§ Order read for consideration of Lords Amendments.
§ The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND (Mr. Denis Henry)I beg to move, "That the Lords Amendments be now considered."
It may be convenient to the House to say a word or two with reference to these Amendments. As far as the Government are concerned, we propose to agree with all the Amendments. Although there are a good many of them, they nearly all have been inserted with a view 731 to bringing the Irish Bill into line with the English Bill, many of them being drafting Amendments for the purpose of having the two Bills as much alike as possible, There are only six Amendments that are not Government Amendments, and those six were agreed to by both sides. The principal Amendment is an Amendment that was brought forward for the purpose of exempting from the purview of the Bill land in the nature of a park or pleasure ground or garden. That is the form of the legislation in England under the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1909, and it was insisted that the limitation of that English Act should be applied so far as Ireland is concerned; but we only agreed to the exemption, which was adopted in another place, on condition that these words were added—"if suitable sites cannot be obtained on other land." That limits the power. The other Amendments are, as I say, largely drafting Amendments.
§ SUPPLY—[6th AUGUST].