On the last occasion when this was raised Senator Johnson objected to the matter being dealt with without allowing opportunity for discussion. I probably was at fault, because when formally proposing the motion I should have given some outline of the purpose of this Order. This motion is asking the Seanad to approve of an Order dealing with the Cobh (Queenstown) Gas Company. That order tends to authorise the reconstruction of the existing capital and the raising of additional capital. This Gas Company has operated under a private Act passed in 1879. The capital of the Company and its borrowing powers were defined by that Act and by The Capital Issues Consent Order of 1921. The financial powers were confined to the issue of shares to the amount of £25,000 and the borrowing of an additional sum of £12,500. The Company, it appears, has been hampered in its development by the financial restrictions which limited its operations. Accordingly it is proposed to make an order in the form which has lain on the Tables of the Oireachtas for a considerable time.
It is proposed to revise the financial powers within the following limits: (a) to convert the existing shares into £20,500 Consolidated Stock; (b) to create and issue additional stock from time to time as required up to the maximum amount of £25,000; (c) to raise by borrowing for special purposes up to an amount not exceeding one-half the value of the paid-up stock. The opportunity has been taken to include in the Order a number of general provisions which appear in practically all modern private Acts and Orders for the purpose of defining the powers of and the obligations of the Company. The prices chargeable by the Company for gas supplied are required by the Order to be those prescribed for the time being by the Minister for Industry and Commerce under the provisions of Section 1 of the Gas Regulation Act, 1920.
That is an outline of the purpose of the Order. The necessity for this being approved before the Oireachtas adjourns is that the appointed day on which this Order comes into effect is as near as the 20th September next. If the Oireachtas adjourns for the Recess it will not reassemble until after that date, and it is therefore important that the Seanad, before it adjourns, should give its approval to this Order, if it is to be approved at all. For that reason I am moving the motion I have tabled.
