It is proposed to take the items on the Order Paper, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. It is not proposed to give time for Private Deputies' business to-day.
Order of Business.
I object to the Government taking Private Members' time to-day.
We are going to take it.
The Government is going to appropriate to itself Private Members' time to-day?
Exactly. The Deputy has it right.
I object to that. I think there is no question of right in it. A definite time is set apart as a matter of precedent, as a matter of logic, order and decency, in the conduct of our business, in which Private Members can bring forward motions dealing with certain matters of importance. When we come to the period of the year in which financial business is taken, the Government invariably appropriates all the time of the Dáil for their own business. To-day we are in the position that the Estimates have not yet been circulated and we are, apparently, coming to the time of the year when, without very little notice, we shall have to discuss the Vote on Account. We are approaching the last two hours of Private Deputies' time, and there is a motion under discussion which normally would be finished to-day.
Half of the time allotted to it has already been exhausted, and such time as would be available to other Private Members is being prejudiced by the taking of Private Members' time to day. There are certain motions on the Order Paper in which we are particularly interested and which have a bearing both on the financial and economic situation. It is important that at a critical time like this, an opportunity would be afforded of discussing them. The discussion on the motion, which has already been debated for half the time allotted to it, would be completed inside two hours to-day, and I, there fore, object to the Government taking Private Members' time to-day.
I should like to support the protest made by Deputy Mulcahy against the appropriation of Private Members' time by the Government. An important motion is under consideration. It has been discussed already for an hour and a half, and it requires only another hour and a half to complete the time allowed for discussion of the motion. I think that the proposal to appropriate Private Members' time to-day is a gross interference with the rights of Private Deputies and of Opposition Parties. It has been invariably the custom when financial business comes before the House to suspend the allocation of Private Members' time. In view of that fact, and in view of the fact that we shall be reaching financial business in the course of a week or so, it is most important that we should be allowed to finish the discussion on the motion which is before the House during Private Members' time to-day.
Question put: "That consideration of Government Business be not interrupted to-day at the time fixed for taking business of Private Deputies."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 35; Níl, 16.
Tá
- Allen, Denis.
- Bartley, Gerald.
- Blaney, Neal.
- Brennan, Thomas.
- Burke, Patrick (Co. Dublin).
- Carter, Thomas.
- Childers, Erskine H.
- Colbert, Michael.
- Colley, Harry.
- Derrig, Thomas.
- De Valera, Eamon.
- Fogarty, Andrew.
- Kennedy, Michael J.
- Kilroy, James.
- Kissane, Eamon.
- Lemass, Seán F.
- Little, Patrick J.
- Loughman, Frank.
- Boland, Gerald.
- Bourke, Dan.
- Breen, Daniel.
- Lydon, Michael F.
- McCarthy, Seán.
- McEllistrim, Thomas.
- MacEntee, Seán.
- Moran, Michael.
- O Ceallaigh, Seán T.
- O'Grady, Seán.
- O'Rourke, Daniel.
- Rice, Bridget M.
- Ryan James.
- Sheridan, Michael.
- Ua Donnchadha, Dómhnall.
- Walsh, Laurence.
- Ward, Conn.
Níl
- Beirne, John.
- Bennett, George C.
- Blowick, Joseph.
- Cogan, Patrick.
- Coogan, Eamonn.
- Cosgrave, Liam.
- Dockrell, Maurice E.
- Doyle, Peadar S.
- Hughes, James.
- Keating, John.
- Larkin, James (Junior).
- Morrissey, Daniel.
- Mulcahy, Richard.
- Norton, William.
- O'Leary, John.
- Pattison, James P.
Tellers:— Tá: Deputies O Cíosáin and Kennedy; Níl: Deputies Doyle and Bennett.
Question declared carried.
Can the Minister say what is the final arrangement for business next week?
I understand it has been arranged that the Dáil will sit on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. That has been agreed, I understand.
Can the Minister say what business will be done?
I hope, with the leave of the House, to take the Vote on Account as the first business on Tuesday.
Can the Minister say when the Book of Estimates will be circulated?
The Book of Estimates will probably be circulated this evening.