Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1924 > Committee on Private Bill Procedure > Report - Private Bill Procedure

SCHEDULE.

Draft Standing Orders

of

THE DÁIL AND THE SEANAD

Relative to Private Business.

I.—Definitions.

In these Orders, unless the context otherwise requires—

the term “person” shall include any body of persons, corporate or unincorporate;

the term “Tramway” means a Tramway laid along a street or road; the term “Tramroad” means a Tramway laid elsewhere than along a street or road: Provided that where a Bill relates partly to Tramroad and partly to Tramway as here defined, the provisions of these Orders shall apply to such Tramroad or Tramway however the same may be described in the Bill;

the term “Railway” includes “Tramroad and Motor Road”;

the term “Trolley vehicle system” means a system of traction whereby vehicles are propelled on roads by mechanical power conveyed by overhead wires and trolleys;

the term “Lessee” includes a person holding an agreement for a lease;

the term “Occupier” applies only to rate-payers, and to other persons not being ratepayers, whose interest in the premises occupied is not less than that of a quarterly tenant;

the term “Provisional Order” includes Pilotage Order.

Other expressions defined in The Interpretation Act, 1889, have the same meanings in these Orders as if these Orders were an Act of the Oireachtas passed after the commencement of that Act.

II.—Private bills—General.

1. Every Bill promoted for the particular interest or benefit of any person, or that interferes with the private property of any person, otherwise than in the interests of the public generally and as a measure of public policy, shall be treated as a Private Bill.

2. The scale of fees to be paid by parties promoting or opposing Private Bills shall be as set out in the Table of Fees in Appendix A to these Standing Orders.

3. All notices required to be given or deposits made in the Private Bill Office shall be delivered in the said office before five o’clock in the evening of any day on which the Dáil or the Seanad shall sit, and between eleven and one o’clock on any day, exclusive of Sunday and public holidays, on which neither the Dáil nor the Seanad shall sit.

4. All notices thus given relating to any proceedings in the Dáil or in the Seanad shall be delivered by the Examiner to the Clerk of the Dáil or the Clerk of the Seanad as the case may be, and shall be printed in the Order paper.

5. There shall be an Officer of the Oireachtas to be called “The Examiner of Private Bills,” hereinafter called the “Examiner,” who shall be appointed by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad jointly, and shall be paid such remuneration as they, with the consent of the Minister of Finance, shall approve.

6. The Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad may entrust to their respective Deputies the supervision of all Private Bill legislation.

7. There shall be a Joint Committee to be designated “The Joint Committee on Standing Orders,” to consist of three Members nominated by the Dáil and three Members nominated by the Seanad, together with a Chairman to be appointed by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad jointly, at the commencement of every Session. Three shall be the quorum, but of this number each House shall be represented by at least one member.

III.—Standing Orders compliance with which is to be proved before the Examiner.

Compliance with the following Standing Orders shall be proved before the Examiner, viz.:—

1. Notices by Advertisement.

8. In all cases where application is intended to be made for leave to bring in a Private Bill (other than Citizenship, Estate and Name Bills), Notice shall be given stating the main objects of such intended application and the time at which copies of the Bill will be deposited in the Private Bill Office, and such Notice shall be subscribed with the name and address of the person, Company, Corporation, or firm by whom the application is to be made, and shall, in the months of October and November, or either of them, immediately preceding the application for a Bill, but not later than the twenty-seventh day of November, be published once in the Iris Oifigiúil and once in each of two successive weeks, with an interval between such publications of not less than six clear days, in some newspaper or newspapers published or circulating in the area to which the application relates.

For the purposes of this Order the term area means—

(a) in the case of a Bill relating specially to a city, borough, town or urban or rural district—such city or place;

(b) in the case of a Bill relating to lands or works—the county or counties in which such lands or works are situate, or in which any new works are proposed to be constructed, together with the county in which the principal office of the Company or Companies or other parties who are the promoters of the Bill is situate.

9. In cases of Bills in respect of which plans are required to be deposited, the Notice published in the newspaper or newspapers shall—

(1) contain a description of all the termini, together with the names of the boroughs, urban and rural districts from, in, through, or into which the work is intended to be made, maintained, extended, varied or enlarged, or in which any land or houses intended to be taken are situate;

(2) set forth and specify the lands in or upon which any gas works, sewage works, chemical works, works for the manufacture or conversion of residual products of gas or sewage, sewage farm, cemetery, burial ground, crematorium, destructor, hospital for infectious diseases, or station for generating or transforming electrical energy is intended to be made or constructed;

(3) specify at what point or points, and on which side of the street or road it is proposed to lay any tramway, so that for a distance of thirty feet or upwards a less space than nine feet six inches, or if it is intended to run thereon carriages or trucks adapted for use upon railways, a less space than ten feet six inches shall intervene between the outside of the footpath on the side of the street or road and the nearest rail of the tramway;

(4) describe the proposed gauge and motive power of any proposed railway, tramroad, or tramway;

(5) state that on or before the thirtieth day of November, plans, sections, and books of reference will be deposited with the Officers mentioned in Appendix C.3; and

(6) state that on and after the eighteenth day of December, a copy of the Bill may be inspected, and copies obtained at a reasonable price at the office or offices mentioned in the Notice:

Provided that if the Bill relates to lands or works situate in more than one county it shall be sufficient (at the option of the promoters) to publish in each of such counties only so much of the Notice as relates specifically to the lands or works situate in that county, together with an intimation of the name and date of publication of each newspaper in which the Notice referred to in this or the preceding Order has been or will be published in full.

The Notice published in the Iris Oifigiúil shall contain no further particulars except as required under paragraphs (5) and (6) of this Order, together with an intimation of the name and date of publication of each newspaper in which the Notice referred to in this and the preceding order has been or will be published in full.

10. In the case of an application for any Bill for laying down a tramway, a Notice of the intention to make the application shall be posted for fourteen consecutive days in the month of October or November in conspicuous positions in each of the streets or roads to which the application relates in such manner as the authorities having the control of such streets or roads shall direct.

2. Notices to Owners, Lessees, and Occupiers of Lands and Houses.

11. On or before the fifteenth day of December immediately preceding the application for a Bill for power to take any lands, or houses compulsorily or for compulsory user of the same, or for an extension of the time granted by any former Act for that purpose, or to impose an improvement charge on any lands or houses, or to render any lands or houses liable to the imposition of an improvement charge, Notice in writing, of the application shall be given to the Owners or reputed Owners, Lessees or reputed Lessees, and Occupiers of all such lands and houses, and such Notice shall be, as nearly as may be, in the form set forth in the Appendix B to these Orders.

12. On or before the fifteenth day of December immediately preceding the application for a Bill, Notice shall be served upon the Owner, Lessee and Occupier of every dwellinghouse situated within 300 yards of the lands in or upon which any gas works, sewage works, chemical works, works for the manufacture or conversion of residual products of gas or sewage, station for generating or transforming electrical energy, sewage farm, cemetery, burial ground, crematorium, destructor, or hospital for infectious diseases is intended to be made or constructed.

13. On or before the fifteenth day of December immediately preceding the Application for a Bill, whereby it is proposed to abstract Water from any Stream for the purpose of supplying any Cut, Canal, Reservoir, Aqueduct, Navigation, or Waterwork, Notice in writing of such Bill shall be given to the Owners or reputed Owners, Lessees or reputed Lessees, and Occupiers of all Mills and Manufactories or other Works using the waters of such Stream for a distance of Twenty miles below the point at which such water is intended to be abstracted, such distance to be measured along the course of such Stream, unless such waters shall, within a less distance than Twenty miles, fall into or unite with any navigable Stream, and then only to the Owners or reputed Owners, Lessees or reputed Lessees, and Occupiers of such Mills and Manufactories or other works as aforesaid, which shall be situate between the point at which such water is proposed to be abstracted, and the point at which such water shall fall into or unite with such navigable Stream; and such Notice shall state the name (if any) by which the Stream is known at the point at which such water shall be immediately abstracted, and also the district in which such point is situate, and the time and place of deposit of Plans, Sections, and Books of Reference with the Officers mentioned in Appendix C.

14. In the case of a Bill to authorise the laying down of a tramway the promoters shall, on or before the fifteenth day of December immediately preceding the application, serve Notice of such application upon all local and road authorities affected by the proposals. For the purposes of this Order the local and road authorities shall be the District Councils and the County Councils respectively.

15. All the foregoing Notices prescribed in Part III. shall be published and served in duplicate, one in Irish and the other in English, and shall be served, either by delivering the same personally to the party entitled to such Notice, or by leaving the same at his usual place of abode, or, in his absence from Saorstát Eireann, with his agent or solicitor, or by forwarding the same by post in a registered letter, addressed with a sufficient direction to his usual place of abode, and posted on or before the fifth day previously to the day required for delivery of the same personally, at such places, at such hours, and according to such regulations as the Postmaster-General shall from time to time appoint for the posting and registration of such letters, and shall be accompanied by a copy of the Standing Orders which regulate the time and mode of presenting Petitions in opposition to Bills.

16. In all cases the written acknowledgment of the party so served shall, in the absence of other proof, be sufficient evidence of such Notice having been given; and in case of a Notice having been forwarded by a registered letter, the production of the Post Office receipt for such letter shall be sufficient evidence of the due delivery of such letter: Provided it shall appear that the same was properly and sufficiently directed, and that the same was not returned by the Post Office as undelivered.

3. Documents required to be deposited, and the times and places of Deposit.

17. In the case of Bills for any of the purposes set forth in Appendix C, a Plan, together with a Book of Reference thereto, and a Section, as hereinafter described, and in certain cases a Map, shall, on or before the Thirtieth day of November immediately preceding the application for the Bill, be deposited with the Officers mentioned and in the manner prescribed in the aforesaid Appendix C.

Such Officers or their respective Deputies shall make a memorandum in writing upon the Plans, Sections, Books of Reference and Maps so deposited with them, denoting the time at which the same were lodged in their respective offices, and shall at all reasonable hours of the day permit any person to view and examine the same, and to make copies or extracts therefrom.

18. A Declaration, signed by the Agent, in Irish or in English, and a printed copy of the Bill annexed, in Irish or in English, shall be deposited in the Private Bill Office on or before the Seventeenth day of December; and such Bill and Declaration shall be open to the inspection of all parties; and printed copies of the Bill shall also be delivered therewith for the use of any Member of either House who may apply for the same.

Such Declaration shall state—

the objects to be effected by the proposed Bill and which of these Standing Orders are applicable to the Bill in question;

that the Bill does not give any powers other than those included in the Notices for the Bill;

the Officers with whom the deposits of plans, maps, and documents required by the Standing Orders have been made, together with the extent of the deposit.

19. All charges in any way affecting the Public Revenue, which occur in the sections of any Private Bill, shall be printed in italics in such Bill when presented to the House.

20. On or before the Twenty-first day of December printed copies of the Bill shall be deposited at the Ministries of Finance, Home Affairs, Local Government, Industry and Commerce, Agriculture, Education and Fisheries, and at the General Post Office.

21. On or before the Thirty-first day of December the Estimate required by the Standing Orders shall be deposited in the Private Bill Office and a copy of such Estimate for (a) any permanent works proposed to be executed by any Local Authority, and (b) any works proposed to be sanctioned by any Bills relating to Railways, Light Railways, Tramways, Canals, Waterways, Inland Navigation, Roads, Bridges, Ferries, or the vehicles and traffic thereon, Harbours, Docks and Piers, shall also be deposited on or before that date with the principal Officer of the Ministry of Local Government and/or of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce as the case may require.

4. Notices and Deposits generally.

22. Subject to the provisions of Order 3 as to Notices to be given or deposits made in the Private Bill Office, no Notice served or deposit made on Sunday, Christmas Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Good Friday, or a Bank Holiday, or before eight o’clock in the forenoon, or after eight o’clock in the afternoon of any day shall be deemed valid, except in the case of delivery of letters by post.

5. Plans, Books of Reference, Sections, and Cross-Sections.

23. Every Plan required to be deposited shall be drawn to a scale of not less than six inches to a mile (1/10560), and shall describe the lands which may be taken or used compulsorily, or on which an improvement charge may be imposed, or which are rendered liable to the imposition of an improvement charge, and shall also describe the line or situation of the whole of the work (no alternative line or work being in any case permitted), and the lands in or through which it is to be made, maintained, varied, extended, or enlarged, or through which any communication to or from the work may be made; and where it is the intention of the Promoters to apply for powers to make any lateral deviation from the line of the proposed work, the limits of such deviation shall be defined upon the Plan, and all lands included within such limits shall be marked thereon; and unless the whole of such Plan shall be upon a scale of not less than 25 inches to a mile (1/2500), an enlarged Plan shall be added of any building, yard, courtyard, or land within the curtilage of any building, or of any ground cultivated as a garden, either in the line of the proposed work, or included within the limits of the said deviation, upon a scale of not less than 25 inches to a mile (1/2500).

24. In all cases where it is proposed to make, vary, extend, or enlarge any cut, canal, reservoir, aqueduct or navigation, the Plan shall describe the brooks and streams to be directly diverted into such intended cut, canal, reservoir, aqueduct or navigation, or into any variation, extension or enlargement thereof respectively, for supplying the same with water.

25. In all cases where it is proposed to make, vary, extend or enlarge any railway, the Plan shall exhibit thereon the distances in miles and furlongs, from one of the termini; and a memorandum of the radius of every curve not exceeding One Mile in length shall be noted on the Plan in furlongs and chains; and where tunnelling as a substitute for open cutting is intended, the same shall be marked by a dotted line on the Plan, and no work shall be shown as tunnelling, in the making of which it will be necessary to cut through or remove the surface soil.

26. If it be intended to divert, widen or narrow any public carriage road, navigable river, canal or railway, the course of such diversion, and the extent of such widening or narrowing, shall be marked upon the Plan; and if it be intended to divert any public footpath, the course of such diversion shall be marked upon the Plan.

27. In cases of Bills for laying down a Tramway, the Plans shall indicate whether it is proposed to lay such Tramway along the centre of any street, and if not along the centre, then on which side of, and at what distance from an imaginary line drawn along the centre of such street, and whether or not, and if so, at what point or points it is proposed to lay such Tramway, so that for a distance of thirty feet or upwards a less space than nine feet six inches, or if it is intended to run thereon carriages or trucks adapted for use upon railways, a less space than ten feet six inches shall intervene between the outside of the footpath on either side of the road, and the nearest rail of the Tramway.

All lengths shall be stated on the Plan and Section in miles, furlongs, chains, and decimals of a chain. The distances in miles and furlongs from one of the termini of each Tramway shall be marked on the Plan and Section. Each double portion of Tramway, whether a passing-place or otherwise, shall be indicated by a double line. The total length of the road upon which each Tramway is to be laid shall be stated (i.e., the length of route of each Tramway).

The length of each double and single portion of such Tramway, and the total length of such double and single portions respectively, shall also be stated.

In the case of double lines (including passingplaces), the distance between the centre lines of each line of Tramway shall be marked on the Plans. This distance must in all cases be sufficient to leave at least fifteen inches between the sides of the widest carriages and engines to be used on the Tramways when passing one another. The gradients of the road on which each Tramway is to be laid shall be marked on the Section. Every crossing of a Railway, Tramway, River, or Canal shall be shown, specifying, in the case of Railways and Tramways, whether they are crossed over, under, or on the level.

All tidal waters shall be coloured blue.

All places where for a distance of thirty feet and upwards there will be a less space than nine feet six inches between the outside of the footpath on either side of the road and the nearest rail of the Tramway shall be indicated by a thick dotted line on the Plans on the side or sides of the line of Tramway where such narrow places occur, as well as noted on the Plans, and the width of the road at those places should also be marked on the Plans.

The preceding paragraph shall apply, in the case of a Tramroad, wherever it is carried along a street or road.

28. The Book of Reference shall contain the names of the Owners or reputed Owners, Lessees or reputed Lessees and Occupiers of all lands and houses which may be taken or used compulsorily, or upon which any improvement charge is imposed, or which are rendered liable to have an improvement charge imposed upon them, and shall describe the situation of such lands and houses respectively.

29. The Section shall be drawn to the same horizontal scale as the Plan, and to a vertical scale of not less than one inch to every 100 feet, and shall show the surface of the ground marked on the Plan, the intended level of the proposed Work, the height of every embankment, and the depth of every cutting, and a datum horizontal line, which shall be the same throughout the whole length of the Work, or any branch thereof respectively, and shall be referred either directly to Ordnance datum or to some fixed point (stated in writing on the Section) near some portion of such Work, and in the case of a Canal, Cut, Navigation, Public Carriage Road or Railway near either of the termini.

Where all levels are not referred to Ordnance datum the distance of such fixed point above or below an Ordnance bench mark in the locality of the proposed Work, and near one of the termini, and the height of such bench mark above Ordnance datum shall also be stated.

Distances on the datum line shall be marked in miles and furlongs to correspond with those on the Plan.

30. In cases of Bills for improving the Navigation of any River, there shall be a Section which shall specify the levels of both banks of such river; and where any alteration is intended to be made therein, it shall describe the same by feet and inches, or decimal parts of a foot.

31. In every Section of a Railway, the line of the railway marked thereon shall correspond with the upper surface of the rails. A vertical measure from the datum line to the line of the railway shall be marked in feet and inches or decimal parts of a foot, at the commencement and termination of the railway, and at each change of the gradient or inclination thereof, and the proportion or rate of inclination between every two consecutive vertical measures shall also be marked.

32. Wherever the line of the railway is intended to cross any public carriage road, navigable river, canal, or railway, the height of the railway over or depth under the surface thereof, and the height and span of every arch of all bridges and viaducts, by which the railway will be carried over the same, shall be marked in figures at every crossing thereof; and where the railway will be carried across any such public carriage road or railway, on the level thereof, such crossing shall be so described on the Section, and it shall also be stated if such level will be unaltered.

33. If any alteration be intended in the water level of any canal, or in the level or rate of inclination of any public carriage road or railway which will be crossed by the line of railway, then the same shall be stated on the Section, and each alteration shall be numbered, and Cross-Sections; in reference to the numbers, on a horizontal scale of not less than 25 inches to a mile, and on a vertical scale of not less than one inch to every 40 feet, shall be added, which shall show the present surface of such road, canal or railway, and the intended surface thereof when altered; and the greatest of the present and intended rates of inclination of the portion of such road or railway intended to be altered shall also be marked in figures thereon; and where any public carriage road is crossed on the level, a Cross-Section of such road shall also be added, and all such cross-sections shall extend for 200 yards on each side of the centre line of the railway.

34. Wherever the extreme height of any embankment or the extreme depth of any cutting shall exceed five feet, the extreme height over or depth under the surface of the ground shall be marked in figures upon the Section; and if any bridge or viaduct of more than three arches shall intervene in any embankment, or if any tunnel shall intervene in any cutting, the extreme height or depth shall be marked in figures on each of the parts into which such embankment or cutting shall be divided by such bridge, viaduct, or tunnel.

35. Where tunnelling, as a substitute for open cutting, or a viaduct as a substitute for solid embankment, is intended, the same shall be marked on the Section, and no work shall be shown as tunnelling, in the making of which it will be necessary to cut through or remove the surface soil.

6. Estimates and Deposit of Money.

36. An Estimate of the expense of the undertaking under each Bill for any of the purposes set out in Appendix C. shall be made and signed by the person making the same.

37. In the case of a Railway Bill or Tramway Bill, authorizing the construction of works, a sum not less than Five per cent. on the amount of the Estimate of Expense, or in the case of substituted works, on the amount by which the expense thereof will exceed the expense of the works to be abandoned, and in the case of all Bills other than Railway Bills and Tramway Bills, a sum not less than Four per cent. on the amount of such Estimate, or of such excess as aforesaid, shall previously to the Fifteenth day of January, be deposited with the Accountant-General of the Supreme Court of Judicature:

Provided that this Order shall not apply to an existing Railway Company or Tramway Company, incorporated by Act of Parliament, possessed of a railway or tramway already opened for public traffic, and which has during the year last paid Dividends on its ordinary Share Capital, and which does not propose to raise under the Bill a Capital greater than its existing authorized capital.

38. In cases of any Bill under which no private or personal pecuniary profit or advantage is to be derived, and where the work is to be made out of money to be raised upon the Security of the Rates, Duties, or Revenue already belonging to or under the control of the Promoters, or to be created by or to arise under the Bill, no Money Deposit shall be required.

39. Every plan, specification or estimate required to be deposited under these Standing Orders shall be drawn or made by a competent person. If an Architect, such person shall be a Licentiate, Associate, or Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects or a Member or Fellow of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland; or if an engineer, a graduate in Engineering of a recognised university, with three years’ postgraduate experience, or a Member or Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland or the Institution of Civil Engineers; or if a surveyor, a professional Associate or Fellow of the Surveyors’ Institution.

IV.—Proceedings of, and in relation to, the Examiner and the Joint Committee on Standing Orders.

40. When any proposed Private Bill shall have been deposited in the Private Bill Office, Notice of such deposit having been made shall forthwith be posted up in the said Office.

41. In the case of a proposed Private Bill which shall have been thus deposited, if the Examiner be in doubt as to whether such Bill is a Private Bill within the definition hereinbefore contained, he shall refer the question to the Joint Committee on Standing Orders who, after giving the parties interested an opportunity of being heard, shall determine the question, subject and without prejudice to the right of either House at any stage after the introduction of any Private Bill to determine that, as the result of any changes made in it subsequent to its introduction, it has ceased to be a Private Bill within the definition.

42. Subject to the provisions of the previous Order, every proposed Private Bill, which shall have been duly deposited in the Private Bill Office, shall be examined by the Examiner for proof that the Standing Orders have been complied with.

43. The Examiner shall give at least seven clear days’ notice in the Private Bill Office of the day appointed for the examination of each proposed Bill which shall have been duly deposited, and there shall be at least thirty clear days between the depositing of any proposed Private Bill and the examination thereof.

44. Any parties complaining of a non-compliance with the Standing Orders shall be entitled to appear before the Examiner and be heard by themselves, their agents, and witnesses upon addressing a Memorial to the Examiner to that effect, provided that such Memorial shall have been deposited not later than three clear days before the day appointed for the examination of the proposed Bill.

45. The Examiner shall report to both Houses in respect to every such Bill thus examined, whether the Standing Orders have or have not been complied with, and when he is of opinion that they have not been complied with, he shall report to both Houses the facts upon which his decision is founded, and any special circumstances connected with the case; and such report, shall, in each case, stand referred to the Joint Committee on Standing Orders, and all reports from the Examiner shall be laid upon the Table of each House forthwith, or, if either House be not then sitting, on the first day on which that House again sits.

46. The Joint Committee on Standing Orders shall have power, after giving all parties interested an opportunity of being heard, to hear and determine an appeal from any finding or decision by the Examiner under the previous Order No. 45. Should they decide in the case of any Bill that any of the Standing Orders have not been complied with but recommend that compliance should be dispensed with and that the promoters be permitted, subject to or without conditions, to proceed with the Bill or any part thereof, they shall report to both Houses accordingly.

Notice of any appeal to be made under this Order to the Joint Committee shall be given in the Private Bill Office within five clear days from the date of the Examiner’s report.

47. At any time before a Bill has been deposited with the Examiner the promoters thereof may apply to the Dáil or the Seanad by petition to be deposited in the Private Bill Office that any of the Standing Orders may be dispensed with and every such petition shall stand referred to the Joint Committee on Standing Orders, who shall decide the same and report their decision to the Dáil or the Seanad respectively.

48. The Examiner and the Joint Committee on Standing Orders may admit affidavits in proof of the compliance with the Standing Orders, and they, and Committees on Private Bills generally, may admit affidavits in proof of other facts required to be proved, unless in any case they shall require further evidence; and such affidavit shall be sworn before a Peace Commissioner, or a Commissioner for Oaths.

49. If after a Private Bill has been deposited, the Promoters desire to include therein an additional provision, the promoters must take steps to comply, so far as possible, with the requirements of the Standing Orders which are applicable in the case of such Bill.

A petition explaining the objects and necessity for the additional provision and why such was not included in the Bill as deposited (to which petition the proposed clauses and amendments must be annexed) shall be deposited in the Private Bill Office and Standing Orders 42, 45 and 46 (subject to this Order) shall apply to such petition for additional provision.

The Examiner shall give at least two clear days’ notice of the day on which such petition will be examined and any parties who shall have deposited a Memorial complaining of a non-compliance with the Standing Orders, before Twelve o’clock on the day preceding that appointed for the examination, shall be entitled to appear and to be heard by themselves, their agents and witnesses.

Notice of any appeal to be made under this Order to the Joint Committee on Standing Orders shall be given in the Private Bill Office within two clear days from the date of the Examiner’s report.

50. Where a Public Bill (not being a Bill to confirm a Provisional Order) is ordered to be read a Second Time in either House, on a day appointed, and it appears to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad that the Standing Orders relative to Private Bills should be applicable to the Bill, the House may refer the Bill to the Examiner, who shall examine the Bill with respect to compliance with the Standing Orders, and shall proceed and report forthwith, and the Order of the Day relating to the Bill shall not be affected thereby; but if the Examiner report that any Standing Order applicable to the Bill has not been complied with, and the Joint Committee on Standing Orders concur in his finding and report that such Standing Order ought not to be dispensed with, the Order of the Day relating to the Bill shall be discharged.

51. When in any Railway Bill a provision is contained by which the payment of any moneys is directly or contingently charged upon the Poor Rate, or any other Local Rate, by means of a guarantee or otherwise, such Bill shall, within five weeks of the date on which the application for the same was indorsed by the Examiner, be referred again to the Examiner, who shall report as to compliance or non-compliance with the following Order:—

A copy of the Bill, as deposited in the Private Bill Office, shall be submitted to the County Council or other Authority empowered to make such rate, and according as the payment of any moneys is by the said Bill proposed to be charged upon a county, or upon one or more urban or rural districts, such Bill shall also be submitted to the County Council for such county, or to the District Council for such district, as the case may be.

Notice of the intention to submit a copy of such Bill to such County or District Council shall be given, in Irish and in English, Ten days previously to submitting the same to the Secretary or Clerk of such Council, and shall be advertised in Irish and in English, once in each of two consecutive weeks in some one and the same Morning Newspaper published in Dublin, and in some one and the same newspaper published or circulating in the county or district upon which it is proposed by the Bill to impose any local rate or charge.

V.—Proceedings in the House on a Private Bill prior to its being referred to Committee.

52. All Private Bills and Provisional Order Confirmation Bills shall be initiated in the Seanad.

53. A Private Bill shall be deemed to have passed its First Stage and to have been ordered to be read a second time if and when

(a) the Examiner has reported that the Standing Orders have been complied with and no notice of appeal from such report has been given within the prescribed period,

(b) the Joint Committee, on appeal, have decided, whether affirming or reversing the finding of the Examiner, that the Standing Orders have been complied with,

(c) the adoption by both Houses of a report to them by the said Joint Committee deciding that any of the Standing Orders have not been complied with but recommending that compliance with such Orders should be dispensed with.

54. The Agent for the Bill shall give three clear days’ notice in the Private Bill Office of the day proposed for the Second Reading of the Bill, which day shall be not earlier than the seventh nor later than the fourteenth after that on which the Bill has passed the First Stage: Provided that if the Seanad be not sitting upon the fourteenth day, the period shall be extended to the next day upon which the Seanad shall sit.

55. Every Private Bill and every opposed Provisional Order Confirmation Bill after having been read a second time in the Seanad shall stand referred to a Joint Committee of both Houses unless the Seanad order otherwise.

For the purposes of this Order a Provisional Order Confirmation Bill shall be treated as opposed if previous to the Second Reading thereof a petition shall have been presented against any Order scheduled thereto.

56. When a Bill is referred by the Seanad to a Joint Committee a message shall be sent from the Seanad to the Dáil to acquaint the Dáil therewith, and notice may then be given in the Dáil of a motion that the Dáil, approving of the general principle of the Bill, do concur with the Seanad in the reference of such Bill to a Joint Committee. Should such motion be opposed its consideration shall be postponed as provided by Standing Order 97.

On such motion the discussion of the principle of the Bill shall be in order.

57. If the Dáil do not concur with the Seanad in the reference of any Private Bill to a Joint Committee, the Order of the Seanad referring the Bill to such Joint Committee shall stand discharged and the Bill shall stand referred to a Special Committee of the Seanad.

VI.—Proceedings of, and in relation to, Committees on Bills.

58. Every Joint Committee to which a Private Bill or group of such Bills is referred under Standing Orders 55 and 56 shall be composed of three members of the Dáil and three members of the Seanad not locally or otherwise interested in such Bill or Bills, nominated by the Joint Committee on Standing Orders and presided over by a Chairman chosen from either House by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad jointly.

59. All Petitions against the Bill presented by having been deposited in the Private Bill Office previous to the Second Reading of the Bill, shall be referred to the Committee thereon; and the petitioners praying to be heard either personally or by their counsel, agents or witnesses, shall be heard, and the promoters, their counsel, agents or witnesses shall be heard in support of the Bill; but the costs of two counsel only shall be allowed on taxation in support of any Bill or in support of any petition against such Bill.

60. The Joint Committee on Standing Orders shall have the power of discharging any. Member or Members of a Committee, and of substituting other Members.

61. Each Member of a Committee on an opposed Private Bill, or group of such Bills, shall, before he be entitled to attend and vote on such Committee, sign the following Declaration:—

If a Teachta of the Dáil

I do hereby declare, that my constituents have no local interest, and that I have no personal interest, in the [short title] Bill; and that I will never vote on any question which may arise without having duly heard and attended to the Evidence relating thereto.

If a Seanadóir

I do hereby declare that I have no personal interest in the [short title] Bill; etc., etc.

62. No Member of a Committee on an opposed Private Bill shall absent himself from his duties thereon, except in the case of sickness or by leave of the House.

63. No Joint Committee on a Bill shall be allowed to proceed if more than three of its Members are absent.

64. The Committee on any Private Bill shall decide upon all petitions against such Bill as to the rights of the Petitioners to be heard upon such petitions.

65. The Committee on every Private Bill shall from time to time appoint the day upon which they will enter upon the consideration of such Bill, and on which they will require the parties severally promoting or opposing the same to enter appearance, and four clear days’ notice at least of such appointment shall be given by the Clerk to the Committee in the Private Bill Office.

66. Every Committee on opposed Bills shall report to both Houses or to the Seanad or the Dáil, as the case may be, the cause of any adjournment over any day except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Christmas Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Good Friday, or any Bank Holiday.

67. In the case of any opposed Bill a verbatim report of the speeches and evidence before the Committee thereon shall be taken by one of the official reporters and shall be printed at the Promoters’ expense, and a copy of each day’s report shall be supplied to each Member of the Committee on the day when the Committee shall next sit. Copies shall also be supplied at a reasonable price to any petitioners or others who may desire them. One copy shall be deposited in the Private Bill Office.

68. The Clerks in the Private Bill Office shall prepare daily Lists of all Private Bills and Applications for Private Bills in reference to which any Committee or the Examiner is holding a sitting; specifying the hour of meeting, and the Room where the Committee or Examiner shall sit; and the same shall be hung up in the Lobby of each House.

69. Whenever any Provisional Order Confirmation Bill is referred to a Committee other than a Committee of the whole House, the proceedings of the Committee on such Bill shall be conducted in like manner as in the case of Private Bills and shall be subject to the same rules and Orders of the Dáil and the Seanad so far as they are appliable.

70. The Committee shall require proof of allegations contained in the Preamble of the Bill, and if they shall agree to the Preamble they shall go through the several clauses of the Bill, and may strike out clauses, add new clauses, and make any other amendments as they shall deem necessary, and shall report accordingly, and when any alteration shall have been made in the Preamble of the Bill, other than drafting alterations, such alteration, together with the ground of making it, shall be specially stated in the report; and if the parties have acquainted the Committee that it is not their intention to proceed with the Bill, the Committee shall report the same to both Houses, and such Bill shall be ordered to be withdrawn.

71. All reports made under the authority of any Public Department upon a Private Bill, or the objects thereof, laid before the House, shall stand referred to the Committee on the Bill.

72. Whenever a recommendation shall have been made in a Report on a Private Bill from a Department of the Government referred to the Committee, the Committee shall notice such recommendation in their Report, and shall state their reasons for dissenting, should such recommendation not be agreed to.

73. In the case of a Railway or Tramway Bill or any Bill relating to the generation or supply of electricity, the Bill shall not be reported by the Committee until a report from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on the powers sought has been laid before the Committee; and the Committee shall report specially in what manner the recommendations or observations in the Report of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and also in what manner the clauses of the Bill relating to the powers sought, have been dealt with by the Committee.

Consents of Proprietors or Members of Companies.

74. In the case of a Bill promoted by a Company, Society, Association or Co-partnership, the Committee on such Bill shall require evidence that the Bill as introduced or proposed to be introduced into the Oireachtas shall have been approved or consented to, subject to such additions, alterations or variations as the Oireachtas may think fit to make, by a special resolution of the Company and for the purposes of this Order Section 69 of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, shall be deemed to apply to the promoting Company whether formed or registered under the Companies Act, 1862, or the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, or specially constituted by Acts of Parliament or otherwise constituted.

No form of proxy sent out in compliance with the provisions of this order shall be stamped before it is sent out, nor shall the funds of the Company be used for the stamping of any proxies, nor shall intimation be sent as to any person in whose favour the proxy may be granted, and no other circular or form of proxy relating to such meeting shall be sent to any proprietor or member from the office of the Company or by any director or officer of the Company so describing himself.

The names of the proprietors or members present in person at the meeting shall be recorded by the Company, Society, Association, or Co-Partnership. For this purpose the meeting, and any other consecutive meetings, whether general or special, and whether preceding or following it, shall be deemed to be the same meeting.

A poll may be demanded by any one proprietor or member present in person at the meeting, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in any instrument constituting the Company, Society, Association, or Co-Partnership.

There shall be deposited at the Private Bil Office a statement of the number of votes if a poll is taken, and of the number of votes recorded separately, and a copy of such special resolution or certificate of consent as the case may be.

So far as any such Bill relates to a separate undertaking in any Company already constituted by Act of Parliament as distinct from the general undertaking, separate meetings shall be held of the proprietors of the Company and of the separate undertaking.

So far as any such Bill relates to a separate class of proprietors or members of any Company, Society, Association, or Co-Partnership (other than a Company already constituted by Act of Parliament), as distinct from the proprietors or members generally, such Bill shall be approved or assented to by the proprietors or members generally, and also by the separate class of proprietors or members.

The provisions of this Order applicable to meetings of the proprietors of the Company or to the proprietors or members generally shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to meetings of proprietors of the separate undertaking, or to the separate class of proprietors or members, as the case may be.

75. Any Proprietor, Shareholder or Member of or in any Company, who shall by himself or any person authorised to act for him in that behalf, have dissented at any meeting called in pursuance of the preceding Order shall be permitted to be heard by the Committee on the Bill on a Petition presented to the Oireachtas, such Petition having been duly deposited in the Private Bill Office.

Railway and Tramway Bills.

76. In the case of a Railway or Tramway Bill, a Company shall not be authorised to raise, by Loan or Mortgage, a larger sum than One-third of their capital; or until Fifty per cent. on the whole of the capital shall have been paid up, to raise any money by Loan or Mortgage, unless the Committee on the Bill shall report that such restrictions or either of them ought not to be enforced, with the reasons on which their opinion is founded.

77. In every Railway or Tramway Bill whereby the construction of any new line of railway or tramway is authorised, or the time for completing any line already authorised is extended, the Committee on the Bill shall require the insertion of provisions for the following purposes, viz.:—

(1) In the case of an existing company which is possessed of a railway or tramway already opened for public traffic, and which has, during the year past, paid dividends on its ordinary share capital, and which does not propose to raise under the Bill a capital greater than its existing authorised capital, there shall be inserted a provision that if the company fail to complete the line within the time limited by the Act it shall be liable to a penalty of fifty pounds a day until the line has been completed and opened for public traffic, or until such penalty amounts to five per cent. on the estimated cost of the work; and the said penalty may be applied for by any of the persons set out in the Parliamentary Deposits and Bonds Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vic., c. 10, Sec. 1 (1)), and in the same manner as the penalty provided in The Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854 (17 & 18 Vic., c. 31, Sec. 3), and every sum of Money recovered by way of such penalty as aforesaid shall be paid under the warrant or order of such Court or Judge as is specified in the said Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854, Sec. 3, to an account opened or to be opened in the name and with the privity of the Accountant-General of the Supreme Court;

(2) If such Bill is promoted by an existing company which has not a line already opened for public traffic or which during the past year has not paid dividends upon its ordinary share capital, or by an existing company when the capital to be raised is greater than the company’s existing capital, or by persons not already incorporated, there shall be inserted a provision that the deposits paid under these Standing Orders shall be retained, and made liable to forfeiture unless, before the time limited for completing the line, the Company shall either open it for the public conveyance of passengers, or prove that it has paid up and expended one half of its capital for the purposes of the Act;

(3) There shall also be inserted a provision that the penalties recovered or deposits forfeited shall be applied towards compensating any landowners or other persons as defined by the said Parliamentary Deposits and Bonds Act, 1892, Sec. 1 (1), whose property may have been interfered with or affected, pursuant to the said Act:

(4) There shall also be inserted a provision that if the railway or tramway is not completed within the period limited by the Bill, the powers for making the same shall cease; and the period limited in the case of a new line shall not exceed five years, and in the case of an extension of time, shall not exceed three years, unless the Committee on the Bill think fit, in the special circumstances of the case, to allow a longer period.

78. The Committee on every Railway Bill shall fix the maximum rates of charge for the conveyance of passengers with a due amount of luggage, such rates to include every expense incidental to such conveyance, and shall also fix the charges for the conveyance of parcels by passenger train; but if the Committee shall not deem it expedient to determine such maximum rates of charge, a special report explanatory of the grounds of their omitting so to do shall be made which special report shall accompany the Report of the Bill.

79. The following clause shall be inserted in all Railway Bills:—

Nothing herein contained shall be deemed or construed to exempt the Railway by this or any other Act authorised to be made from the provisions of any General Act relating to Railways now in force, or which may hereafter pass during this or any future Session of the Oireachtas or from any future revision and alteration under the authority of the Oireachtas, of the maximum rates of fares and charges authorised by this or any other Act.

Bills promoted by Local Authorities.

80. Whenever by any Private Bill application is made by or on behalf of any Urban District Council, or Town or other Commissioners, for any new powers, or for any increased or additional powers, the promoters shall be required to obtain a certificate under the seal of the Ministry of Local Government setting forth whether such application is made with or without the sanction and approval of the said Ministry of Local Government which certificate shall be produced before the Committee to which the Bill is referred, and shall be reported upon by the said Committee.

81. In the case of any Private Bill promoted by or conferring powers on a local authority or public body having powers of local government or rating, the Committee on the Bill shall not sanction a period for the repayment of any loan or for the repayment of any charge or debt under the Bill exceeding the term of sixty years, or any period disproportionate to the duration of the works to be executed, or other objects of the loan, charge or debt; and the exercise of any borrowing powers under the Bill for purposes for which such powers already exist, or may be obtained under the General Acts shall be subjected to approval from time to time by the proper Government Department.

Agreements.

82. Where it is sought by any Private Bill to give the sanction of the Oireachtas to any Agreement, such Agreement shall be annexed to the Bill as a Schedule thereto, and shall be printed in extenso therewith.

Charitable or Educational Institutions.

83. Notice in writing of any Bill containing provisions whereby any application of the property of any charity not authorised by the Lands Clauses Consolidation Acts, shall be directed, or the patronage or the constitution of any charity, or the right of any charity to any property, shall, be affected, or setting up or taking power to set up or to take over or interfere in the management of any school or other educational foundation or institution, or to levy any rate or raise money for any such purpose, shall be given to the Attorney-General and to the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests, and no such Bill shall be taken into consideration by the Committee on the Bill until the House in which the Bill is pending has received a report from the Attorney-General and from the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests on such Bill, and such report shall stand referred to the Committee on the Bill, but this Standing Order shall not apply to a Bill for confirming a Provisional Order.

Houses of the Working Classes.

84. In the case of every Bill which gives, revives, or extends power to take land compulsorily or by agreement, clauses shall be inserted:—

(1) Providing that the Promoters shall not, in the exercise of such power, purchase or acquire, in any local area, any house or houses occupied, either wholly or partially, by thirty or more persons belonging to the working class, as tenants or lodgers, unless and until

(a) They shall have obtained the approval of the Central Authority to a scheme for providing new dwellings for the persons residing in such houses, or for such number or proportion of such persons as the Central Authority shall, after inquiry, deem necessary, having regard to the number of persons residing in the houses liable to be taken, and working within one mile therefrom and to the amount of vacant suitable accommodation in the immediate neighbourhood of the houses liable to be taken, or to the place of employment of such persons, and all the other circumstances of the case; and

(b) They shall have given security to the satisfaction of the Central Authority for the carrying out of the scheme;

(2) Imposing adequate penalties on the Promoters in the event of houses being acquired or appropriated for the purposes of the Bill in contravention of the foregoing provisions;

(3) Providing that the expenses or any part of the expenses incurred by the Central Authority under this Order shall be defrayed by the Promoters of the Bill, or out of moneys to be raised under the Bill; and

(4) Conferring on the Promoters and on the Central Authority, respectively, any powers that may be necessary to enable full effect to be given to the said scheme.

For the purposes of this Order—

The expression “local area” means any urban or rural district, borough or county borough;

The expression “house” means any house or part of a house occupied as a separate dwelling;

The expression “working class” means mechanics, artisans, labourers, and others working for wages; hawkers, costermongers, persons not working for wages but working at some trade or handicraft without employing others except members of their own family, and persons, other than domestic servants, whose income in any case does not exceed an average of thirty shillings a week, and the families of any of such persons who may be residing with them;

The expression “Central Authority” means the Ministry of Local Government;

The expression “Bill” includes a Bill confirming a Provisional Order.

Accommodation for Workmen.

85. In the case of every Bill authorising the construction of works outside any municipal borough, the Committee to which the Bill is referred shall take this Order into their consideration, and if they are of opinion that such a number of workmen will probably be simultaneously employed upon the works as, having regard to the nature and situation of the works to make such an inquiry desirable, they shall inquire into the question of the sufficiency of the accommodation and service available or proposed by the promoters to be provided under the Bill

(1) for the proper housing and sanitary requirements of persons employed in constructing the works authorised by the Bill;

(2) for the treatment of cases of sickness or accident, including accommodation for dealing with infectious disease;

and if they think that further accommodation or service for those purposes ought to be provided, they shall insert in the Bill such clauses as in their opinion are necessary to secure the provision of satisfactory accommodation or service for those purposes by the local authority, company, or person authorised to execute the work.

Water.

86. In the case of every Bill whereby it is proposed to impound, abstract, or otherwise interfere with the whole or any part of the water of any river or stream, the Committee on the Bill shall inquire into the expediency of making provision, so far as may be practicable, for giving a flow of water in compensation for the water so impounded, abstracted or interfered with, and whether the whole or a minimum amount of such compensation water shall be given in a continuous flow throughout the twenty-four hours of every day or otherwise, and shall report accordingly.

Burial Grounds, Cemeteries, Gas Works, and Electricity.

87. In every Bill for making or constructing Gas Works or Sewage Works, Chemical Works, or Works for the manufacture or conversion of the residual products of Gas or Sewage, or for making or constructing, altering, or enlarging any Sewage Farm, Cemetery, Burial Ground, Crematorium, Destructor, Hospital for infectious disease, or station for generating or transforming electrical energy, there shall be inserted a clause defining the lands in or upon which such Gas Works, Sewage Works, Farm, Cemetery, Burial Ground, Crematorium, Destructor, Hospital, or Generating Station may be made or constructed and referring to a deposited map.

88. In the case of every Bill by which an existing Gas Company is authorised to raise additional capital, it shall be competent to the Committee so to regulate the price of the gas to be charged to consumers, that any reduction of an authorised standard price shall entitle the Company to make a proportionate increase of the authorised dividend, and that any increase above the standard price shall involve a proportionate decrease of dividend.

89. In every Bill whereby any works are authorised, or for the supply of water, gas or electrical energy, or conferring power to run motor omnibuses or for laying down a trolley vehicle system, a provision shall be inserted to the effect that in case the work thereby authorised be not completed or the powers conferred or some of them be not exercised within a period to be limited, or within five years from the passing of this Act all the powers and authorities given by the Bill shall thenceforth cease and determine, save only as to so much of such work as has been completed within such time, or so much of such powers as shall have been exercised, with such provisions and qualifications as the nature of the case shall require.

VII.—Subsequent Stages in the Proceedings in each House.

90. Where a Private Bill has been referred to a Joint Committee, the Joint Committee shall report to both Houses. The Fourth Stage of the Bill shall then be taken in the Seanad, and the Bill, if passed by the Seanad, shall be sent to the Dáil for Final Consideration, the First, Second and Third stages in the Dáil being deemed to have been passed. On the Final Consideration the Dáil may amend the Bill subject to Standing Order 91, or may recommit it to the Joint Committee or refer it to a Special Committee.

91. If any Clause or Amendment offered on the fourth stage of any Private Bill in the opinion of the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad or the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, as the case may be, is one of substance or introduces new matter into the Bill, such clause or amendment shall be referred to the Committee on the Bill; and no further proceedings shall be had until the Report of the said Committee shall have been brought up.

92. One clear day’s notice in writing shall be given by the Agent for the Bill in the Private Bill Office of the day proposed for the taking of the Fourth or Fifth stage of every Private Bill or for the consideration of amendments made by the Seanad or the Dáil, as the case may be, in any Private Bill; and no such notice shall be given until the day after that on which the Bill shall have passed the preceding stage or on which the Bill shall have been returned from the Dáil or the Seanad as the case may be.

93. No Private Bill shall be passed through two stages on one and the same day without the special leave of the House in which it is pending.

94. Except in cases deemed by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, as the case may be, to be of urgent and pressing necessity no motion shall be made to dispense with any Standing Order without such previous notice thereof as shall be provided by either House in the case of ordinary motions.

95. Every Private Bill as amended in Committee shall be printed at the expense of the parties applying for the same and copies of such amended Bill delivered to the Clerk of each House for the use of the Members, and copies shall be deposited with the Ministries mentioned at Standing Order 20 three clear days at least before such Bill is received for final consideration.

96. Every Private Bill, after it has been passed by both Houses shall, at the expense of the parties applying for same, be translated officially into the Irish or the English language, as the case may be, and shall be printed in the same form as public Bills.

97. At a sitting of the House, as soon as the questions on the Order Paper shall have been disposed of, the House shall proceed to the consideration of Private Business.

In the case of a Private Bill all stages in the House shall be moved by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Leas-Chathaoirleach of the Seanad, as the case may be, or by some other member of the Dáil or Seanad, respectively, acting on his behalf.

When any stage of a Private Bill is first taken no discussion shall be allowed; and if the Bill is opposed it shall not be proceeded with on that occasion but shall be placed on the Orders of the Day for the next sitting of the House. If the Bill be then opposed its consideration shall be again postponed and the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, as the case may be, shall fix a time for its further consideration.

For the purposes of this Order a Private Bill shall include a Provisional Order Confirmation Bill.

98. All Provisional Order Confirmation Bills shall be set down for consideration each day in a separate list following the list of Private Business, and such list shall conclude with any notices of the first stage of Provisional Order Confirmation Bills.

VIII.—Proceedings in relation to Citizenship, Estate and Name Bills.

99. All Citizenship, Estate or Name Bills shall originate in the Seanad, and the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad shall direct at what times and in what manner such Bills shall be introduced and petitions against such Bills presented.

100. A copy of every such Bill shall be delivered to every person concerned in the Bill before the second reading in the Seanad; and, in case of infancy or lunacy such copy shall be delivered to the guardian or next relation of full age not concerned in the consequences of the Bill.

Estate Bills.

101. When an Estate Bill concerning estates in Saorstát Eireann is introduced into the Seanad it shall be referred, if the petitioners for the Bill desire it, and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad so determine, to two Judges of the High Court of Justice, who shall forthwith summon all parties before them who may be concerned in the consequences of the Bill, and after hearing all the parties, and perusing the Bill, and taking such proof of the allegations therein contained and such consents of the parties interested, and such acceptances of trusts as may be tendered to them, shall report to the Seanad the state of the case, and their opinion thereon, under their hands, and what amendments (if any) are required in the Bill, and in the event of their approving the Bill they are to sign a copy of the same containing the required amendments (if any).

102. In the case of any Estate Bill, the Committee on the Bill shall report specially, if the Bill contains provisions extending either the term or the area of any Settlement of Land.

VIII.—Parliamentary agents.

103. No person shall be allowed to act as a Parliamentary Agent except a Solicitor of five years’ standing and duly qualified and entitled to practise as such Solicitor in the Courts of the Saorstát Eireann. Every such Solicitor shall subscribe a declaration before one of the Clerks in the Private Bill Office, and after having subscribed such declaration, and entered into a recognizance or bond (if hereafter required) in the penal sum of £500, with two sureties of £250 each, to observe the said declaration, such person, if in other respects qualified to act as hereinafter provided, shall be registered in a book to be kept in the Private Bill Office, and shall then be entitled to act as a Parliamentary Agent: Provided that upon the said declaration, recognizance, or bond, and registry, no fee shall be payable.

104. One member of a firm of Parliamentary Agents may subscribe the required declaration, or enter into the required recognizance or bond, on behalf of his firm; but the names of all the partners of such firm shall be registered with such declaration; and notice shall be given from time to time, to the Clerks of the Private Bill Office of any addition thereto, or change therein.

105. No Notice shall be received in the Private Bill Office for any proceeding upon a Bill or Petition, until an Appearance to act as the Parliamentary Agent upon the same shall have been entered in the Private Bill Office.

106. Before any person desiring to appear by a Parliamentary Agent shall be allowed to appear, or be heard, upon any Petition against a Bill, an Appearance to act as the Parliamentary Agent upon the same, shall be entered in the Private Bill Office in which Appearance shall also be specified the name of the Counsel who appear in support of the Bill (if any Counsel are then engaged) and a certificate of such Appearance shall be delivered to the Parliamentary Agent, to be produced to the Committee Clerk.

107. In case the Parliamentary Agent for any Bill or Petition shall decline to act, the responsibility of such Agent shall cease upon a Notice being given in the Private Bill Office, and a fresh Appearance shall be entered upon such Bill or Petition.

108. Every Parliamentary Agent conducting proceedings in the Dáil or Seanad shall be personally responsible to each House, and to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, for the observance of the Rules, Orders, and Practice of the Dáil and Seanad respectively, as well as of any Rules which may from time to time be prescribed by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, and also for the payment of the Fees and Charges due and payable under the Standing Orders.

109. Any Parliamentary Agent who shall wilfully act in violation of the Rules and Practice of the Dáil or the Seanad, or of any Rules to be prescribed by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, or who shall be guilty of professional misconduct of any kind as a Parliamentary Agent, shall be liable to an absolute or temporary prohibition to practise as a Parliamentary Agent, at the pleasure of the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad: Provided that upon the application of the Parliamentary Agent, the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, as the case may be, shall state in writing, the grounds for the prohibition.

X.—General.

110. Registers shall be kept in the Private Bill Office in which shall be entered the name and place of residence of the Parliamentary Agent in town and of the Agent in the country (if any) soliciting the Bill; and also specifying briefly each day’s proceedings before the Examiner, or in the Seanad or the Dáil, or in any Committee to which the Bill may be referred. Such registers shall be open to public inspection daily in the said office.

111. There shall be a taxing officer to tax the costs of Parliamentary Agents, solicitors and others, in pursuance of 10 & 11 Vic., cap. 69, 12 & 13 Vic., cap. 78, 28 & 29 Vic., cap. 27, and 42 & 43 Vic., cap. 17. Such officer shall be appointed by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil and the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad jointly.

112. Except herein otherwise provided, the Standing Orders relating to Public Bills shall apply to Private Bills.

113. These Standing Orders as to Private Bills shall continue in force until altered, amended or repealed by the Dáil and the Seanad: Provided that either House may make or suspend Orders for the purposes of any particular Bill.

APPENDIX A.

(See Standing Order 2).

A Table of the fees to be charged in respect of

PRIVATE BILLS IN THE DÁIL AND THE SEANAD.

FEES TO BE PAID BY THE PROMOTERS OF A PRIVATE BILL.

For Proceedings in the House (in the case of bill referred to Joint Committee).

For Proceedings in the House (in the case of bill referred to Special Committee).

The preceding Fees on the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Stages, to be increased according to the money to be raised or expended under the authority of any Bill for the execution of a work, in conformity with the following scale:—

For every £5,000, or part thereof by which the amount to be so raised or expended shall exceed £25,000, up to a maximum of £1,000,000, an increase of five per cent. of the Fees shown above.

For proceedings before any committee.

When any Bill has been referred to a Joint Committee the Fees for proceedings before such Committee shall be increased by one half.

FEES TO BE PAID BY THE OPPONENTS OF A PRIVATE BILL.

For Proceedings before the Examiner, or before any Committee.

PROVISIONAL ORDER CONFIRMATION BILLS.

On the 5th stage of a Provisional Order Confirmation Bill, a fee of £5 shall be charged to the applicants for each Provisional Order included in the Bill.

The same fees shall be charged to applicants and opponents at the Committee stage in the case of opposed Confirmation Bills as in the case of other Private Bills.

GENERAL FEES.

FEES TO BE PAID ON THE TAXATION OF COSTS ON PRIVATE BILLS.

FEES TO BE PAID IN RESPECT OF THE SHORT-HAND WRITER.

The preceding Fees shall be charged, paid, and received at such times, in such manner, and under such regulations as the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil or the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad shall from time to time direct.

................................... Ceann Comhairle na Dála.

................................... Cathaoirleach an tSeanaid.

ORDERED, That the said Table of Fees be a Joint Standing Order of the Dáil and the Seanad.

...................................Cléireach na Dála.

...................................Cléireach an tSeanaid.

APPENDIX B.

(Feic Buan-Ordú 11).

(See Standing Order 11.)

An Sceideal da dtagartar sa bhFogra san Thuas agus ina bhfuil Tuairisc na Maoine a luaidhtear sa bhFogra san.

Schedule referred to in the Foregoing Notice describing the Property therein alluded to.

APPENDIX C.

(See Standing Order 17.)

1.—Deposit of plan, etc.

A Plan, a Book of Reference, and a Section is required to be deposited in the case of Bills for making, maintaining, varying, extending or enlarging any aqueduct, archway, bridge, canal, cut, dock, drainage (where it is not provided in the Bill that the cut shall not be more than eleven feet wide at the bottom), embankment for reclaiming land from the sea or any tidal river, ferry where any work is to be executed, harbour, motor road, navigation, pier, port, landing stage for water or air borne traffic, public carriage road, railway, reservoir, sewer, street, subway, tramway, tramroad, tunnel, water-work; or under the powers of which any lands or houses may be taken or used compulsorily; or by which any charge is imposed upon any lands or houses, or any lands or houses are rendered liable to have a charge imposed upon them in respect of any improvement.

2.—Deposit of map.

An Ordnance Map on not less than the scale and showing the particulars undermentioned is required in the case of the following Bills.

3.—Officers with whom a Plan, Book of reference, Section, and Map (where such is prescribed) are to be deposited and extent of deposit.