It is proposed to take the business on the Order Paper in the following order:—Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive. If the business as ordered is concluded, time will be given to Private Deputies' Business. The first motion to be taken in Private Deputies' time is Motion No. 2, standing in the names of Deputies Cogan and Sheldon.
Order of Business.
Do I understand the Minister to say that, when business as ordered is concluded, Motion No. 2 will be taken? Are we not going to get the normal minimum time for Private Deputies' Business? Suppose we do not finish the business as ordered until a quarter past eight, what will be the position? Are we going to stop at the normal time for Private Deputies' Business? I understood that was the arrangement with the Parliamentary Secretary.
Very good. I have no objection.
At half-past seven, or earlier, if the business as ordered has concluded.
I want to ask, under what circumstances can a private Deputy become possessed of an Order made by the Government? Under the Emergency Powers Act, a Rent Restriction Order was made recently. I certainly did not get a copy of it and I understand that, so far as the public are concerned, it was sold out at 11 o'clock in the morning. Having regard to the fact that it is in effect a complete Act of Parliament and that, if it were an Act of Parliament, it would probably have received considerable amendment at the hands of the members of this House, I think it would be most desirable that an Order of that importance, and all Orders of that importance, should be circulated to private members. Those of us who were in the country at the time the Order was issued were placed in an inferior position with regard to getting possession of it compared to a person who had early access to the Government's Stationery Office in Dublin. It is possible for us to exercise the rights that are left to us under the Emergency Powers Act to call for a repeal of any particular Order such as this, if we wanted to do so. I am not speaking about the terms of the Order itself but of the principle that is involved. As these Orders are coming out from the printing press as fast as they can be printed, we may come up against some very drastic Order in the future to which a considerable number of members of this House, possibly a majority, might object. I think it is against all the fundamentals of democracy, and certainly against the spirit of the terms of the Emergency Powers Act, 1939, that individual members should be placed at that disadvantage.
The Deputy is aware that they are always available in the Library?
That is absolutely no good to Deputies in the country. I had heard of it on the wireless first of all and subsequently read of it in the Press on the following day, but if I had come to Dublin to get a copy of the Order, I would have been unable to obtain it. I understand—I may be wrong—that I am entitled to table a motion for the repeal of any particular Order.
We will have the matter considered.
This particular Order, as Deputy Esmonde has rightly pointed out, is a comprehensive Act of Parliament, as the Minister knows, and in view of its importance and the widespread character of its operations, will the Minister responsible undertake, in these circumstances, because of the importance of the Order, to circulate a copy to every Deputy?
What Order was the Deputy talking about? I did not catch the name.
The Control of Rents Order. As a matter of fact, if the Tánaiste looks at it, he will find it is a Bill nearly as big as the Drainage Bill.
Not quite. Do not draw the long bow, as usual.
Will the Minister circulate a copy to each Deputy?
And an explanatory leaflet.
I will look into it and see what we can do.
All you have to do is to send out sheets of paper.
It is equivalent to an Act of Parliament.
I understand we have a right, if we feel that an Order is not correct, to table a motion here to have the Order rescinded, and that anything that happens under the Order in the meantime is legitimate. Taking it to its logical conclusion, the Government, in its wisdom or unwisdom, may see fit to pass some Orders that may outrage the majority opinion of this House. How can any individual member exercise his rights, unless he has at the earliest opportunity a copy of the Order in his hands?
We will have the Order printed. I think it is being printed. It will take some time. As soon as we get it from the printers, it will be circulated.
Mr. Boland
In the meantime, if any Deputy wants a copy for himself, he can get a neostyle copy.
When it is printed, will the Minister come into the House and explain it?
Mr. Boland
There is no machinery for that. I am prepared to do it if I get an opportunity.
It is not this particular Order, but the whole principle, that I am referring to.
That is another question. We are not giving the same promise in regard to every other Order.