509 



services connected with Old Age Pensions, National Insurance, Labour Exchanges, and 

 (after ten years) Post Office Savings Banks, Trustee Savings Banks, and Friendly Societies. 



(6) Irish Parliament must meet once a year at least. 



(7) Lord Lieutenant shall give or withhold Royal assent to Bills passed by both Irish 

 Houses of Parliament, but (i) .shall comply with any instructions given by His Majesty 

 (i.e. the Imperial Government) in respect of such Bill, and (2) if so directed shall postpone 

 assent during the King's pleasure. 



(8) : The Irish Senate shall consist of 4.0 members, the first 40 being nominated by the 

 Lord Lieutenant on the advice of the Imperial Government, and subsequent members 

 being nominated by him 6n the advice of the Irish Executive. They shall sit for eight years, 

 one-fourth (selected by lot as provided in Clause 42) retiring every second year. [This 

 was altered in Committee; see below.] 



(9) The Irish House of Commons shall consist of 164 members, returned (as to the 

 Imperial House of Commons) by the following constituencies (ist Schedule): Boroughs: 

 Dublin n, Belfast 14, Londonderry 2, Cork 4, Limerick 2, Waterford i; University: Dublin 

 2; Counties: Ulster 43, Leinster 30, Munster 30, Connaught 25. It is limited to a duration 

 of five years. After three years from the passing of this Act the Irish Parliament may alter 

 the qualification of electors, mode of election, constituencies and distribution of members 

 among them, but not the number. 



(10) Money Bills shall only originate in House of Commons after recommendation by 

 Lord Lieutenant (i.e. proposal by an Irish minister). Senate may neither reject nor amend 

 a Money Bill, and may not amend any bill so as to increase taxation. 



(11) If Senate rejects or fails to pass a Bill sent up by House of Commons, or amends 

 it in a way the latter will not agree to, and the House of Commons next session repeats the 

 Bill and the Senate repeats its action, the Lord Lieutenant may convene a joint sitting of 

 both Houses; they shall vote together and a majority shall prevail. 



(12) Peers (Irish or otherwise) are qualified to become members of either House. 

 Ministers who are members of one House may also sit and speak, but not vote, in the other. 

 Irish Parliamentary powers, privileges and immunities, to be as defined by Irish Act, but 

 otherwise the same as at Westminster and no greater. 



(13) Instead of the existing Irish representatives in the Imperial Parliament, 42 Irish 

 members shall be returned to Westminster for the following constituencies, under the elec- 

 tion laws and qualifications of the United Kingdom, unalterable by Irish Parliament: 

 Boroughs: Dublin 3, Belfast 4, Cork i; Counties: Ulster ir, Leinster 8, Munster 9, Con- 

 naught 6. 



(14) There shall be an Irish Exchequer and Irish Consolidated Fund, separate from 

 those of the United Kingdom, but the proceeds of all Irish taxes shall be paid into the Impe- 

 rial Exchequer, and out of the Imperial Consolidated Fund a "transferred sum" is annually 

 to be paid to the Irish Exchequer. This "transferred sum" is composed of (a) an amount, 

 to be determined by a Joint Exchequer Board (see Clause 16 et seq), representing the net cost 

 of Irish services to the Imperial Exchequer at the time of the passing of this Act, (b) a sum 

 of 500,000, to be reduced eventually to 200,000 by annual diminutions of 50,000 begin- 

 ning after the third year, (c) a sum equal to the proceeds, as determined by the Joint Excheq- 

 uer Board, of any new Irish taxes imposed by the Irish Parliament. The Irish Parliament 

 shall provide for the cost of Irish services within its own sphere of action, existing charges 

 on the Imperial Consolidated Fund ceasing together with advances from the Public Works 

 Loan Commissioners or Local Loan Fund. 



(15) .The Irish Parliament may vary (add to, [reduce] 1 or discontinue) any Imperia 

 tax (except certain stamp duties) as regards the Irish levy, and may impose in Ireland any 

 independent tax substantially different (in the opinion of the Joint Exchequer Board) from 

 Imperial ones, but subject to certain limitations. It may not impose a customs duty 

 (export or import) unless there is also an Imperial customs duty on that article; it may not 

 levy a customs duty exceeding a corresponding excise duty; and (Clause 17, 8.3) no Imperial 

 customs duty (except on beer and spirits), nor income tax nor death duties, may be in- 

 creased by more than ten per cent. 



(16-25) In these financial clauses detailed provision is made for adjusting Irish and 

 Imperial customs duties and other financial relations, under the control of a Joint Excheq- 

 uer Board, consisting of a Chairman appointed by the Imperial Government, two nominees 

 of the Imperial Treasury and two of the Irish Treasury. 



(26) If in any three successive years the Joint Exchequer Board reports that the pro- 

 ceeds of Irish taxation and of any revenue to which Ireland is entitled exceed the "trans- 

 ferred sum," a revision of the whole financial arrangement is to be taken up by the Imperial 

 Parliament. For this purpose alone the Irish representation at Westminster, as pro- 

 vided for in Clause 13, is then to be modified; "there shall be summoned such number of 

 members of the Irish House of Commons as will make the representatives of Ireland in the 

 Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom equivalent to the representatives of 

 Great Britain on the basis of population." 



1 This was afterwards eliminated, see below. 



