Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 13 Mar 1929

Vol. 28 No. 10

Money Resolution—Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 1929. - In Committee on Finance.

Minister for Finance

I move:—

"Go bhfuil sé oiriúnach a údarú go n-íocfar amach as airgead a sholáthróidh an tOireachtas aon chostaisí fé n-a raghfar chun aon Acht do chur in éifeacht a rithfar sa tSiosón so chun mion-leasuithe iomdha do dhéanamh san Acht Maoine Tionnscail agus Tráchtála (Cosaint), 1927, agus fós chun an tAcht san do leasú tré shocrú eile agus socrú níos fearr do dhéanamh i dtaobh sochar cumadóireachtaí agus paitinneacha do shanna d'Airí thar ceann an Stáit, agus i dtaobh cóipchirt i nótaí a thug Coimisiún an Airgid Reatha amach.

That it is expedient to authorise the payment out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas of any expenses incurred in carrying into effect any Act of the present Session to make divers minor amendments in the Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Act, 1927, and also to amend that Act by making further and better provision in relation to the assignment of the benefit of inventions and patents to Ministers on behalf of the State, and in relation to copyright in notes issued by the Currency Commission."

In Clauses 1 to 5 of the Bill there is nothing which involves any additional expenditure. So far as Clause 6 is concerned, it is impossible to give any estimate of the expenditure that might be involved. It will probably depend upon circumstances. The probability is that there will be no great expenditure.

Mr. Good

Will such expenditure be brought to the knowledge of the Dáil before it is incurred?

Mr. Blythe

Arrangements would have to be made to bring it to the knowledge of the Dáil in some way, either by a sub-head in a Vote or a Supplementary Estimate. It would only be in exceptional circumstances, where there was no other satisfactory way of doing it, that it would be paid out of the Contingency Fund. That would not be the normal but the abnormal procedure. It might be necessary sometimes to do such a thing, but it would not be contemplated that that would be the normal procedure.

Mr. Good

I take it from what the Minister says that except in abnormal circumstances any expenditure likely to be incurred under the Bill would be brought to the knowledge of the Dáil before any expense or liability is incurred.

Mr. Blythe

Subject to this, if there was a sub-head in the Vote, not specifying the exact purpose, but if any one of the purposes to which it might be applied under the section was specified, no further information would reach the Dáil—so long as the expenditure was within the sub-head—until the matter would come up before the Public Accounts Committee.

Mr. Good

The sub-head would give some indication as to the nature of the expenditure?

Mr. Blythe

Yes, to some extent.

Question put and agreed to.