The following month, a delegation of Dubliners led by mayor James Gallagher met the British prime minister, H. H. Asquith, in London.

[2] As the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1909 did not apply to Ireland, the Corporation sought legislative powers to have some measure of control over the character of the buildings to be erected and to improve streets.

An HM Treasury minute stated that the "Dublin Corporation ought not to be encouraged to embark upon grandiose schemes of beautification, which are of the nature of luxuries".

As a result of the petition and after negotiation with affected parties, the Dublin Reconstruction (Emergency Provisions) Act passed into law in December 1916.

The Act also gave legislative authority for a £700,000 loan to the Dublin Corporation and for the compensation grants recommended by the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee.