BIEL

Amend the provision for the Government of Ireland

Be it enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : —

Legislative Authority Establishment of Irish Parliament

1. (1) On and after the appointed day there shall be in Ireland and Irish Parliament consisting of His Majesty the King and two Houses, namely, the Irish Senate and the Irish House ot Commons.

(2) Notwithstanding the establishment of the Irish Parliament or anything contained in this Act, the supreme power and authority of the Parliament of the United Kingdom shall remain unaffected and undiminished over all persons, matters, and things within His Majesty s dominions.

Legislative powers of Irish ‘Parliament 2. — Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Irish Parliament shall have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of Ireland with the following limitations, namely, that they shall not have power to make laws except in respect of

matters exclusively relating to Ireland or some part thereof, and

(without prejudice to that general limitation) that they shall not

have power te make laws in respect of the following matters in

particular, or any of them, namely —

(1) The Crown, or the succession to the Crown, or a Regency; or the Lord Lieutenant except as respects the exercise of his executive power in relation to Irish services as defined for the purposes of this Act ; or

(2) The making of peace or war or matters arising from a state of war; or the regulation of the conduct of any portion of His Majesty's subjects during the existence of hostilities betveen Foreign States with which His Majesty is at peace, in relation to those hostilities ; or

(3) The navy, the army, the territorial force, or any other naval or military force, or the defence of the realm, or any other naval or military matter; of

(4) Treaties, or any relations, with Foreign States, or relations with other parts of His Majesty s dominions, or offences connected with any such treaties or relations, or procedure connected with the extradition of criminals under any treaty, or the return of fugitive offenders from or to any part of His Majesty’s dominions; or

(s) Dignities or titles of honour ; or

(6) Treason, treason felony, alienage, naturalisation, or aliens as such; or

(7) Trade with any place out of Ireland (except so far as trade may be affected by the exercise of the powers of taxation given to the Irish Parliament, or by the regulation of importation for the sole purpose of preventing contagious disease) ; quarantine ; or navigation, including merchant shipping (except as respects inland waters and local health or harbour regulations); or

(8) Lighthouses, buoys, or beacons (except so far as they can consistently with any general Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom be constructed or maintained by a local harbour authority); or

(9) Coinage ; legal tender; or any change in the standard of wWeights and measures ; or

(11) Any of the following matters (in this Act referred to as

reserved matters), namely — (a) The general subject-matter of the Acts relating to Land Purchase in Ireland, the Old Age Pensions

Acts, 1908 and 1911, the National Insurance Act, 1911,

and the Labour Exchanges Act, 1909 ;

(b) The collection of taxes ;

(d) Post Office Savings Banks, Trustee Savings

Banks, and Friendly Societies ; and

(e) Public Ioans made in Ireland before the passing of this Act :

Provided that the limitation on the powers of the Irish Parliament under this section shall cease as respects any such reserved matter if the corresponding reserved service is transferred to the Irish Government under the provisions of this Act.

Any law made in contravention of the limitations imposed by this section shall, so far as it contravenes those limitations, be void.

Probibition of, laws interfering with religious equality, etc.

3. — In the exercise of their power to make laws under this Act the Irish Parliament shall not make a law so as either directly or indirectly to establish or endow any religion, or prohibit the free exectise thereof, or give a preference, privilege, or advantage, or impose any disability or disadvantage, on account of religious belief or religious or ecclesiastical status, or make any religious belief or religious ceremony a condition of the validity of any marriage.

Any law made in contravention of the restrictions imposed

by this section shall, so far as it contravenes those restrictions, be void.

Executive Authority

Executive power in Ireland

4. — (1) The executive power in Ireland shall continue vested in His Majesty the King, and nothing in this Act shall affect the exercise of that power except as respects Irish services as defined for the purposes of this Act.

(2) As respects those Irish services the Lord Lieutenant or other chief executive officer or officers for the time being appointed in his place, on behalf of His Majesty, shall exercise any prerogative or other executive power of His Majesty the exercise of which may be delegated to him by His Majesty.

(3) The power so delegated shall be exercised through such Irish Departments as may be established by Irish Act or, subject thereto, by the Lord Lieutenant, and the Lord Lieutenant may appoint officiers to administer those Departments, and those officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Lord Lieutenant.

(4) The persons who are for the time being heads of such Irish Departments as may be determined by Irish Actor, in the absence of any such determination, by the Lord Lieutenant, and such other persons (if any) as the Lord Lieutenant may appoint, shall be the Irish Ministers.

Provided that —

(a) No such person shall be an Irish Minister unless he is a member of the Privy Council of Ireland ; and

(b) No such person shall hold office as an Irish Minister for a longer period than six months, unless he is or becomes a member of one of the Houses of the Irish Parliament; and

(c) Any such person not being the head of an Irish Department shall hold office as an Irish Minister during the pleasure of the Lord Lieutenant in the same manner as the head of an Irish Department holds his office.

(5) The persons who are Irish Ministers for the time being shall

be an Executive Committee of ‘the Privy Council of Ireland (in this Act referred to as the « Executive Committee »), to aid and advise the Lord Lieutenant in the exercise of his executive power in relation to Irish services.

(6) For the purposes of this Act, « Irish services » are all public services in connexion with the administration of the civil government of Ireland except the administration of matters with respect to which the Irish Parliament have no power to make laws, including in the exception all public services in connexion with the administration of the reserved matters \in this Act referred to as « reserved services »).

Future transfer of certain reserved services

5, — (1) The public services in connexion with the administration of the Acts relating to the Royal Irish Constabulary and the management and control of that force, shall by vittue of this Act be transferred from the Government of the United Kingdom to the Irish Government on the expiration of a period of six years from the appointed day and those public services shall then cease to be reserved services and become Irish services.

(2) If a resolution is passed by both Houses of the Irish Parliament providing for the transfer from the Government ot the United Kingdom to the Irish Government of the following reserved services, namely —

(a) AI public services in connexion with the administration of the Old Age Pensions Acts, 1908 and 1911; or

(b) AIT public services in connexion with the administration Of Part I. ofthe National Insurance Act, 1911 ; or

(c) AI public services in connexion with the administration Of Part IL. of the National Insurance Act, 1911, and the Labour Exchanges Act, 1909; or

(d) AU public services in connexion with the administration of Post Office Savings Banks, Trustee Savings Banks, and Friendly Societies ;

the public services to which the resolution relates shall be trans-

ET ferred accordingly as from a date fixed by the resolution, being a date not less than a year after the date on which the resolution is passed, and shall on the transfer taking effect cease to be reserved services and become Irish services :

Provided that this provision shall not take effect as respects the transfer of the services in connexion with Post Office Savings Banks, Trustee Savings Banks, and Friendly Societies until the expiration of ten years from the appointed day.

(3) On any transfer under or by virtue of this section, the transitory provisions of this Act (so far as applicable) and the provisions of this Act as to existing Irish officers shall apply with respect to the transfer, with the substitution of the date ofthe transfer for the appointed day, and of a period of five years from that date for the transitional period.

Irish Parliament Summoning etc. of Irish Parliament 6. — (1) There shall be a session of the Irish Parliament once at least in every year, so that twelve months shall not intervene betwen the last sitting of the Parliament in one session and their first sitting in the next session.

(2) The Lord Lieutenant shall, in His Majesty’s name, summon, prorogue, and dissolve the Irish Parliament.

Royal assent to ‘Bills of lrish Parliament

7, The Lord Lieutenant shall give or withhold the assent of His Majesty to Bills passed by the two Houses ofthe Irish Parliament, ubject to the following limitations ; namely — (1) He shall comply with any instructions given by His Majesty in respect of any such Bill ; and (2) He shall, if so directed by His Majesty, postpone giving the assent of His Majesty to any such Bill presented to him for assent for such period as His Majesty may direct. k Composition of Irish Senate 8. — (1) TheIrish Senate shall consist of forty senators nomi-

nated as respects the first senators by the Lord Lieutenant subject to any instructions given by His Majesty in respect of the nomination, and afterwards by the Lord Lieutenant on the advice of the Executive Committee.

(2) The term of office of every senator shall be eight years, and shall not be affected by a dissolution ; one fourth of the senators shall retire in every second year, and their seats shall be filled by a new nomination. PT À

(2) Ifthe place of a senator becomes vacant before the expiration of his term ot office, the Lord Lieutenant shall, unless the place becomes vacant not more than six months before the expiration of that term of office, nominate a senator in the stead of the senator whose place is vacant, but any senator so nominated to fill a vacancy shall hold office only so long as the senator in whose stead he is nominated would have held office.

Composition of Irish House of Commons

9. — (1) The Irish House of Commons shall consist of one hundred and sixty-four members, returned by the constituencies in Ireland named in the First Part of the First Schedule to this Act in accordance with that Schedule, and elected by the same electors and in the same manner as members returned by constituencies in Ireland to serve in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

(2) The Irish House of Commons when summoned shall, unless sooner dissolved, have continuance for five years from the day on which the summons directs the House to meet and no longer.

(3) After three years from the passing of this Act, the Irish Parliament may alter, as respects the Irish House of Commons, the qualification of the electors, the mode of election, the constituencies, and the distribution of the members of the House among the constituencies, provided that in any new distribution the number of the members of the House shall not be altered, and due regard shall'be had to the population of the constituencies other than University constituencies.

Money Bills

10. - (1) Bills appropriating revenue or money, or imposing taxation shall originate only in the Irish House of Commons, but a Bill shall not be taken to appropriate revenue or money, or to impose taxation by reason only of itscontaining provisions for the imposition or appropriation of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or for the payment or appropriation of fees for licences or fees for services under the Bill.

(2) The Irish House of Commons shall not adopt or pass any resolution, address, or Bill for the appropriation for any purpose of any part of the public revenue of Ireland or of any tax, except in pursuance of a recommendation from the Lord Lieutenant in the session in which the vote, resolution, address, or Bill is proposed.

(3) The Irish Senate may not reject any Bill which deals only with the imposition of taxation or appropriation of revenue or money for the services of the Irish Government, and may not amend any Bill so far as the Bill imposes taxation or appropriates revenue or money for the services of the Irish Government, and the Irish-Senate may not amend any Bill so as to increase any proposed charges or burden on the people.

(4) Any Büll which appropriates revenue or money for the ordinary annual services of the Irish Government shall deal only with that appropriation.

Disagreement between two Houses of Irish Parliament

41.— (1) If the Irish House of Commons pass any Bill and the Irish Senate reject or fail to pass it, or pass it with amendments to which the Irish House of Commons will not agree, and if the Irish House of Commons in the next session again pass the Bill with or without any amendments which have been made or agreed to by the Irish Senate, and the Irish Senate reject or tail to pass it, or pass it with amendments to which the Irish House of Commons will not agree, the Lord Lieutenant may during that session convene a joint sitting of the members of the two

Houses.

(2) The members present atany such joint sitting may deliberate and shall vote together upon the Bill as last proposed by the Irish House of Commons, and upon the amendments (if any) which have been made therein by the one House and not agreed to by the other; and any such amendments which are affirmed by a majority of the total number,of members of the two Houses present at the sitting shall be taken to have been carried.

(3)If the Bill with theamendments (if any) so taken to have been carried is affirmed by a majority of the total number of members of the two Houses present at any such sitting, it shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses.

Privileges, quahfications, elc. of members of Irish Parliament

12. — (1) The powers, privileges, and immunities of the Irish Senate and of the Irish House of Commons, and of the members and of the committees of the Irish Senate and the Irish House ot Commons, shall be such as may be defined by Irish Act, but so that they shall never exceed those for the time being held and enjoyed by the Commons House of Parliament ofthe United Kingdom and its members and committees, and, until so defined, shall be those held and enjoyed by the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and its members and committees at the date of the passing of this Act.

(2) The law, as for the time being in force, relating to the qualification and disqualification of members of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the taking of any oath required to be taken by a member of that House, shall apply to members of the Irish House of Commons,

(3) Any peer, whether of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, Scotland, or Ireland, shall be qualified to be a member of either House.

(4) À member of either House shall be incapable of being nominated or elected, or ot sitting, as a member of the other House, but an Irish Minister who is a member of either House shall have the right to sit and speak in both Houses, but shall vote only in the House of which he is a member.

(5) À member of either House may resign his seat by giving notice of resignation to the person and in the manner directed by standing orders of the House, or if there is: no such direction, by notice in writing of resignation sent to the Lord Lieutenant, and his seat shall become vacant on notice of resignation being given.

(6) The powers of either House shall not be affected by any vacancy therein, or by any defect in the nomination, election, or qualification, of any member thercof.

(7) His Majesty may by Order in Council declare that the holders ofthe offices in the Irish Executive named in the Order shall not be disqualified for being members of either House of the Irish Parliament by reason of holding office under the Crown, and except as otherwise provided by Irish Act, the Order shall have effect as if it were enacted in this Act, but on acceptance of any such office the seat of any such person in the Irish House of Commons shall be vacated unless he has accepted the office in succession to some other of the said offices.

Irish Representation in the House of Commons

Representation of Ireland in the House of Commons of the Uniled Kingdom.