asked the Taoiseach whether any progress has been made in the consolidation of Emergency Orders and their preparation for publication in consolidated form.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Consolidation of Emergency Orders.
I intimated in the reply to a Parliamentary question addressed to me by the Deputy on the 29th April last that I did not consider that the consolidation of Emergency Powers Orders was practicable. I have since had the matter further examined and am satisfied that it is one of considerable difficulty. In many cases the preparation of amendments to Orders is a matter of great urgency, and in other cases the amendments are of so slight a character, such as the substitution of one number for another, that the issue of a consolidated Order could not be justified in view of the shortage of paper supplies and of the expense which would be involved.
In certain cases, however, consolidated Orders have been drafted as, for example, the Emergency Powers (Motor Spirit Rationing) Order, 1941 (S. R. & O. 36/1941), Emergency Powers (Flour Milling and Prices) Order, 1941 (S. R. & O. 22/1941), and the Emergency Powers (Finance) (No. 7) Order, 1941 (S. R. & O. 21/1941). The changing conditions with which many of these Orders have to deal make it impossible to avoid frequent amendments, and this must militate against any substantial measure of consolidation. The desirability of effecting consolidation whenever practicable is, however, being borne in mind.
The Deputy was also informed on the 29th April last that an index to the Emergency Powers Orders, both of the Government and of the Ministers, made in 1939, 1940 and 1941, was in course of preparation. This index is now with the printers, and it is expected that the volume will be on sale in about one month. The preparation of the next index, which will include the 1942 Orders, will be undertaken at the end of the current year, and consideration will then be given to the issue of an index thereafter at intervals of six months. The availability of paper supplies will be an important factor in determining the frequency of publication.
While admitting the difficulty of consolidation, does the Taoiseach realise the immense difficulty of abiding by the law when nobody knows what the law is? For instance, in connection with the fixation of tyre prices, does the Taoiseach realise that in that Order the fixation of prices was made to apply to all tyres, whereas in an exactly analogous Order, the fixation of prices of cotton thread Order, the fixation of prices applied only to thread produced in Éire, and thread brought in from outside Éire could be sold at any price the merchant liked to charge, with the result that frequently, when citizens attempt to comply with these Orders by analogy, for want of specific information, they find that inadvertently they have broken the law and are brought before the courts? Secondly, will the Taoiseach consider not only having the index at the end of the financial year, or in preparation at the end of the financial year, but that the work of preparation will be kept continuously in progress so that the new edition of the index can appear immediately after the close of the financial year, and not after the lapse of such a period as might be necessary to prepare it, were its preparation deferred to the end of the year?
With regard to the first point made by the Deputy, I understand the difficulties, and, as he will see from the reply I have given, we have taken considerable care to try to meet him as far as possible, but the index is the best we can do. With regard to the second point, I think, in fact, the course he has suggested, namely, the index to be kept continuously up to date without necessarily being published and being ready for publication, is the course actually being adopted.