I move:
That notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders and in the Resolution of the Dáil of 27th January, 1976 (as amended by the Resolutions of 6th April, 29th June and 9th December, 1976) relating to business and sittings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays:—
(i) consideration of Government business shall not be interrupted today and tomorrow at the time fixed for taking private Members' business;
(ii) the sitting tomorrow shall not be suspended from 1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.
(iii) in the case of the Finance Bill, 1977—
(a) the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Bill, if not previously concluded, shall be brought to a conclusion at 7 p.m. today by putting from the Chair the Question necessary to bring them to a conclusion;
(b) the Motions for Financial Resolutions connected with the Bill shall be taken immediately upon the conclusion of the Second Stage and the Committee Stage of the Bill shall then be proceeded with: the proceedings on the Motions for Financial Resolutions and on the Committee Stage, if not previously concluded, shall be brought to a conclusion at 5.30 p.m. tomorrow by putting from the Chair the Question necessary to bring them to a conclusion: and the Question to be put from the Chair shall be (as the case may require) `That the Motions for Financial Resolutions connected with the Bill and not already disposed of be agreed to and that (any amendments set down by the Minister for Finance and not disposed of are hereby made to the Bill), that the Bill (as amended) is hereby agreed to and (as amended) is reported to the House';
(c) the Fourth Stage of the Bill shall be proceeded with immediately upon the conclusion of the proceedings on the Supplementary Estimate for Labour referred to in paragraph (vi) and the proceedings on the Fourth and Fifth Stages, if not previously concluded, shall be brought to a conclusion at 8.30 p.m. to-morrow by putting from the Chair the Question necessary to bring them to a conclusion: and the Question to be put from the Chair (as the case may require) shall be `That (any amendments set down by the Minister for Finance, including any requiring Recommittal, and not disposed of, are hereby made to the Bill and Recommittal and Fourth Stages are hereby completed and) the Bill is hereby passed';
(iv) the proceedings on the Friendly Societies (Amendment) Bill, 1976 shall be resumed at 1 p.m. to-morrow and if the proceedings thereon have not already concluded the Question necessary to bring them to a conclusion shall be put from the Chair at 1.30 p.m.: and the Question to be put from the Chair shall be `That the Order of the Dáil of 29th March, 1977 is hereby discharged, that the consequential Message to the Seanad is hereby cancelled, and that all amendments made by the Seanad to the Bill and not disposed of by the Dáil are hereby agreed to'; (v) the debate on the Second Stage of the Prisons Bill, 1977 shall be resumed at 1.30 p.m. to-morrow and the proceedings on that Stage and on the remaining Stages of the Bill, if not previously concluded, shall be brought to a conclusion at 2.30 p.m. to-morrow by putting from the Chair the Question necessary to bring them to a conclusion: and the Question to be put from the Chair shall be (as the case may require) `That the Bill be now read a second time and that (all amendments set down by the Minister for Justice for Committee Stage and not disposed of are hereby made to the Bill) that the Bill (as amended) is hereby agreed to and (as amended) is reported to the House and (all amendments set down by the Minister for Justice for Fourth Stage, including any requiring Recommittal, and not disposed of, are hereby made to the Bill and Recommittal and Fourth Stages are hereby completed and) the Bill is hereby passed';
(vi) consideration of the Supplementary Estimate for Labour for the year ending 31st December, 1977 shall be proceeded with immediately upon the conclusion of the proceedings on the Committee Stage of the Finance Bill, 1977 and if the proceedings on the Supplementary Estimate have not already concluded the Question necessary to bring them to a conclusion shall be put from the Chair at 6.30 p.m. to-morrow: provided that if a division is demanded such division shall be taken forthwith.
I want to give the House a few brief details of the history of the Finance Bill, 1977. The Bill was circulated on 27th April, which is nearly four weeks ago, and the Second Stage was, on the same day, ordered for 4th May subject to the Whips' agreement as has been frequent practice in the House. As Whip, I could not get agreement for the Bill to proceed on 4th May—the Opposition required more time before taking the Second Stage—and the Bill ultimately began its Second Stage on 10th May, two weeks all but a day after it was circulated. It has now occupied 22 hours, 35 minutes of debate and, assuming it gets some more debate this afternoon, before a vote is taken on the Second Stage, it will have occupied roughly 24 hours.
In order to put that figure into perspective, in case anybody thinks that is not enough for the Second Stage of a Finance Bill, I want to tell the House that I have gone back as far as 1957 and that the Finance Bill on Second Stage has now beaten all records in terms of the length of time it has taken to debate in this House. I did not go back any further than 1957 because it was less verbose in the earlier days not more and I have no doubt, although I cannot give the House definite figures for earlier years, this record will not have been exceeded. The longest debate on the Second Stage of the Finance Bill before this year was that on the Finance Bill of 1963. That Bill contained an extremely controversial and new taxation proposal, namely the turnover tax, which was bitterly opposed by the then Opposition. Notwithstanding that bitter and determined Opposition the debate on that Bill on Second Stage was concluded in 19 hours, 45 minutes.
The Finance Bill at present before the House, far from containing any new, controversial or far-reaching taxation proposals, consists very largely of taxation reliefs. Notwithstanding that, the length of time spent on it has already substantially exceeded the time spent on the Bill 14 years ago, which contained the turnover tax. While the Government appreciate that in normal circumstances the curtailing of debate is undesirable they have to observe their own programme as well. While I regret having to move this motion I feel—I say so without being contentious—that the motion before the House is the motion which the Opposition were aiming to force us to produce and to that extent their strategy has succeeded but in succeeding it will of course enable the Press and the public to discount at its true worth the indignation which our motion today will generate. I hope it might be in order for me to say a short personal word, on completing a little more than four years as Government Whip. I would like to thank the two Opposition Whips, Deputy Lalor and Deputy Browne, in my own name and I feel I should say in the name of my party and that of the Labour Party for their courtesy and their consideration. They worked very hard for their own side at all times but never drove their devotion to their own side to the point of unreasonableness or inhumanity. Their attitude has made every Deputy in the House, not just on this side, their beneficiaries.