(5) Dignities or t.i.tles 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 weights and measures; or

(10) Trade marks, designs, merchandise marks, copyright, or patent rights; or

(11) Any of the following matters (in this Act referred to as reserved matters), namely--

[Sidenote: 8 Edw. 7. c. 40 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 16. 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c.

55. 9 Edw. c. 7.]

(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;

(c) The Royal Irish Constabulary and the management and control of that force;

(d) Post Office Savings Banks, Trustee Savings Banks, and Friendly Societies; and

(e) Public loans made in Ireland _before the pa.s.sing 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.

[Sidenote: Prohibition of laws interfering with religious equality, &c.]

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 exercise 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._

[Sidenote: 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 officers 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 Act, or, 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").

[Sidenote: 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 virtue 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 pa.s.sed by both Houses of the Irish Parliament providing for the transfer from the Government of the United Kingdom to the Irish Government of the following reserved services, namely--

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

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

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

(d) All 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 transferred 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 pa.s.sed, 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 subst.i.tution of the date of the transfer for the appointed day, and of a period of five years from that date for the transitional period.

_Irish Parliament._

[Sidenote: Summoning, &c., 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 between 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.

[Sidenote: Royal a.s.sent to Bills of Irish Parliament]

7. The Lord Lieutenant shall give or withhold the a.s.sent of His Majesty to Bills pa.s.sed by the two Houses of the Irish Parliament, subject 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 a.s.sent of His Majesty to any such Bill presented to him for a.s.sent for such period as His Majesty may direct.

[Sidenote: Composition of Irish Senate.]