Special Committee Pigs and Bacon Bill, 1934 díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 10 Apr 1935

SECTION 84.

(1) Whenever a vacancy (in this section referred to as a casual vacancy) occurs in the membership of the Board by reason of the death, resignation or disqualification of an ordinary member thereof, the Chairman shall notify the Minister of such vacancy, and the Minister shall, as soon as may be, appoint, in case there are any substitutive members representative of the same class of curers as such ordinary member, one of such substitutive members or, in any other case, such person as he thinks proper to fill such vacancy.

Deputy McGovern

I move amendment No. 62 :—

In sub-section (1) to delete all after the word " there " in line 20 to the end of the sub-section, and substitute therefor the following :—

" Was a vote taken for the election of the member, whose death, resignation or disqualification caused the vacancy, the candidate who received the next largest number of votes; in any other case such person as he thinks proper to fill such vacancy."

The object of the amendment is that in the case of a vacancy occurring on the Board the person who had received the next highest number of votes be elected to fill it. I think he would be the person best entitled to the vacancy.

Deputy Dillon

I thought the Deputy agreed that all these consequential amendments of his were governed by the decision of the Committee on his first amendment ?

Deputy McGovern

This is a point that, I think, was not fully considered.

Chairman

I understood that all the Deputy's amendments went with the decision made on amendment No. 48.

Minister for Agriculture

Suppose that the principle Deputy McGovern wants to get acceptance for in this amendment were to apply, say, to vacancies in the Dáil, then when a vacancy arose it would be filled by the person who received the next highest number of votes.

Deputy McGovern

I think it would not be a bad idea if that was the practice.

Minister for Agriculture

It would not be a fair idea because if a member of Fine Gael which, God forbid, should die it might be found that it was a member of Fianna Fáil who was next on the list and, accordingly, he would be declared elected to fill the vacancy. It would be very unfair, I think.

Deputy McGovern

The small curers can elect their own man, the large curers their man, and the middle curers their man.

Minister for Agriculture

Take, for instance, the case of the small curers. There is a group of small curers in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. They have always regarded themselves as having altogether different interests from the small curers in the rest of the country. Suppose they had a representative on the Board, and that the small curers for the rest of the country had a representative on the Board. Suppose, further, that the representative of that small northern group was absent and became disqualified and was replaced by a southern man, I think it would be unfair. He should be replaced by the northern man next highest on the list.

Deputy McGovern

Suppose the country were divided into three areas and a vacancy occurred in such circumstances, then the contest to fill the vacancy would be between two northern men.

Minister for Agriculture

If you had the country divided into areas, of course, the position would be different, but the panel of small curers is for the whole of the Twenty-Six Counties. Therefore, it is quite possible that if a Cavan or Monaghan man dropped out through illness, or some other cause, that a Cork man might take his place for the time being.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Sections 84 and 85 agreed to.