As regards the Control of Manufactures Bill, 1932, a number of amendments were handed in which were late for the Committee Stage and which might ordinarily appear on the Paper for the Report Stage.
Order of Business.
Cathaoirleach
I understand that a certain number of days was provided for the purpose of submitting amendments. This Bill was taken on Friday. I have submitted a number of amendments which I found considerable difficulty in drafting. I was not able to get them ready until Monday evening. They reached here on Tuesday morning. If the Committee Stage were taken to-day I quite recognise that they would be late. If the Committee Stage is taken to-morrow I suggest they are not late for that Stage and they might then be taken.
Cathaoirleach
The Senator might have allowed me to continue. I was going to point out that if the Committee Stage is taken to-morrow the amendments which, in the ordinary course, would have appeared for the Report Stage will appear on the Paper to-morrow for the Committee Stage.
I do not want it to be taken that we cannot have further amendments on the Report Stage.
Cathaoirleach
I did not indicate anything like that. On the Order Paper to-day is a motion suggesting that the Report Stage should be taken to-day. It is for the House to say whether they will now take the Committee Stage, decide it and decide the amendments relating thereto, and then take the Report Stage to-morrow or on another day. My point is that if you desire to take the Committee Stage to-morrow all these amendments will appear on the Committee Stage. That does not prevent your taking any action you desire on the Report Stage.
When I got these amendments I understood that the later amendments which came from Senator Douglas were really designed for the Report Stage. Obviously, if this Bill had been dealt with to-day, as was originally intended, the amendments would be late. I took the precaution of getting a copy of them immediately they arrived in the hope of dealing with them on the Committee Stage, which I intended to suggest, even though they were late. I mapped out my programme on the basis of taking the Committee Stage to-day, and the Report and Final Stages to-morrow. If we are to take all these amendments on the Committee Stage I would like to have an assurance that the remaining stages of the Bill will be completed.
Cathaoirleach
I cannot give any assurance unless the House will help me in coming to a conclusion.
Would it not be difficult, before we have dealt with the Bill in Committee, to say what view we would take with regard to the Report Stage? The House has not seen these amendments and at this moment we could not possibly say what we will do as regards the Report Stage. Probably on that Stage we might have other most important amendments. We might want another day or even a week to consider them. Surely we should not be asked to make arrangements about the Report and Final Stages before we have even taken the Committee Stage? I believe I am interpreting the Senator's proposal correctly.
I would like to point out that normally amendments for the Committee Stage should be with the Clerk of the Seanad on Monday. So far as I know these amendments did not reach the Seanad on Monday.
Cathaoirleach
That is so and consequently they would not be dealt with until on Report.
The amendments were handed in for the Committee Stage. If not they would be dealt with on Report. Normally the House would not sit on Friday and expect to have the Committee Stage of a Bill on the following Wednesday. If we take a Bill of this kind the details of which require very careful thinking out and very careful consideration, and if it is not possible to draft very careful and detailed amendments between Friday and 4 o'clock on Monday then the amendments ought to be regarded as amendments for the Report Stage and consequently there would be no further consideration of them. I would oppose the further going on at this stage. I am quite satisfied that there are a good many snags in this Bill that require careful consideration and I am quite satisfied that I will be able to satisfy the present acting Minister for Industry and Commerce not probably that my amendments are right but that there is here a problem which requires to be dealt with very carefully. Whether it is possible to have this dealt with I do not know. Possibly it will be necessary to have these amendments redrafted by the Parliamentary draftsman. If both Houses are prepared to sit and consider the Bill, all right, but if the Seanad and Dáil are not prepared to sit, then the way to do it is—as was done in the case of the late Government—to postpone the Bill until the autumn.
Cathaoirleach
The Committee Stage of this Bill is down for consideration to-day. We must ignore these amendments altogether because they are late for the Committee Stage. Are we to take the Committee Stage or not tonight—that is the question?
Senators
No.
I was going to appeal to you to let these amendments come on in the Committee Stage. I was trying to facilitate Senator Douglas in spite of the fact that these amendments were late for the Committee Stage.
If the Committee Stage was for to-day.
The Agenda was drawn up with the Committee Stage for to-day.
Cathaoirleach
You can do it otherwise.
I kept some of the staff in late last night so as to be able to deal with the matter to-day. I am not averse to coming back next week, but I want to explain to the House that there are a number of serious things waiting on this Bill. There are many proposals of industrialists waiting on this Bill and these people will not go on until the Bill becomes law.
Cathaoirleach
Very well, the Committee Stage to be taken to-morrow. The additional amendments will be circulated in stencil form immediately and they will be incorporated in the fresh printed list which is to be posted to-night.