The hon. and gallant Gentleman did not do himself justice when he said that he had not explained the Bill fully. He has thrown a great deal of light on what to me was a very dark problem. I have been trying to wrestle with the provisions of this Bill for the last day or two. The measure is no doubt necessary, but I hope that the Under-Secretary will be good enough to tell us what the final cost is going to be to this country. Are there any liabilities which will remain on the Treasury in this country in respect to these financial arrangements after the winding up. When you wind up a company you do not always get rid of your liabilities. Some one suffers, and, therefore, I hope that hon. Members from Northern Ireland will not be offended if I say that some of us think that Northern Ireland has had a fair share of money from this country from time to time. We would like to know, therefore, whether this is a real winding up, whether we are cutting adrift from any liabilities we may have with Northern Ireland in this matter.

I have been looking into the historical background of this business but it is not worth while entering into that to-day. It is much better left alone. There is one point in connection with the transfer of the staff which I should like to mention. I notice that whenever there is a question of superannuation for members of a staff employed by the State that the word "officer" is always inserted. While I agree that the superannuation of officers of the State should be safeguarded, I do not think that their interests alone should be considered, and I want to know whether the other members of the staff, who are going to be transferred to this new authority, will also be safeguarded in the same way as far as superannuation and other kindred interests are concerned. In regard to Orders in Council, we are getting a little familiar with this sort of proposal in Bills brought forward by the Government, and it will be our duty to scrutinise them when they are issued. Finally I could almost wish that we were not only winding up this problem of land purchase in Ireland but winding up the present national government in this country.