I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The Bill is intended to meet a particular situation in connection with four of the Budget Resolutions, those dealing with income-tax, surtax, customs duty on beer, excise duty on beer, and excise duty on matches. They were given statutory effect to under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927. When the dissolution took place on the 24th of April, these four Resolutions lost their statutory effect under the provisions of the same Act as I have already remarked in the case of the Resolution. The purpose of the Bill is to remove the difficulties arising from this position by enacting that the Resolutions in question shall be deemed always to have continuous statutory effect from the outset and shall continue to have statutory effect for a limited period. Also, the Bill makes other incidental and consequential provisions. It is a short Bill and it is essential for it to be passed as a matter of urgency. There were similar precedents for this provision. The previous Government in respect of the last three of these Resolutions made two Orders on the 22nd April last under the Emergency Imposition of Duties Act that were to have the effect of doing under that Act what could not be done under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927. The effect of this Bill is that those Orders cease to have effect under the Imposition of Duties Act and are transferred to the Finance legislation under which, of course, they would have been dealt with if the dissolution of the Dáil had not taken place.
Committee on Finance. - Collection of Taxes (Confirmation) Bill, 1954—All Stages.
Bill entitled an Act to give statutory effect to certain Financial Resolutions passed on the 21st day of April, 1954, by Dáil Éireann in Committee on Finance, to make provision for other matters relating to or connected with the said Financial Resolutions and to provide for the cesser of the Emergency Imposition of Duties (No. 326) (Beer) Order, 1954, and the Emergency Imposition of Duties (No. 327) (Matches) Order, 1954.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill considered in Committee.
Sections 1 to 8, inclusive, and the Title agreed to.
Bill reported without amendment, received for final consideration and passed.
This is a Money Bill under the provisions of Article 22 of the Constitution.