This Bill envisages a contingency which I hope never will arise. It is a precautionary measure in view of the present emergency. However, I am advised that it is necessary to face the possibility that, some time during the emergency, the sittings of the Oireachtas might be interrupted temporarily by the action of the armed forces of another country. If this interruption should take place in any year between the 6th April, when income-tax and other tax periods usually commence, and the date of the passing of the Finance Bill of that year into law, the finances of the country might be thrown into grave confusion. It is to make provision for such circumstances—which we all hope will not arise—that the Bill is introduced.
Taxes and Duties (Special Circumstances) Bill, 1942—Second and Subsequent Stages.
Question proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time.
This is an eminently reasonable Bill, in the circumstances of the moment. It is a logical extension of the Provision for the Collection of Taxes Act, in connection with the emergency, and I think it should be agreed to.
Question put and agreed to.
Agreed to take the remaining stages now.
Bill passed through Committee without amendment, received for final consideration, and passed.
Ordered: "That the Bill be returned to the Dáil."