I move:—
"Go gceaduíonn an Dáil an Dreacht-chonnra chun a Thoirmease feidhm do bhaint as Geasanna Múchtacha no Geasanna Nimhe no Geasanna eile no Modhanna Cogaidh Bactereólaíochta i gCoga (1925) dar leagadh cóip ar Bhord na Dála ar an 12adh lá d'Fheabhra, 1930, agus go molann don Ard-Chomhairle gach ní is gá do dhéanamh chun aontú leis an Dreacht-chonnra san fé réir na gcoiníoll so leanas, viz.:
(1) ná fuil Saorstát Eireann ceangailte ag an Dreacht-chonnra ach vis-a-vis na Stát eile sin atá tar éis an Dreacht-chonnra do shighniú agus do dhaingniú no tar éis aontú leis;
(2) má thugann fórsaí armtha aon Stáit naimhdigh no aon chongantóra don Stát san faillí sa Dreacht-chonnra go scuirfidh Saorstát Eireann de bheith ceangailte ag an Dreacht-chonnra vis-a-vis an Stáit sin."
"That the Dáil approves of the Protocol for the Prohibition of the use in war of Asphyxiating, Poisonous, or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (1925), a copy of which was laid on the Table of the Dáil on the 12th day of February, 1930, and recommends the Executive Council to take the necessary steps to accede to the said Protocol subject to the following reservations, viz.:
(1) that Saorstát Eireann is bound by the Protocol only vis-a-vis those other States which have signed and ratified the Protocol or acceded thereto;
(2) that in the event of the armed forces of any enemy State or of any ally of such State failing to respect the Protocol, Saorstát Eireann shall cease to be bound by the Protocol vis-a-vis such State."
The Protocol referred to is one of the most humanitarian of those which have come from the League of Nations and there is no necessity to go into any details about it. We were not a signatory to it at the beginning. It is proposed that we should notify the French Government of our accession. About 29 States signed at the beginning, but only seventeen of them have either ratified or acceded up to a recent date. We propose two obvious reservations: (1) that we are bound by the Protocol only vis-a-vis those other States which have signed and ratified the Protocol or acceded thereto, and (2)—which is a most unlikely contingency—that in the event of any State which signs failing to respect the Protocol then we cease to be bound by it vis-a-vis such State.