Before we enter upon the Orders of the day, might I ask the Minister for Finance, who is also the Tánaiste, the Vice-President of the Government, what programme the Government desires to complete before we rise? I do not quite know what we would be rising for—certainly not the Summer Recess.
Business of the Seanad.
Perhaps the Minister may be in a position to give an indication of future business.
Of course, the Finance Bill will be necessary. The Bills that are now in the Dáil, I understand, will be required to be passed before there is any adjournment for whatever period, whether you call it the Summer Adjournment or not. The Local Government Bill, 1940, the Local Officers and Servants (Dublin) Bill, 1941, the Neutrality (War Damage to Property) Bill, 1941, the Trade Union Bill, and the Emergency Powers (Continuance) Bill, 1941—all these will be required before the adjournment. Consideration of some of them is almost completed, I think, in the Dáil. It might not be necessary to have the Neutrality (War Damage to Property) Bill through all its stages. The Appropriation Bill——
Naturally we must pass the Appropriation Bill. That is clear.
The Local Elections (Postponement) Bill—that is the complete list, so far as I know.
Will the Emergency Powers (Continuance) Bill be required?
That would be necessary. I think I read that out. That would be required. That is the complete list as far as I am aware. There is another Bill on the Order Paper of the Dáil, the Shops (Conditions of Employment) (Amendment) Bill. That will not be wanted before the Recess, but all the others will be required.
Is it not somewhat unfair that, at the very end of the year, we should be asked to do, not only the finance business, which is clearly something we must do, but also to do Bills which have been engaging the Dáil for some time and which are thrown to us at a time when we must do them very rapidly? Is there really any urgency about the Local Government Bill, which has waited for nine years, since the Government came into office, or the Trade Union Bill, which has waited for a considerably longer period?
I thought I heard the Minister say he did not want the Trade Union Bill. Is that correct?
It will be required.
There will not be any adjournment of the Seanad at all.
That is not for me to say.
If you persist in the Trade Union Bill, you are likely to have a continuance of the Seanad.
I am going to be in Dublin for the whole summer, but, is it not unfair to others who work in the country to ask us to consider the Bills in this fashion? It is a bad arrangement of Parliamentary business at the beginning and shows a great lack of foresight on the part of the Government.
Would the Minister be prepared to look into the matter and to see whether the Local Government Bill and the Trade Union Bill could stand over?
The Local Government Bill is a very big Bill indeed. Perhaps the Tánaiste would indicate his view before we go on?
I might say that I am in entire agreement with the views expressed by Senator Hayes that at this stage and in this weather, may I add, it is certainly not very pleasant to be presented with a menu card of that kind to be gone through in the month of July, but I was told yesterday by several Ministers whom I consulted that they would require these Bills. I went through the list with a number of the Ministers concerned and they all indicated to me that these Bills would be necessary. I can raise the matter with them again and I will gladly do that and point out the views expressed by Senator Hayes which, I take it, represent the views of members in general.
I can give the Minister an additional argument. The traditional attitude of Ministers is that every Bill is urgent. Every Minister thinks his own particular goose is a swan. Whether Fianna Fáil or otherwise their attitude is the same—all their Bills are urgent. I had a long experience of them, and I must say that I am convinced there are very few urgent Bills. Nothing would happen in this State detrimental to the interests of any citizen if a good many of these Bills were not passed until next December or next December 12 months, for that matter. I can understand the necessity for financial business, or for the continuance of the Emergency Powers Act. Whatever one thinks about it, the Government must have it and must try to get it. If they want the Damage to Property Bill that might well be urgent, but why the Local Government Bill and the Trade Union Bill should be asked for in August, never mind July, baffles me.
I think the matter has been sufficiently ventilated. We will take No. 1 on the Order Paper.