Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 May 1986

Vol. 367 No. 3

Road Transport Bill, 1985 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages.

Amendment No. 5:

In page 11, before section 15, to insert the following new section:

15.—(1) The Minister may appoint any of his officers to be transport officers for the purposes of section 16 of this Act and may revoke any such appointment.

(2) Every transport officer shall be furnished with a warrant of his appointment as a transport officer and, when exercising any power conferred by section 16 of this Act, shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the warrant to that person.".

—(Minister of State at the Department of Communications.)

Debate resumed on amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 5:

After subsection (2), to insert the following:

"(3) There shall be established six regional squads of transport officers for a 24 hour per day, seven days per week operation.".

—(Deputy Wilson.)

Mr. Wilson

We are dealing with section 15 and my amendment to the Minister's amendment. The Minister indicated that the squad of transport officers he would have at his disposal might be deployed on a regional basis concentrating on different areas. I prefer my version of the amendment with specified dates and hours. The Minister, whether advertently or inadvertently, mentioned that he would not have the resources available to him for that eventuality. That is what inspired fear in the hauliers and gave rise to them making strong representations to ensure there would be an efficient, full-time group or squad of officers dealing with enforcement.

As I said before Question Time, one association felt so strongly about this that they were prpared to collect annual subscriptions to pay for it. This would not be desirable. There is an obligation on us, on the Minister and his Department to carry out enforcement efficiently. The Minister's amendment indicates a desire to do that but the framework is not as good as the one I suggest. I would add that whatever day the Minister chooses to nominate as day one of this effort, he will probably have difficulties. We adverted to this before Question Time. There was what I would call a grey area which this Bill is designed to clear up. There will be a problem of adjustment as there will also be in the business in general with regard to supply and demand. But an efficient, effective and full time transport officers squad is needed when they go all out in their campaign. That of course would be a matter for the Minister to decide. That is my amendment to the amendment.

Mr. Nealon

I replied at very great length before the adjournment of the debate on this matter. I have sought to respond to the various points made by Deputy Wilson. Even if we were to have a regional disposition of the people specifically involved in this, the transport officers, it would be unnecessary to write it into the legislation. Equally, as far as working seven days a week and 24 hours a day is concerned, all I can say is that the intention in this is to have a very vigorous enforcement of the law to make sure that the difficulties that have occurred in the past will cease. I believe this will be done and that there will be a lot of goodwill on the part of the legal operators to ensure that the breaching of the law does not continue. As Deputy Wilson said, it would be undesirable to have a situation whereby the funding of the enforcement of the law was done by a section of the people legally operating within the system. Naturally, there is no question of that.

On the Deputy's amendment, I believe that it would not lead to a more satisfactory implementation of the law. Indeed I am convinced that there are elements in it which would make it very difficult to exercise the blitz operation which will be necessary from time to time. When I refer to the cost, I mean the knock-on effect which the setting up of regional offices and the back-up being provided would have. I am not by any means against a regional disposition of the transport offices at some stage if that is thought to be the most efficient and cost effective way of carrying out what is required by the legislation that we are now passing and the other Acts that already exist. However, that having been said, all of these things can be done as an operational matter subsequently by the Minister, and it is unnecessary to write them into the legislation. Therefore I cannot accept the amendment.

Amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 5 put.

The Committee divided: Tá, 50; Níl, 55.

Tá

• Ahern, Bertie.
• Ahern, Michael.
• Andrews, David.
• Brady, Vincent.
• Brennan, Mattie.
• Brennan, Paudge.
• Brennan, Séamus.
• Briscoe, Ben.
• Browne, John.
• Calleary, Seán.
• Collins, Gerard.
• Conaghan, Hugh.
• Connolly, Ger.
• Coughlan, Cathal Seán.
• Cowen, Brian.
• Daly, Brendan.
• Doherty, Seán.
• Fahey, Francis.
• Faulkner, Pádraig.
• Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
• Flynn, Pádraig.
• Gallagher, Denis.
• Gallagher, Pat Cope.
• Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
• Haughey, Charles J.
• Kirk, Séamus.
• Aylward, Liam.
• Barrett, Michael.
• Brady, Gerard.
• Kitt, Michael.
• Lenihan, Brian.
• Leonard, Jimmy.
• Leonard, Tom.
• Leyden, Terry.
• Lyons, Denis.
• McEllistrim, Tom.
• Morley, P.J.
• Nolan, M.J.
• Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West).
• O'Dea, William.
• O'Hanlon, Rory.
• O'Keeffe, Edmond.
• O'Leary, John.
• Ormonde, Donal.
• O'Rourke, Mary.
• Power, Paddy.
• Reynolds, Albert.
• Treacy, Noel.
• Walsh, Seán.
• Wilson, John P.

Níl

• Barrett, Seán.
• Barry, Myra.
• Bell, Michael.
• Bermingham, Joe.
• Boland, John.
• Bruton, John.
• Bruton, Richard.
• Burke, Liam.
• Carey, Donal.
• Cluskey, Frank.
• Conlon, John F.
• Connaughton, Paul.
• Coogan, Fintan.
• Cosgrave, Liam T.
• Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
• Coveney, Hugh.
• Creed, Donal.
• D'Arcy, Michael.
• Deasy, Martin Austin.
• Desmond, Eileen.
• Donnellan, John.
• Doyle, Avril.
• Doyle, Joe.
• Durkan, Bernard J.
• Enright, Thomas W.
• Farrelly, John V.
• FitzGerald, Garret.
• Flaherty, Mary.
• Glenn, Alice.
• Griffin, Brendan.
• Harte, Patrick D.
• Hegarty, Paddy.
• Kavanagh, Liam.
• Kenny, Enda.
• L'Estrange, Gerry.
• McGahon, Brendan.
• McGinley, Dinny.
• Manning, Maurice.
• Mitchell, Gay.
• Molony, David.
• Naughten, Liam.
• Nealon, Ted.
• O'Brien, Fergus.
• O'Keeffe, Jim.
• O'Sullivan, Toddy.
• Pattison, Séamus.
• Prendergast, Frank.
• Quinn, Ruairí.
• Ryan, John.
• Shatter, Alan.
• Skelly, Liam.
• Spring, Dick.
• Taylor, Mervyn.
• Taylor-Quinn, Madeline.
• Yates, Ivan.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies V. Brady and Browne; Níl, Deputies F. O'Brien and Taylor.

Amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 5 declared lost.

Amendment No. 5 agreed to.

NEW SECTION.

Mr. Nealon

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 11, before section 15, to insert the following new section:

16.—(1) A transport officer shall for the purpose of—

(a) the Road Transport Act, 1932, the Road Transport Act, 1933, the Road Transport Act, 1935, the Transport Act, 1944, the Road Transport Act, 1971, this Act and any instrument made under any of the said enactments,

(b) any regulation made by the Minister under the European Communities Act, 1972, relating to the carriage of goods by road or the carriage of passengers by omnibus, and

(c) any enactment or any instrument made under any enactment relating to the carriage of goods by road or the carriage of passengers by omnibus or to any vehicle or class of vehicle engaged in such carriage as may be specified by order under section 18* (1) (a) of this Act,

have power to do any or all of the following things—

(i) at any time enter a premises or place if he has reasonable grounds for believing that it is used for a purpose connected with road transport (in this section referred to as `road transport operations') or that a vehicle used for that purpose is at the premises or in the place and inspect the vehicle and any documents, records, books or recording equipment kept or used in that vehicle, premises or place, as the case may be, for the purposes of road transport operations,

(ii) at any time inspect a vehicle which is stationary and inspect any documents, records, books goods or recording equipment being carried in or on the vehicle or by the crew kept or used for the purposes of road transport operations.

(iii) require any person at the premises or in the place or in the vehicle to produce to him any document, book or record kept or used for the purposes of road transport operations which is in the power or control of that person,

(iv) inspect, examine and take copies of or extracts from or take away, if necessary for the purposes of inspection or examination, any document, book or record kept or used for the purposes of road transport operations and require the person by whom such document, book or record is kept or who produced the document, book or record to certify a copy thereof as a true copy.

(2) For the purpose of exercising his powers under subsection (1) of this section, a transport officer may detain a vehicle during such time as is required for the exercise of those powers.

(3) A person who obstructs or interferes with a transport officer when he is exercising a power conferred on him by this section or who fails to comply with a request or requirement of a transport officer under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

Mr. Wilson

I have an objection, which I foreshadowed already, to this amendment. I indicated that the first time the House saw the word "omnibus" in the context of this Bill was in this amendment. The Minister, Deputy Mitchell, may have referred to it on Second Stage. It is out of place here and for that reason, among other reasons, I am opposing it. We dealt with road haulage, regulations with regard to trucks and lorries and their weight and the licensing of hauliers. Almost surreptitiously the word "omnibus" was inserted in this amendment, not having been in the original Bill. It is inappropriate because we did not debate or tease out the implications as far as coaches and omnibuses are concerned. As the section gives considerable powers to the transport officers, the House should reject the amendment. No legislation has been brought to the House to regulate the operation of private coaches and omnibuses. That legislation must come, particularly as there is a Bill before the Seanad at present dealing with the restructuring of Córas Iompair Éireann. The House should reject this amendment which, in my opinion, is not ultra vires in any way and which gives powers to the transport officers which they will need. As the word “omnibus” is included in a number of the subsections this vitiates the whole amendment and consequently I oppose it.

Mr. Nealon

This amendment will put a new section in the Bill. This new section will be in the Bill when and if this amendment is passed. That will be section 16 of the Bill. It is very important that the powers of transport officers should extend to the carriage of passengers in buses. Everyone will accept — and it is not an issue in the challenge to this amendment — that the safety of passengers is of vital importance. The EC expressed concern about the number of accidents involving coaches. They specifically asked member states to increase inspection on buses under the tachograph regulations, the administration of which already comes under the responsibility of the Minister for Communications. The tachograph laws are being enforced by the existing tachograph inspectors in relation to buses. The Minister for Communications also has responsibility for administering the legislation in relation to the licensing of passenger road services. This comes under the Road Transport Act, 1932. It requires updating and is being looked at at the moment.

The Minister also has responsibility for administering legislation in relation to the occupation of road passenger transport operator, the EC requirements of good repute, sound financial standing and professional competence. All persons engaged in the carriage of persons for reward in vehicles constructed to carry more than nine persons, including the driver, must satisfy EC requirements. It would be illogical to think that the transport officers now being appointed should not have power to inquire into the manner in which legislation as regards buses is implemented. To have a separate set of officials involved in the enforcement area, such as transport officers, exclusively for buses and another group to deal exclusively with transport vehicles with carrier licences would not be a very cost-effective way to operate. It would not be an efficient way of ensuring that the law of the land is upheld. It would lead to duplication and cause extra problems for the gardaí accompanying the transport officers.

I hope the question of resources for this service does not arise very often and that the number of officials appointed will be sufficient to carry out inspections. There is an obligation on us to make the best possible use of the finance given to us. We should appoint as many transport officers as possible. Our work should be organised in such a way as to get the best return for the money allocated. The officials will be enforcing EC regulations. The new section will be beneficial for the proper organisation and implementation of the legislation before us.

Mr. Wilson

The Minister made three points: safety, duplication and problems for gardaí. I agree with him in regard to the importance of safety for those who use coaches and those involved in the road haulage business. The root of my objection is the timing. Without any attempt being made to update the legislation on private coach operators — this is a thriving sector of the road transport business because we have been left behind by developments — the Minister in the amendment is including coaches. He has not attempted to update the legislation on private coaches that operate throughout the country, particularly at weekends although he is well aware of what is going on.

I did not imply in my amendment that there should be extra and different transport inspectors employed for the inspection of coaches. The Minister should update the legislation in regard to coaches and, if he wishes, he should bring them under the new transport officers. The third point made by the Minister related to the work of the Garda. That work will fall into place if the legislation is updated. I find it strange that the word I have complained about is included at this late stage particularly when it was not envisaged as part of the Bill at the outset.

Mr. Nealon

Bus operators must conform with a number of regulations under the 1932 Act. They must conform with regulations under the European Communities Act, for example, the tachograph regulation. We must have inspections of those buses. We cannot allow buses to go without inspection until such time as the legislation is updated. Buses are already subject to inspection in regard to the tachograph and the hours of drivers and when the legislation is passed it will be possible for the transport officers of the Department to see to it that all regulations are being complied with. We are not imposing any new regulations or suggesting that bus operators must conform to a more difficult regime. Any changes will have to be made through legislation.

We are proposing the most cost-effective system to enforce existing regulations in regard to road freight and buses. There have been demands on the Department in regard to buses and it would be foolish to go through the House with this Bill without taking them into consideration. I hope the transport officers will have the necessary resources to enable them to do their job properly. We should make it possible for them to carry out inspections on buses. If changes need to be made in regard to the regulations on buses we will not hesitate to do so. The House must bear in mind that we are acting under the oldest transport law we have, the 1932 Act. I understand that a considerable amount of work has been completed in updating the legislation.

Amendment put.

The Committee divided: Tá, 60; Níl, 50.

Tá

• Barry, Myra.
• Bell, Michael.
• Bermingham, Joe.
• Boland, John.
• Bruton, John.
• Bruton, Richard.
• Burke, Liam.
• Carey, Donal.
• Cluskey, Frank.
• Conlon, John F.
• Connaughton, Paul.
• Coogan, Fintan.
• Cosgrave, Liam T.
• Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
• Coveney, Hugh.
• Creed, Donal.
• D'Arcy, Michael.
• Deasy, Martin Austin.
• Desmond, Eileen.
• Doyle, Avril.
• Doyle, Joe.
• Dukes, Alan.
• Durkan, Bernard J.
• Enright, Thomas W.
• Farrelly, John V.
• Fennell, Nuala.
• FitzGerald, Garret.
• Flaherty, Mary.
• Glenn, Alice.
• Griffin, Brendan.
• Harte, Patrick D.
• Hegarty, Paddy.
• Hussey, Gemma.
• Kavanagh, Liam.
• Kenny, Enda.
• L'Estrange, Gerry.
• McGahon, Brendan.
• McGinley, Dinny.
• Manning, Maurice.
• Mitchell, Gay.
• Mitchell, Jim.
• Molony, David.
• Naughten, Liam.
• Nealon, Ted.
• Noonan, Michael. (Limerick East).
• O'Brien, Fergus.
• O'Keeffe, Jim.
• O'Leary, Michael.
• O'Sullivan, Toddy.
• Owen, Nora.
• Pattison, Séamus.
• Prendergast, Frank.
• Quinn, Ruairí.
• Ryan, John.
• Shatter, Alan.
• Skelly, Liam.
• Spring, Dick.
• Taylor, Mervyn.
• Taylor-Quinn, Madeline.
• Yates, Ivan.

Níl

• Ahern, Bertie.
• Ahern, Michael.
• Andrews, David.
• Aylward, Liam.
• Barrett, Michael.
• Briscoe, Ben.
• Browne, John.
• Calleary, Seán.
• Collins, Gerard.
• Conaghan, Hugh.
• Connolly, Ger.
• Coughlan, Cathal Seán.
• Cowen, Brian.
• Daly, Brendan.
• Doherty, Seán.
• Fahey, Francis.
• Faulkner, Pádraig.
• Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
• Flynn, Pádraig.
• Gallagher, Denis.
• Gallagher, Pat Cope.
• Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
• Haughey, Charles J.
• Kirk, Séamus.
• Kitt, Michael.
• Lenihan, Brian.
• Brady, Gerard.
• Brady, Vincent.
• Brennan, Mattie.
• Brennan, Paudge.
• Brennan, Séamus.
• Leonard, Jimmy.
• Leonard, Tom.
• Leyden, Terry.
• Lyons, Denis.
• McEllistrim, Tom.
• Morley, P.J.
• Nolan, M.J.
• Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West).
• O'Dea, William.
• O'Hanlon, Rory.
• O'Keeffe, Edmond.
• O'Leary, John.
• O'Rourke, Mary.
• Power, Paddy.
• Reynolds, Albert.
• Treacy, Noel.
• Walsh, Seán.
• Wilson, John P.
• Woods, Michael.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies F. O'Brien and Taylor; Níl, Deputies V. Brady, and Browne.

Amendment declared carried.

NEW SECTION.

Mr. Nealon

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 11, before section 15, to insert the following new section:

"17.—The Minister may bring and prosecute summary proceedings for an offence under—

(a) the Road Transport Act, 1932, the Road Transport Act, 1933, the Road Transport Act, 1935, the Transport Act, 1944, this Act and any instrument made under any of the said enactments,

(b) any regulation made by the Minister under the European Communities Act, 1972, relating to the carriage of goods by road or the carriage of passengers by omnibus, and

(c) any enactment or any instrument made under any enactment relating to the carriage of goods by road or the carriage of passengers by omnibus or to any vehicle or class of vehicle engaged in such carriage as may be specified by order under section 18 (1) (b) of this Act.".

The amendment empowers the Minister to prosecute offences under specified legislation. The Minister may take summary proceedings for offences referred to in section 6 in relation to the carriage of goods by road and of road passengers in buses, including legislation administered by other Ministers where an order has been made after consultation with any other Minister concerned specifying the legislation in question. This means that the Minister can prosecute offences detected by transport officers under the powers of inspection.

Mr. Wilson

I repeat what I said on the previous amendment that I am at one with the Minister in what he is trying to do to protect passengers and provide a structure for the enforcement of the law but, for the same reason I gave when opposing the last amendment, I am opposing this one. In my view, in the absence of legislation with regard to coach operators, the inclusion at a late stage of this amendment, bearing in mind that it was not in the original Bill, vitiates this amendment and the legislation of which it would be part.

I cannot emphasise strongly enough that I fully agree with the general purpose of the amendment but I do not like the way the amendment has been introduced, late in the day to cover coach operators. I do not like it at all in the absence of an up-dating of the legislation on coach operators.

The Minister said in reply to the previous amendment that it was intended to up-date the legislation, and he referred back to the 1932-33 legislation. That, in itself, proves my point that the Legislature has not kept in step with developments in the transport world. The Second Stage speeches we got on all transport legislation indicated that the purpose was to up-date the law. That legislation served its purpose at a time when different premises were true of the whole transport system, but using ancient premises and drawing modern conclusions is what we are doing here.

Mr. Nealon

Naturally I would prefer to have Deputy Wilson's agreement rather than his opposition because the best way to get legislation of this nature through is by agreement, if possible. What Deputy Wilson is trying to attain is, broadly speaking, what I am trying to get. Unfortunately, that is not possible in this amendment as it was not possible in the previous amendment. I have no reason to doubt the logic of the points I put forward in reply to Deputy Wilson on the previous amendment. I said this is the proper way to proceed. This amendment follows from the previous one. "Passengers by omnibuses" is a phrase which will be part of the section that will follow on the acceptance of this amendment. It is right to introduce this power for transport officers to deal with buses as with other road traffic. Responsibility for administering the tachograph system is already with the Department of Communications, or inspectors from that Department, and there would be unnecessary duplication and it would lead to an unwieldy system in future to have two Departments dealing with similar offences. It would increase the cost to have two separate organisations in the Department dealing with the same type of offences, albeit in respect of different kinds of vehicles. The amendment is valid. It flows from the other amendment that has just been accepted by the House and I hope the Deputy will accept it.

Amendment put and agreed to.

NEW SECTION.

Mr. Nealon

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 11, before section 15, to insert the following new section:

18.—(1) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, the Minister may by order—

(a) specify any enactment or any instrument made under any enactment for the purposes of which a transport officer may exercise any power conferred on him by section 16 of this Act,

(b) specify any enactment or any instrument made under any enactment under which the Minister may bring and prosecute summary proceedings.

(2) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, for the purposes of giving full effect to an order under subsection (1) of this section, the Minister may by order make such further provisions as are necessary including adaptation of any enactment

(3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, the Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under subsection (1) or (2) of this section.

(4) No order shall be made under this section in relation to any enactment administered by a Minister of the Government, other than the Minister, or in relation to any instrument made under any such enactment, save following consultation with that Minister and the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána.

(5) Every order made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

This enables the Minister by order to specify legislation in the area of responsibility of other Ministers in relation to which transport officers will exercise their powers and the Minister can prosecute offences. Consultation with other Ministers concerned and with the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána will be necessary before any such order is made.

Mr. Wilson

There are parts of this amendment so opaque that if there were an international competition in opacity it would win. A certain element of lunacy would be a help in trying to interpret it. The amendment refers to certain things the Minister may do by order. I have always been very sensitive about too much power being claimed in statute law for a Minister or a Department. Above all, I have been concerned about giving powers to a Minister to do certain things by order. There has been criticism of much of our legislation since 1922 on the basis that it incorporated too many powers that could be exercised without coming under the full spotlight of debate and discussion in the Dáil. I will not make an issue of that: I am just indicating that it is a cast of mind. For example, subsection (2) of the amendment states as follows, "...the Minister may by order make such further provisions as are necessary including adaptation of any enactment". That seems a very strange power. The word "adaptation" in ordinary language or even in technical language is very elastic. At times it could be argued that almost the direct opposite of something could be called an adaptation of it. The other example I give is in relation to subsection (4) of the amendment which states:

No order shall be made under this section in relation to any enactment administered by a Minister of the Government, other than the Minister, or in relation to any instrument made under any such enactment, save following consultation with that Minister and the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána.

Quite frankly, until the Minister read his opening remarks of clarification I had not a clue what that meant. I think I understand what it means now but looking at the subsection coldly it seems to be unnecessarily opaque. I understand it now in view of what the Minister said about the involvement of other Ministers and the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána. The subsection refers to "any instrument made under any such enactment". Has the word "instrument" a technical meaning or does the Minister mean a statutory instrument?

Mr. Nealon

A statutory instrument.

Mr. Wilson

In the amendment there is reference to "that Minister". Does that mean a Minister other than the one defined in the Bill, namely, the Minister for Communications?

Mr. Nealon

That is right.

Mr. Wilson

Subsection (5) mentions a period of 21 days and I am glad that safeguard has been inserted.

Mr. Nealon

We thought that would have the Deputy's approval.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 15, as amended, agreed to.

SECTION 16.

Question proposed: "That section 16 stand part of the Bill".

Mr. Wilson

There is a tendency for some people to say that Fianna Fáil are irresponsible with regard to expenditure. I should make a long speech on this section but I will not do so. Here we are dealing simply with the expenses incurred in connection with the Bill which the Minister is looking for from the Minister for Finance.

Question put and agreed to.

SECTION 17.

Question proposed: "That section 17 stand part of the Bill".

Mr. Wilson

I agree with the section. I am sure that in the case of this Bill it will be necessary at times to utilise different days for bringing certain parts of it into effect.

Question put and agreed to.

SECTION 18.

Mr. Nealon

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 2, line 7, after "AFORESAID" to insert "AND FOR THE APPLICATION AND ADAPTATION OF CERTAIN ENACTMENTS AND CERTAIN INSTRUMENTS MADE UNDER ENACTMENTS".

Mr. Nealon

The existing Long Title relates only to amendment of the Road Transport Act, 1933. The new sections we have been dealing with and which have been introduced into the Bill will confer powers for the enforcement of and the prosecution of offences under laws administered by other Ministers. The Long Title must be amended to provide for these powers.

Mr. Wilson

Aontaím leis sin. Mar gheall ar úsáid na Gaeilge anseo cuireadh in a luí orainn gur cóir dúinn feidhm a bhaint as Gaeilge nuair atá gach Bille ag dul trí Teach. Déanaim é sin. Níl morán ama fágtha agam ach tá sé déanta anois.

Amendment agreed to.

Title, as amended, agreed to.

Agreed to take remaining Stages today.

Bill reported with amendments and passed.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Bill, considered by virtue of Article 20.2.2º of the Constitution to be a Bill initiated in the Dáil is sent to the Seanad.

The Dáil adjourned at 5 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 30 May 1986.