I move:—
"That the Standing Orders be suspended for the purpose of enabling the remaining stages of the Public Safety Bill, 1927, to be taken to-day, Wednesday, 10th August, 1927."
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS.
I second.
The Senator moving and the Senator seconding have given no reason why it is necessary to suspend Standing Orders. It is abusing the Orders of the House and reducing our proceedings to something worse than a farce if it is proposed to set aside Standing Orders, which were set up to govern the business of this House, without at least making some attempt to give a reason to show why it is necessary to do that. The Dáil is not meeting until Friday, so there is plenty of time to meet to-morrow and to consider this Bill on Report. It is a more important Bill in many respects than the Currency Bill, the Medical Bill, or many other Bills which would keep Senators here twenty-four hours on end. I think it is setting aside common elementary decency to move a motion of this kind, and think that it is to be carried without a word of protest. Is it too much to inconvenience Senators to come here to-morrow to meet on a Bill of this kind? There is no justification for this motion at all. To-morrow we can take the Report Stage and the Final Stage, and have it in time for the next day. Senator Gogarty and Senator O'Hanlon have given no reason, except their probable objection to coming here and considering this. They think it is something which should be passed without consideration at all. Our proceedings have been, in the main, a farce, because it was obvious, no matter how reasonable amendments, such as those of Senator Brady and Senator Hooper might be, there was a determination, for certain reasons, not to alter one comma in the Bill. That was a serious attitude for the House to be wheedled into.
As a farceur, I do not intend to compete with Senator O'Farrell, but, as he said, the proceedings we have just had were largely a farce, I must remind him that he was a prominent supporter of the farce. He has satisfied his public that he has done his best to obstruct by irritating divisions. The Public Safety Bill is more or less an Emergency Bill, because it is a Public Safety Bill. An outrageous action has been performed. The ramifications of the conspiracy have been more or less exposed. The knowledge of the conspiracy is in the hands of the Government, and to hold up this for a moment longer is not getting us anywhere. We are shirking our duties to the extent of any delay. I would describe Senator O'Farrell's futile calling for divisions as an attempt at obstruction and delay, and, therefore, against public safety generally. I wish to stand by this motion that the Bill be put into law at once.
Motion put.
The Seanad divided: Tá, 25
5; Níl, 5.
Tá
- William Barrington.
- Sir Edward Bellingham.
- P.J. Brady.
- S.L. Brown, K.C.
- Mrs. Costello.
- J.C. Counihan.
- Dowager Countess of Desart.
- James Dillon.
- Sir Nugent Everard.
- Michael Fanning.
- Dr. O. St. J. Gogarty.
- Benjamin Haughton.
- Arthur Jackson.
- Right Hon. A. Jameson.
- P.W. Kenny.
- Thomas Linehan.
- Francis MacGuinness.
- John MacLoughlin.
- General Sir Bryan Mahon.
- William J. Molloy.
- James Moran.
- Joseph O'Connor.
- Michael F. O'Hanlon.
- Bernard O'Rourke.
- W.B. Yeats.
Níl
- William Cummins.
- Michael Duffy.
- Thomas Farren.
- Thomas Foran.
- John T. O'Farrell.
Motion declared carried.