VETERINARY SURGEONS (IRISH FREE STATE AGREEMENT) BILL [Lords]. (Hansard, 4 March 1932)

§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for DOMINION AFFAIRS (Mr. Malcolm MacDonald)

I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

I hope that I shall not be considered presumptuous if I congratulate my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General for Scotland on the maiden speech which he has just made on the last Bill. One might well tremble to make such an effort from a back bench, and one can recognise what an ordeal it must have been to make it from this Box. I am certain that I am expressing the feelings of the whole House when I say that the hon. and learned Gentleman's speech delighted us very much, and I hope that he will be able to deliver speeches from this Box for a long time. This Bill is for the purpose of confirming the Agreement which has been reached between the Irish Free State and this country with 1444 regard to the registration and control of veterinary surgeons. The Agreement, which forms the schedule to the Bill, is designed to meet an administrative problem which arose with the establishment of the Irish Free State. I might say that the same problem arose with regard to the medical and dental professions, and a Bill to confirm similar Agreements with regard to those professions was passed by Parliament in 1927.

The Agreement follows very closely the lines of the earlier agreements. The position is this: Under its charters and various Acts of Parliament the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons used to be able to hold examinations and grant diplomas and administer the registration of such surgeons throughout these islands. When the Irish Free State was established, and certain legislation in consequence was passed, that provision no longer held good so far as the area of the Irish Free State was concerned, and the two Governments therefore entered into negotiations with a view to regularising the position. In the meantime, as a temporary arrangement, the Royal College, at the request of His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State has continued to hold examinations and to grant diplomas in Dublin, but negotiations have been proceeding during the last few years with a view to regularising the position, and the Royal College has, of course, been consulted at every stage. This Agreement was signed by representatives of the two Governments in December, 1930, and we are now asking the House of Commons to confirm that agreement.

The main principles of the Agreement are as follow: It is proposed that there shall be established in the Irish Free State a council for the registration and control of veterinary surgeons there. That council is to be in the closest connection with the Royal College, and, indeed, four of its members are to sit as additional members on the council of the Royal College. The Royal College is to continue holding the examinations and granting diplomas in the Irish Free State as for the United Kingdom. The Agreement provides for two registers, one the general register as heretofore, the other an Irish Free State register with the names of the veterinary surgeons practising in the Irish Free State; 1445 but there is also a provision that a duly qualified person whose name is on one register shall be able to have his name put on the other register without the grim necessity of having to pass any further examinations.

The House will see that under Clause 10 the Agreement provides that the two Governments shall introduce as soon as possible into their respective Parliaments legislation to give statutory effect to the Agreement. So far as the Irish Free State are concerned, the legislation required from them was passed last August, and this Bill is our half of the necessary legislation. As I say, the Royal College were consulted at every stage of the negotiations, and we have their complete concurrence and support: and, if this legislation goes through, they will take steps to obtain a supplementary charter modifying their charters in the light of this Agreement. It has not been necessary for the Government of Northern Ireland to sign the Agreement separately, but they also have been consulted, and they also concur in it, and, therefore, I feel sure the House will be prepared to give a Second Reading to the Bill.