Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 15 Dec 1948

Vol. 36 No. 3

Expiring Laws Bill, 1948—Second and Subsequent Stages.

Question proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Minister for Local Government (Mr. Murphy)

As Senators will remember, this is an annual measure. The House will also remember that it is necessary that it should become law before the end of this year. It seeks to continue in operation a certain very limited number of enactments. So far as the bulk of the enactments mentioned in the explanatory memorandum circulated to Senators are concerned, they must await permanent legislation. There are a number of Local Government Acts scattered through the whole code and it will be some considerable time before proposals for legislation to deal with them will be ready.

There are two items to which I want to refer. One is the Statutory Undertakings (Temporary Increase of Charges) Act, 1918. This has been replaced by a provision in the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1948. The other is the Combined Purchasing Act of 1925. The change in that respect is that the Combined Purchasing Act, 1939, replaces the Act of 1925, but it will not be possible to give effect to that measure for some time. Senators will understand that it is very largely associated with the supply position and the time is not quite opportune for putting it into force nor does the supply position warrant the putting into force of the Act. The only point I wanted to make was that certain progress has been made in the matter of preparing the permanent legislation which must replace the bulk of the enactments mentioned in the explanatory memorandum, and I do not think that at this stage any further explanation of the Bill is called for.

Question put and agreed to.

Agreed to take remaining stages to-day.

The Seanad went into Committee.

Sections 1 and 2 agreed to.

SCHEDULE.

Question proposed: "That the Schedule stand part of the Bill."

Mr. Duffy

Perhaps it is no harm to point out that, as most members of the House will remember, ten years ago, the Schedule would be a complete page of enactments which were being continued. We are now getting to the stage at which there are very few of these being continued as annual enactments. As the Minister pointed out, the two enactments of the Oireachtas which are continued here will eventually go. The Combined Purchasing Act will go the moment the 1939 Act takes its place. It is a matter of the shortage of supplies which we were told last year was the cause of the holding up of the implementation of that Act. Section 65 of the Local Government Act will disappear from this list, I take it, when the Sanitary Services Act comes into force and there are therefore left these three old British Acts mentioned at the top of Part I of the Schedule.

I do not know whether these are satisfactory or not, but there is one which I think ought to be re-examined at some stage, the Labourers Act of 1883. That is, in fact, the basic law in relation to labourers' cottages. Why it has been continued since 1883, a period of over 60 years, I do not know, but apparently there was some reason why it could not be made permanent. I suggest that the Minister might have it examined again with a view to finding out why the whole of the Labourers Act of 1883 should not become a permanent measure.

Mr. Murphy

I will undertake to have that done.

Question put and agreed to.

Title agreed to.

Bill reported, received for final consideration and passed.