Bille bliantúil é seo agus is féidir liom a rá mar gheall air nach gcuirfí an Stát trí chéile mara rithfí é inniú. Mar sin féin tá tábhacht ag baint leis agus tá gá lena leithéid, mar caithfimíd achta áirithe do choimeád i bhfeidhm ar feadh tréimhse eile.
As the House is aware, this Bill is an annual one and requires to be enacted before the end of the present calendar year. It proposes to continue for a further year the statutes set out in Parts I and II of the Schedule. They differ in two respects from the statutes appearing in the Schedule to the 1943 Act.
The Transport (No. 2) Bill, 1944, provides for the repeal of the Statutory Undertakings (Temporary Increase of Charges) Act, 1918, so far as it relates to tramways and for the repeal in toto of the Statutory Undertakings (Continuance of Charges) (No. 2) Act, 1923. This necessitated (1) changing the references opposite the mention of the Statutory Undertakings (Temporary Increase of Charges) Act, 1918, in Part I of the Schedule to indicate how far the Act is being continued, and (2) deleting the Statutory Undertakings (Continuance of Charges) (No. 2) Act, 1923, which appeared in Part II of the Schedule to the Expiring Laws Act, 1943.
Of the seven Acts now appearing in the Schedule, provision has already been made for the repeal of the Local Authorities (Combined Purchasing) Act, 1925, which will go when the Local Authorities (Combined Purchasing) Act, 1939, comes into operation. It will be hardly feasible, however, to give effect to the 1939 Act until the end of the present emergency and it is necessary accordingly to continue the 1925 Act for a further period.
A Rent Restrictions Bill has been introduced in Dáil Éireann and when enacted it will replace the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act, 1923. As it will not be passed, however, before the end of this year it is necessary to continue for a further period the 1923 Act, in order that the existing protection for tenants may be continued. The position regarding the remaining Acts has been reviewed to consider whether legislation might be introduced to give permanence to any of them in their present form or in an amended form. Any such legislation is not, however, thought to be feasible at present.
It will be appreciated that the Schedule of enactments to be continued has shrunk considerably over a number of years and we are now left with a mere handful of Acts which, as opportunity presents itself, will be further diminished.