Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 31 May 1950

Vol. 38 No. 3

Order of Business.

Mr. M. Hayes

It is proposed to take business as on the Order Paper, Nos. 1 and 3 — the Land Bill and the Social Welfare Bill. No. 2, the Erne Drainage Bill, is not being taken to-day.

There is another matter which I might mention, the question of the hours of sitting on Thursday. As the House knows, the Dáil has made an alteration in its Thursday hours, making them 10.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Committee on Procedure and Privileges here has been considering our hours of sitting on Thursdays, but has not yet come to any decision. The suggestion at present is 10.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays, with an interval from 1 to 2 for lunch.

The question does not arise tomorrow, since if we do not finish the Social Welfare Bill (Second Stage) this evening, we should be able, starting at 3 p.m., to finish it before 5 o'clock to-morrow. Thursday of next week is a Church holiday. We, therefore, left the decision over and would like that any Senators who have any strong feeling in the matter of a change should communicate with the Cathaoirleach. On next Wednesday week, the 14th June, the Committee on Procedure and Privileges might be able to come to a decision on the matter and recommend something to the House if there is a desire for a change.

Mr. S. Hayes

I would like to draw the attention of the House to the fact that the copy of the Official Report is not yet available. We are going to discuss the Land Bill and I find that a lot of queries were put to the Minister on the last day. It is hardly fair to expect the House to discuss this Bill in a proper way without having the report of last week's debate available here. It is regrettable that Senators could not have it, as we are at a tremendous disadvantage in discussing the Bill. A lot of queries were put to the Minister by way of amendment and otherwise last week in the general run of the debate and we are at a disability in dealing with them now.

An Cathaoirleach

Representations have been made to the Stationery Office about this matter. The great difficulty this week-end would have been the Whitsun holidays. The printers were not working on Saturday or Monday.

Mr. M. Hayes

May I say that the debate actually is available for last week and I have a copy here in my hand? It was available at 1 o'clock to-day. I do not know if Senator S. Hayes knew that.

Mr. S. Hayes

I called to the office at 1.30 and was not able to get a copy. I understood it was not yet available. I think we are at a tremendous disadvantage in discussing the Land Bill, which is of tremendous importance to the people in the country. It is hardly fair to ask us to discuss this Bill under the circumstances.

Mr. Colgan

Any time this question was raised, there was always a sound excuse given — the blame fell on the printers. The fact remains that we can get the Dáil reports a couple of days afterwards, but we never get the Seanad reports within a week. Whenever there is a delay, there is always a good excuse.

An Cathaoirleach

Representations were made time and time again.

Mr. S. Hayes

Am I to assume that since Senator M. Hayes has got a copy it is available only to some individuals?

Mr. Baxter

It was not Senator Hayes who got this copy at all.

Mr. M. Hayes

I did not get this copy at all. I am one of those neutral on the Land Bill. I only indicated that the report has been printed and is available. The real reason is not so much the printers' difficulty. The Dáil report is available because it is published in daily form. We take two days together in one booklet. Perhaps we would have to revert to the daily reports. However, that would not affect the case of this week-end.

Mr. Quirke

In all fairness to Senator S. Hayes, who has gone to considerable trouble in connection with this report and who takes a keen interest in the Land Bill, I feel that there is nothing in the argument about the reports being available at 3 o'clock or 1 o'clock. One who comes from the country must get the debate before lunch. One might as well say it will not be available until to-night, as far as any practical work on the Bill to-day is concerned.

Mr. Baxter

In any case, we are only discussing three amendments to-day. We are not discussing the Bill or the sections.