When is it proposed to take the Second Stage?
Social Welfare (Reciprocal Arrangements) Bill, 1948—First Stage.
Leave granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to enable reciprocal or other arrangements to be made with other countries in respect of matters relating to National Health Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Insurance and Workmen's Compensation and to provide for other matters connected with the matters aforesaid. (Minister for Social Welfare).
This is a short enabling Bill and its primary purpose is to facilitate the making of reciprocal arrangements covering the classes of insurance referred to in the long title. It has become somewhat urgent to effect these reciprocal arrangements as speedily as possible in respect to national health insurance benefit and in respect of maternity benefit. I should be grateful to Deputies if they would agree to set down this Bill for Second Reading to-morrow. I hope to circulate the Bill this afternoon.
There is no objection if it is urgent but we cannot agree to take the Bill until we have seen it.
I quite appreciate the Deputy's difficulty and I am fully in the Deputy's hands, but when the Deputy sees the Bill he will see that it is designed to help insured persons who travel from this country to Great Britain and vice versa. My desire is to facilitate these persons as much as possible.
Will the Minister say if the Bill is along the lines that were under discussion previously in the matter of making reciprocal arrangements?
The Bill has been drafted only in the last week or so because it was thought previously that there were powers already in existence to effect the reciprocal arrangements. It has now been ascertained that the powers which existed are not sufficiently wide in scope to effect the reciprocity we have in mind. This Bill is designed to give us power to effect reciprocity on a broader scale. I am sure the Deputy will have no difficulty in assenting to its provisions.
It is not a question of assenting to its provisions, it is a question of taking a Bill which has not been circulated yet.
I am in the Deputy's hands. I do not want to press that view. I may say that the British National Insurance Bill, now an Act, only enabled the British Government to effect reciprocal arrangements as from the 5th July. This Bill is designed to dovetail into the British Bill, and to ensure that there will be no time-lag which might be injurious to our contributors.
The Minister should have foreseen that before now.
It was assumed that the power was there already but the reciprocity which it is now sought to effect is wider in scope than was originally intended.
Second Reading ordered provisionally for to-morrow.