward by Clann na Talmhan on the subject of the payment of income-tax on Deputies' allowances. I still hold that Deputies should not be a privileged class in this respect. That is a personal opinion which I shall continue to hold. Why should this House ask others to pay income-tax on moneys they receive when Deputies do not pay tax on their own allowances?

Deputy Dillon has stated that he would like to maintain the dignity of this House. I agree with the Deputy that it is necessary to maintain the dignity of this House but I hold that the way to maintain the dignity of the House is by raising the standard of living of the Irish people in general. How can we suggest that Deputies' allowances or salaries, call them what you will, this £480 per annum which every Deputy receives, should be free of income-tax when the farm labourer who is in receipt of £2 per week, the road worker in receipt of less than £2 per week, and the turf producer who must go down to Kildare and go out in the bog on a cold morning to raise fuel for the nation, and who also receives less than £2 per week, must contribute to these allowances of £480? Without food and fuel the nation could not exist, and if we want to maintain the dignity of this House let us raise the dignity and the standard of the workers of the nation.

Colonel Ryan

On a point of order, are we discussing the motion before the House? The Deputy is not dealing with the motion before the House.

Mr. Tunney

With all due respect, I am discussing the motion, because the motion has a bearing on what the nation and the individual can afford to contribute to the payment of Deputies. These road workers, turf workers and farm labourers out of their frugal earnings must contribute to the £480 per annum, tax free, which Deputies receive, so that I hold I am justified and that I am in order in referring to these matters. If Deputy Dillon would consider an addendum to his motion that this House should also consider the allowances paid to the average worker within the country I would support him. As I have said, it was open to every Deputy to support the Clann na Talmhan motion. Deputy Dillon described it as a dishonest motion. I say here and now that it was not, and I challenge Deputy Dillon or any other Deputy to go out amongst the ordinary citizens of this nation and make that statement. I guarantee that nine out of every ten citizens, including Deputy Dillon's own constituents, will agree that it is unfair that a Deputy should get £480 free of income-tax, with vouched travelling expenses, while the farm labourer, the road worker and the turf worker get less than £2 per week.

Let us also consider the amount paid to the ordinary soldier in this country, though I am not saying for a moment that the Government is not doing its best to improve the condition of the ordinary soldier. A soldier must give his whole time to his job and be prepared to lay down his life in defence of his country. Let us try to raise his standard before attempting to raise our own. What about the small farmer? I do not mean the rancher but the industrious tillage farmer who has to work practically every day for the seven days of the week, if he is going to make his farm pay. Has he £480 free of tax? Let us try to raise the standard of these people and then we can talk about dignity. All these people, although their standard of living is so low, have to contribute towards Deputies' allowances.

Not one of the classes I have mentioned has an income of £480 and I do say with due respect that they are the most important section within the nation. You could dissolve this Dáil and the country could carry on for the next 12 months.

Mr. Dillon

Am I to get time to reply?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I gave the Deputy five minutes. I call on Deputy Dillon to reply.

Mr. Tunney

I am not in the habit of detaining the House.

Mr. Hogan

By what rule does the Chair limit a Deputy's time? By what order?

Minister for Local Government and Public Health (Mr. MacEntee)

I understood that there was general agreement.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I gave the Deputy five minutes and I call on Deputy Dillon to reply.

I was only enforcing an agreement that was apparently arrived at by the House.

Mr. Kissane

In order——

An Ceann Comhairle

There was an agreement come to by the House over Private Deputies' business, namely, that the Deputy who moves a motion would get 20 minutes in which to reply. Deputy Dillon will now rise to conclude.

Mr. Davin

On a point of order, is it not also within the right of the members of the House to agree to an extension of the time for the debate?

An Ceann Comhairle

Not at this eleventh hour, surely, when the Deputy is rising to conclude.

In concluding the debate on this motion, I think it right to say that at one time I felt that there might be a great deal to be said for levying income-tax on the allowances paid to Deputies of this House and I gave every expression to this view in this House. But the more I reflected upon this question the clearer it became to me that a very distinct line of demarcation must be drawn between a salary and an allowance and that this House and the people must make up their minds as to whether they want professional, salaried politicians in this country or the system to which we have been accustomed of men who earn their living at their ordinary trade and vocation and attend to their public duties as well. Our people have chosen deliberately that they do not want created in this country a class of professional politicians and with that decision I most heartily agree. That being so, those of us who are in this House must, if we are to rear families, and to live an ordinary life, have some other means of livelihood than our Parliamentary allowances.

I want to emphasise again that Deputies are paying income-tax and that every time Deputies vote for an addition to the income-tax, they pay it with every other citizen of the State who is called upon to pay it, and it is a dishonest fraud on our people to tell them that because the Parliamentary allowance is exempt from income-tax, therefore, Deputies are free to increase the income-tax without suffering any of the consequences themselves. Every Minister in the Government pays income-tax on his salary as a Minister, and, if he votes for an increase in income-tax, he has to pay it as every other citizen has to pay it. Every shopkeeper in this Dáil, every lawyer in this Dáil, every skilled craftsman earning sufficient to bring him within the category of persons required to pay income-tax, share whatever burden they, by legislation, put upon the community as a whole. They claim no credit for that; it would be an absurdity if the situation were otherwise; but it is wrong, it is fraudulent, for informed persons to represent to the masses of our people that the reverse is the case, and that we have constituted ourselves what Deputy Cogan chooses to describe as a privileged class. Every shilling, every sixpence, every half-crown put on the income-tax is being paid by 90 per cent. of the Deputies, and will continue to be so paid, and if. in the next Budget, it is necessary to put another shilling on income-tax, 90 per cent. of the Deputies will have to make their contribution under that new impost the same as any other citizen of the State.

I want to remind the House of this fact. I was brought up in the tradition of people who served in Parliament for this country and got no reward at all. They went to London, very often on 30/- a week subscribed by their constituents, and lived in tenements on the Vauxhall Bridge Road, in order effectively to do the work that had to be done for this country, and when Parliamentary allowances were introduced in Westminster, the members of the Irish Party voted against them. I do not believe that, in this day and generation, you can expect or hope to get the spirit of self-sacrifice which actuated Parnell, Redmond and their lieutenants.

They were fighting for the nation's freedom, and, as such, their sole reward, and it was ample, was winning the fight. We, after all, are doing the nation's business, and, though our fellow citizens have the right to expect of us integrity and independence, they have not the right to ask us, now that they enjoy independence, now that they enjoy all the advantages of freedom, that we shall suffer heavily in our income by coming here to Dáil Eireann. Let us be clear on this. There are many Deputies, and I do not make any apology for putting myself in the category, who would not accept £480 a year as adequate remuneration for the work we do.

Let us be frank. It is time to be frank. If I devoted the time I devote to Dáil Eireann to my ordinary avocation and were paid for the hours I spend here at the same rate as I am paid for the hours I spend at my work, I would be paid a great deal more than £480 a year, and the same is true of other Deputies whom I do not care to name. If the people want "duds", then it is perfectly right to invite "duds" to come and take a "dud's" salary; but if the people want the best men in the country, let them make up their minds whether they want them on a salary basis or a semi-voluntary basis. If they want them on a semi-voluntary basis, I believe the best men in this country will be proud to be elected to this Assembly without any salary; but if they want them as paid servants, the people will have to make up their minds that they will have to pay them a great deal more than £480 a year.

I would regard it as a great catastrophe if the voluntary system of public representation came to an end in this country. I want to see maintained in this country the system of farmers, shopkeepers, labourers and professional men coming in here, doing their Parliamentary work, maintaining in so far as possible their normal avocations at the same time, and receiving from the State a sum sufficient to compensate them for the actual loss they sustain as a result of conscientiously doing their work, but no more.

Before I part from that point, I want to sound this note of warning. The practice is growing in this country of charging Deputies with being motivated by every kind of base motive— that we are here for the salaries we get, that we are in a soft job and that we are in the position which Clann na Talmhan were going to right when they get into Dáil Eireann.

If that kind of talk is to be maintained for a long time, nobody will come to this House but those with gangster mentalities, because respectable men will not suffer public insult of that kind for doing nothing but their duty as public men, and if that kind of talk is maintained in the public life of the country, you will end up by having in Dáil Eireann 137 men who have no reputations to lose and who, therefore, do not care what anybody says about them. I have seen that happen in the State legislatures of certain States in the United States of America, where the standard of abuse of men in public life became so foul that no decent man would stand for the State Parliament. The result was that, in certain legislatures, they got a collection of gangsters, because no decent man was prepared to have his reputation bespattered and besmirched by every urchin who wanted to scrabble for votes by slandering his neighbours.

Mr. Larkin

In what portion of the States did that happen?

Mr. Dillon

The Deputy can find out if he goes back to——

Mr. Larkin

You are making the statement.

Mr. Dillon

Deputy Larkin need not think he will put me off the thread of my discourse by interrupting me. Let him keep those tactics for the Dublin Corporation.

The Deputy has not many minutes left.

Mr. Dillon

I was not given much time. This motion was put down to afford Clann na Talmhan an opportunity of taking steps to reduce Parliamentary salaries, if they really believe it ought to be done. Deputy Cogan says his sole concern is to get income-tax paid, to get the provisions of the Act of 1925 repealed. Deputy Cogan is quite mistaken if he thinks that exemption from income-tax was conferred by the Act of 1925. It was not; it was conferred by the Act of 1938, which he took a part in debating here. When he was discussing Section 3 of that Act when it was before the House, he made no reference at all to that part of the section which exempted his salary from income-tax. This sudden solicitude about income-tax is now come to him. What Clann na Talmhan tried to prove down the country was that, if they got in here, they would reduce the Parliamentary allowances of Deputies. Now is their chance; let them vote for my motion, and we will set up this committee and reduce salaries, if they are too high. But they will take darn good care not to vote for it, lest their salaries should be reduced, because they do not want them reduced.

In the very few minutes left to me, I want to say that the Tánaiste said that it is better to let this kind of propaganda die. I do not believe that you can afford to let this kind of propaganda die. I have seen this kind of propaganda bring legislatures down to the depths, whatever Deputy Larkin may say about it. I have seen legislatures brought to the level that no respectable man would enter their portals. I want to see Dáil Eireann an institution respected by every section of the community as truly representative of the Irish people; I want to see membership of this Dáil as the highest honour to which a citizen of this State can aspire. Therefore, I say that whenever and wherever the type of propaganda for which Clann na Talmhan has been responsible shows its head, so long as I am in public life, I will drag it into the open, expose it for what it is and give those who spread that kind of propaganda an opportunity of demonstrating before their constituents whether they are honest or false. I say that Clann na Talmhan has represented to the people of this country that Deputies here were receiving not only an allowance but an excessive salary.

I now vouchsafe them an opportunity of collaborating with me in bringing that salary down to whatever level they think their constituents would think a fair and just allowance or salary for Deputies. Deputy Cogan, in 1938, found that although £480 a year was to be provided, he was going to hand £120 away every year. I do not know whether he did that or not.

An Ceann Comhairle

That does not arise.

Mr. Cogan

I voted against the increase.

Mr. Dillon

I do not know whether you voted against it or not. I want to take the temptation out of his way. Here is an opportunity for Deputy Cogan to shed £120 and never get his fingers on it. Let him vote for this resolution, and go on the committee I propose to set up, or any other shape of committee this House may think more effective for the purpose, and we will reduce the salaries, if they should be reduced. The type of propaganda I am concerned to abate will doubtless recur from time to time. So long as I am here, those who promote it will be drawn into the open and shown up for the frauds they are, and, when I am gone, I pray God that there will be someone here to give the same dose of medicine to the same kind of frauds, whencever they come and whenever they come, in the country, in the House, or outside this country, for the purpose of traducing the representative institutions of the State.

Question put.

Tá

Anthony, Richard S.
Bennett, George C.
Browne, Patrick.
Byrne, Alfred.
Byrne, Alfred (Junior).
Coburn, James.
Cole, John J.
Cosgrave, Liam.
Dillon, James M.
Dockrell, Henry M.
Doyle, Peadar S.
Everett, James
Fagan, Charles.
Giles, Patrick.
Heskin, Denis.
Hughes, James.
Looney, Thomas D.
McFadden, Michael Og.
McGilligan, Patrick.
McMenamin, Daniel.
Mongan, Joseph W.
Morrissey, Daniel.
O'Donovan, Timothy J.
O'Higgins, Thomas F.
O'Leary, John.
O'Reilly, Patrick.
Pattison, James P.
Redmond, Bridget M.
Rice, Bridget M.
Ryan, Jeremiah.
Sheldon, William A.W.

Níl

Aiken, Frank.
Bartley, Gerald.
Beegan, Patrick.
Beirne, John.
Blowick, Joseph.
Boland, Gerald.
Boland, Patrick.
Bourke, Dan.
Brady, Brian.
Brady, Seán.
Breen, Daniel.
Briscoe, Robert.
Buckley, Seán.
Butler, Bernard.
Byrne, Christopher M.
Cafferky, Dominick.
Carter, Thomas.
Childers, Erskine H.
Cogan, Patrick.
Corbett, Eamon.
Corish, Richard.
Corry, Martin J.
Crowley, Fred H.
Crowley, Tadhg.
Daly, Francis J.
Moran, Michael.
Morrissey, Michael.
Moylan, Seán.
Norton, William.
O Ceallaigh, Seán T.
O'Donnell, William F.
O'Grady, Seán.
O'Sullivan, Martin.
Rice, Bridget M.
Davin, William.
Derrig, Thomas.
De Valera, Eamon.
Donnellan, Michael.
Fitzgerald, Séamus.
Flynn, Stephen.
Fogarty, Andrew.
Fogarty, Patrick J.
Friel, John.
Gorry, Patrick J.
Halliden, Patrick J.
Harris, Thomas.
Hilliard, Michael.
Hogan, Patrick.
Humphreys, Francis.
Kennedy, Michael J.
Killilea, Mark.
Kilroy, Séamus.
Kissane, Famon.
Larkin, James.
Larkin, James (Junior).
Lemass, Seán F.
Lynch, James B.
McCann, John.
MacEntee, Seán.
Ruttledge, Patrick J.
Sheridan, Michael.
Skinner, Leo B.
Smith, Patrick.
Stapleton, Richard.
Traynor, Oscar.
Tunney, James.
Ward, Conn.

Tellers:—Tá: Deputies Dillon and Anthony; Níl: Deputies Kissane and Kennedy.

Motion declared lost.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 1 Mar 1944