The need for this Bill arises from the occurrence of a general election in the period between the Budget and the passing of the original Financial Resolutions and the passing of the Finance Bill. The House will understand that it is not part of the ordinary procedure of the Oireachtas in regard to Finance Bills that we should have a Bill of this sort, but certain of the resolution to which I have referred were given effect for a limited period under the Collection of Taxes Act, 1927, which Act provides that, in the event of a dissolution, certain of these resolutions would cease to have statutory effect. It is necessary, therefore, to have a measure of this sort enacted by the Oireachtas in order to give continuing effect to the resolutions, to revive them and also to regularise and make legal everything which was done under the Resolutions during the period between the dissolution of one Dáil and the meeting of the next. It is desirable that the Bill should be enacted at the earliest possible moment and I ask the Seanad to give me not only the Second Reading but all Stages to-day.
Collection of Taxes (Confirmation) Bill, 1951 ( Certified Money Bill ) Second and Subsequent Stages.
I think it is reasonable that the Minister should get all stages to-day. The Bill merely puts the Budget Resolutions back in the position they were in before the dissolution. I do not know whether the particular section of the 1927 Act was inserted to keep Governments from dissolving in the period between the Resolutions and the passing of the Finance Bill, but it has occurred on more than one occasion. This is, in effect, a machinery Bill to enable taxes to be collected and the Dáil to get on to the Finance Bill which will be open for discussion when it comes up. I agree with the Minister that we should pass all stages of the Bill to-day.
May I make an inquiry at this stage? Must we always have legislation ad hoc on a matter of this kind? Would it not be better to have some kind of legislation which would always cope with a situation like this—I am not quite clear as to whether that would be feasible—and save us from bringing in more Bills of this nature at a later period when the same situation arises? Can I have the Minister's views on that?
I am not certain that I made it quite clear to the Seanad that the need for this Bill arises out of a provision of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927—Senator Hayes also dwelt on that fact—and in order to obviate the need for a measure of this sort it would be necessary for us to amend the original Act, that Collection of Taxes Act, by deleting the proviso that the Financial Resolutions would cease to have statutory effect in the event of a dissolution occurring before they had been reported and embodied in the Finance Act. As the Senator will see, there may be objections to that course and, while it would have the advantage of relieving both Houses of the Oireachtas of the need to pass a Confirmation Bill, in the circumstances in which we are dealing with this measure there would be, I think, on the other hand, rather more serious objection to deleting the provision from the Act of 1927, that is, from a constitutional point of view.
Thank you, Sir.