I beg to move:—"That the Dundalk Harbour and Port Bill, 1924, be considered on Report."
It is not my function in any sense to describe or defend any of the Private Bills, but it has been suggested that it might be well if I were to explain briefly the position that this Bill now finds itself in, in view of amendments put down by a Senator. Under the Private Bill Standing Orders, if at any stage of a Private Bill it is opposed, it is then postponed automatically, no discussion taking place until a further date to be fixed, or until the next meeting of the Seanad. If then it is again opposed, it is postponed until a date to be fixed by the Chairman. But, as I am now moving that the Bill be considered on Report, and if no opposition is taken to that motion, it does not seem to me that the moving of amendments on the Report Stage could be considered as in any sense opposed to the Bill. It is, therefore, my opinion that the amendments could be or should be immediately considered, they having been on the Order Paper for a considerable time. There is a further provision that if any amendment moved on the Report Stage is one of substance, or introduces new matter, it shall be referred back to the Committee.
It does not seem to me that these amendments of Senator Farren come under that category for the following reasons:—In the first place these were amendments which were inserted during the time the Bill was before the Committee. They were, in fact, inserted in what is known in Private Bill parlance as the "filled-up Bill," which is a Bill with agreed amendments which are submitted to the Committee by the promoters, generally as a result of agreement with opponents of the Bill, or of certain sections. Certain matter was introduced and passed by the Committee as the Bill comes back to us, and the effect of Senator Farren's amendments will be to delete from the Bill certain matter which was thus introduced. It, therefore, seems to me, having carefully considered the matter, and consulted with the Examiner on the matter of the Standing Orders, that it is now in order to discuss in the Seanad Senator Farren's amendments if the Seanad agrees to my motion that the Bill be considered on Report.
