I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. I do not think it is necessary for me to say much in regard to the nature of this Bill. It is a Bill which it is customary to introduce at the end of the year and it proposes to continue for the coming year the measures which are set forth in the schedule. I may say that, with four exceptions, the statutes to be continued are the same as those which appeared in Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule of the Expiring Laws Act of last year. The changes which have been made relate to the Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1883, further amended by the Labourers Act of 1936 and, accordingly, this latter Act has been added to the list of Acts amending the Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1883. The full list of those Acts is set out in column 4 of Part I of the schedule.
The Harbours, Docks and Piers (Temporary Increase of Charges) Act of 1920 is omitted from the Bill. This Act is repealed by Section 1 of an Act passed this year, save to the extent mentioned in that section and, in so far as it remains in force, it has been made permanent. Section 2 of the Statutory Undertakings Act and the second schedule to that Act have been repealed by the Act which affected the Act of 1920 and the statement in the third column of Part 2 of the schedule in the draft Bill in relation to the Statutory Undertakings Act has been amended accordingly. The Poor Relief (Dublin) Act, 1929, has been added to Part 2 of the schedule of the Bill. It is intended, pending the introduction of the permanent legislation which has been drafted to deal with the poor law position generally, to include that Act within the ambit of the present Expiring Laws Bill. As soon as the Courts of Justice Bill, now before the Oireachtas, becomes law, it will render the further annual renewal of the Courts of Justice Act of 1929 unnecessary.
This Measure is in the strict sense of the term an omnibus one and if there are any points upon which the House would require further information, if Deputies will mention them now in the course of the discussion on this stage of the Bill we can arrange that the Ministers concerned will be present on the committee Stage to give any further explanations that may be required.