No. 17/1963:

TRANSPORT ACT, 1963

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1 Definitions.

2 Application for railway works order.

3 Deposit of draft order, plan and book of reference and notice of application.

4 Fees on application.

5 Local inquiry into application for railway works order.

6 Grant of railway works order.

7 Provisions in relation to railway works order.

8 Amendment of railway works order.

9 Effect of railway works order.

10 Expenses of Minister in exercise of powers under a railway works order.

11 Validation of certain orders.

12 Borrowing powers of Board.

13 Advances to Board by the Minister for Finance.

14 Compensation for employees of Company whose services are dispensed with or conditions worsened.

15 Continuance of superannuation benefits for persons transferred from Board to Company.

16 Restriction on alteration of memorandum and articles of association of Company.

17 Application of sections 16 and 34 of Act of 1950 to Company.

18 Abandonment of railways.

19 Amendment of section 14 of Act of 1958.

20 Amendment of section 17 of Great Northern Railway Act, 1958.

21 Amendment of Second Schedule to Act of 1958.

22 Short title.

AN ACT TO MAKE FURTHER PROVISION IN RELATION TO TRANSPORT.

[9th July, 1963.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

1.—In this Act—

"the Act of 1950" means the Transport Act 1950 ;

"the Act of 1958" means the Transport Act, 1958 ;

"the Board" means Córas Iompair Éireann;

"the Company" means Ostlanna Iompair Éireann Teoranta;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Transport and Power;

"railway works order" means an order made under section 6 of this Act;

"railway works" means any works being a railway, a tramway or a light railway or any part of a railway, a tramway or a light railway.

2.—(1) The Board may apply to the Minister for a railway works order authorising the Board to construct, maintain, operate, alter and extend railway works of a particular kind.

(2) Every application for a railway works order shall be accompanied by—

(a) a draft of the proposed order,

(b) a plan of the proposed railway works, and

(c) a book of reference to the plan,

and the draft, plan and book of reference shall be in such form as the Minister may direct.

3.—(1) Whenever an application is made for a railway works order the Board shall, as soon as may be, do the following things, that is to say:—

(a) deposit and keep deposited, at the place or each of the places appointed by the Minister, a copy of the draft order, the plan and the book of reference to the plan which accompanied the application;

(b) publish, in such newspaper or newspapers as the Minister may direct, a notice (which states that objections and representations in relation to the proposed order may be furnished in writing to the Minister during a specified period) of the making of the application and of the deposit of a copy of the draft order, plan and book of reference and of the place or places of the deposit;

(c) send to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, the Irish Land Commission and such persons (if any) as the Minister may direct a copy of the draft order, plan and book of reference.

(2) Any person may inspect at all reasonable hours the copy of any draft order, plan or book of reference deposited under this section.

4.—(1) There shall be paid to the Minister on every application for a railway works order such fee (if any) as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may fix.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to all fees payable under this section, that is to say:—

(a) the fees shall be collected in money and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance may from time to time direct, and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance;

(b) the Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of such fees.

5.—(1) (a) Where an application is made to the Minister for a railway works order, the Minister may, if he thinks fit, direct a public inquiry to be held into the application in the locality in which it is proposed to construct the railway works the subject of the application.

(b) Where the Minister directs a public inquiry to be held into an application for a railway works order, he shall appoint a person to hold the inquiry, and the Board, every owner, lessee and occupier of the land on or over which it is proposed to construct the railway works the subject of the application, every local authority within whose area the works are intended to pass, and every other person who, in the opinion of the person holding the inquiry, is substantially interested in the subject matter of the inquiry shall be entitled to appear and be heard at the inquiry.

(2) Evidence given before a person appointed to hold an inquiry under this section shall, if the person so requires, be given on oath (which the person is hereby empowered to administer) and any person who gives false evidence before any such person shall be guilty of perjury and punishable accordingly.

6.—Where the Minister, after consideration of an application for a railway works order and, in case an inquiry was held under section 5 of this Act into the application, the report of the person who held it, and after consultation with the Minister for Local Government, and having had regard to the objections and representations (if any) furnished in accordance with the terms of the notice under section 3 of this Act, is of opinion that the application should be granted, he shall make an order authorising the Board to construct, maintain and operate the railway works specified in the order in such manner, subject to such restrictions and provisions and on such terms and conditions as the Minister thinks proper and specifies in the order.

7.—The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a railway works order, that is to say:—

(a) the order shall contain such provisions as the Minister thinks necessary or expedient for the purpose of the order;

(b) without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a) of this subsection—

(i) the order may contain provisions authorising the Board to acquire compulsorily any land the acquisition of which is, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary for giving effect to the order,

(ii) the order may grant to the Board any rights in or over land or water, or, subject to the consent of the Minister for Local Government, in or over any public road, the grant of which is, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary for giving effect to the order,

(iii) the order shall, in respect of any land so acquired or any right over land or water so granted, provide for the payment of compensation by the Board to the several persons having estates or interests in the land or water, and shall provide that any question of disputed compensation shall be determined under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, and for this purpose the Board shall be deemed to be a public authority within the meaning of the said Act,

(iv) the order may incorporate all or any of the provisions of the Lands Clauses Acts, with such modifications and adaptations as the Minister thinks proper,

(v) the order shall specify the manner in which the railway works to which the order relates are to be constructed,

(vi) the order may fix the period within which the construction of the railway works is to be completed,

(vii) the order may contain provisions as to the manner in which the railway works are to be operated and maintained,

(viii) the order shall contain all such provisions as the Minister thinks proper for the protection of the public generally and any persons affected by the order,

(ix) the order may provide that where the Board acts in contravention (whether by commission or omission) of any specified provision of the order, the Board shall be guilty of an offence under the order and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to such fine (not exceeding one hundred pounds) as may be specified in the order in respect of the offence and, in the case of a continuing offence, such further fine (not exceeding twenty pounds) as may be specified in the order in respect of the offence for each day during which the offence is continued after conviction thereof,

(x) the order may incorporate any provisions (including penal provisions) contained in any enactment relating to railways, with such adaptations and modifications as the Minister thinks proper,

(xi) the order may contain provisions authorising the Board at any time before conveyance of, or ascertainment of price or compensation for, land being compulsorily acquired by the Board under the order to enter and take possession of the land, and provisions—

(I) requiring the Board, if it so enters and takes possession of the land, to pay to the occupier of the land interest on the amount of the price or compensation payable under this Act to the occupier at the rate of three per cent. per annum from the date of the entry until payment of the price or compensation,

(II) requiring the Board, if it so enters and takes possession of the land, to give to the occupier of the land at least one month's or, in the case of an occupied dwelling-house, three months', previous notice in writing of its intention to enter on or take possession of any land under this section,

(III) authorising the Board to serve the notice aforesaid on a person by sending it by prepaid post in an envelope addressed to the person at his usual or last known address and deeming the notice to have been served on the person at the time at which the envelope would be delivered in the ordinary course of post and authorising the addressing of the envelope to the person for whom it is intended (in case it cannot be addressed in the manner aforesaid) in either or both of the following ways, that is to say:

(A) by the description "the owner" or "the occupier" (as the case may be) without stating his name,

(B) at the land or the situation of the property to which the notice contained in the envelope relates,

(xii) the order shall provide that whenever, under the order, the Board acquires, or enters on and takes possession of, any land which is subject, either alone or in conjunction with other land, to a land purchase annuity or a reclamation annuity, payment in lieu of rent or other sum payable periodically (not being merely rent under a contract of tenancy) payable to the Irish Land Commission or to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, the Board shall—

(I) as from the date on which it acquires, or enters on and takes possession, of the land, whichever date is the earlier, become and be liable for payment to the Irish Land Commission or the said Commissioners (as the case may be) of such periodical sum, or such portion thereof as shall be apportioned by the Irish Land Commission or the said Commissioners (as the case may be) on the land, as if the land had been transferred to the Board by the owner thereof on that date,

(II) be entitled, if the Board so thinks fit, to redeem the periodical sum or the portion thereof aforesaid, and

(III) be obliged, if required by the Irish Land Commission or the said Commissioners (as the case may be) so to do, to redeem the periodical sum or the portion thereof aforesaid,

(xiii) the order may provide for the determination by arbitration of any specified questions arising thereunder,

(xiv) the order may contain such provisions ancillary or incidental to any of the matters aforesaid as the Minister considers necessary and proper.

8.—The Minister may from time to time amend a railway works order.

9.—Every railway works order shall have the force of law.

10.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the exercise of his powers and functions under a railway works order shall, to such extent as may be determined by the Minister for Finance, be paid to the Minister by the Board.

11.—(1) The Orders specified in subsection (2) of this section shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, as valid for all purposes as if they were duly made under this Act and this Act had been in operation when they were made.

(2) The Orders referred to in subsection (1) of this section are the Transport Act, 1950 (Additional Powers) Order, 1955, and the Transport Act, 1950 (Additional Powers) Order, 1959.

12.—Section 28 of the Act of 1950 is hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) (which provides for temporary borrowing by the Board) after "bankers" of "or otherwise", and

(b) the substitution in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) (which imposes a limit on borrowing for capital purposes) of "fifteen million pounds" for "twelve million pounds" (inserted by the Transport Act, 1955 ).

13.—(1) For the purpose of enabling the Board to perform its functions the Minister for Finance may, on the recommendation of the Minister, advance from time to time to the Board such sums (not exceeding in the aggregate two million pounds) as the Board may from time to time request.

(2) Advances under subsection (1) of this section shall be made on such terms as to repayment, interest and other matters as may be determined by the Minister for Finance.

(3) All sums paid by the Board in repayment of an advance under this section or in pursuance of any term or condition subject to which an advance was made under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer.

(4) All moneys from time to time required by the Minister for Finance to meet sums which may become payable by him under this section shall be advanced out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(5) The Minister for Finance may, for the purpose of providing for the advance of sums out of the Central Fund under this section, borrow on the security of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof any sums required for that purpose, and for the purpose of such borrowing, he may create and issue securities bearing such rate of interest and subject to such conditions as to repayment, redemption or otherwise as he thinks fit, and shall pay all moneys so borrowed into the Exchequer.

(6) The principal of and interest on all securities issued under this section and the expenses incurred in connection with the issue of such securities shall be charged on and payable out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

14.—(1) Where—

(a) either before or after the passing of this Act, the employment with the Board of a person who is an officer or servant of the Board (including an officer or servant transferred or seconded under section 14 of the Great Northern Railway Act, 1958 ) is terminated for the purpose of enabling the person to enter the employment of the Company,

(b) upon such termination, the person enters the employment of the Company, and

(c) before the 31st day of March, 1964, the services of the person are dispensed with by the Company, or he is transferred from one position to another in the service of the Company, as a consequence of any of the matters referred to in subsection (1) or (6) of section 14 of the Act of 1958 or paragraph (a), (bb) (inserted by this Act) or (c) of subsection (1) of section 17 of the Great Northern Railway Act, 1958 , and by reason thereof he suffers any direct pecuniary loss or is in a worse position in respect of the conditions of his service as a whole (including tenure of office or employment, remuneration, gratuities, superannuation, sick fund or other benefits or allowances, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice and whether applicable to himself or his widow or children or other dependants) as compared with those obtaining in respect of him before the transfer or is required by the Company to perform in the position to which he is so transferred duties which are not analogous to or are an unreasonable addition to those which before the transfer he was required to perform in the position from which he was so transferred—

(i) in case his services are dispensed with as aforesaid, he shall be entitled to compensation under section 14 of the Act of 1958 (subject, in the case of a person to whom subsection (3) of section 17 of the Great Northern Railway Act, 1958 , applies, to the provisions relating to the Second Schedule to the Act of 1958 contained in that subsection) payable by the Company to the same extent and on the same conditions as a person to whom that section applies, and for the purpose of such entitlement the employment of the person with the Company shall be deemed to be employment with the Board and the interval (if any) between such termination aforesaid and the commencement of the employment with the Company shall be deemed for such purpose not to be a break in the person's employment with the Board, and

(ii) in case he is transferred as aforesaid, he shall be paid by the Company compensation consisting of a lump sum of such amount as is reasonable.

(2) Sections 41, 42 and 43 of the Act of 1950 (which relate to the determination of compensation under that Act) shall apply to compensation under this section and the references in the said sections to the Board shall, for the purposes of such application, be construed as references to the Company.

(3) (a) The Minister may by order extend the provisions of this section to any case in which, before the 31st day of March, 1964, the services of an officer or servant of the Company (being an officer or servant who was formerly employed by the Board or was transferred or seconded under section 14 of the Great Northern Railway Act, 1958 , and whose services with the Board were terminated (whether before or after the passing of this Act) for the purpose of enabling him to enter the employment of the Company) are dispensed with or he is transferred to another position because of redundancy arising from any scheme for the re-organisation and more economical operation of any department of the Company affecting any section or category of workers, and may by order amend any such order.

(b) Every order under this subsection shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

15.—Where, either before or after the passing of this Act, the employment with the Board of a person who is an officer or servant of the Board (including an officer or servant transferred or seconded under section 14 of the Great Northern Railway Act, 1958 ) is terminated for the purpose of enabling the person to enter the employment of the Company, and upon such termination, the person enters the employment of the Company—

(a) the person and any person claiming through him shall have the same right to membership of and benefits under any superannuation scheme for officers or servants of the Board (other than the Board's welfare scheme for regular wages staff) as he would have if his employment with the Company were employment with the Board,

(b) except where otherwise agreed upon between the Board and the Company, upon such entry the obligations (whether obtaining legally or by customary practice) in respect of any such scheme and in respect of the members thereof attaching before such termination to the Board shall, as respects the person and any person claiming through him, attach to the Company,

(c) the interval (if any) between such termination aforesaid and the commencement of the employment with the Company shall be deemed, for the purposes of any such scheme, not to be a break in the person's employment, and

(d) the Board may include in a scheme or schemes amending any such scheme provisions giving effect to this section and, where the Minister is given power to confirm such scheme or schemes, such power may be exercised notwithstanding the inclusion of such provisions and such confirmation may be either without modification of the provisions or with such modifications (whether by way of addition, omission or variation) as the Minister thinks proper.

16.—Notwithstanding anything contained in the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1959, or in the memorandum or articles of association of the Company, an alteration in the said memorandum or articles shall not be valid or effectual unless made with the previous approval of the Minister.

17.—Sections 16 and 34 of the Act of 1950 (which sections relate respectively to the giving of information by the Board to the Minister and to the accounts of the Board and the auditing thereof) shall apply and have effect in relation to the Company as they apply and have effect in relation to the Board.

18.—(1) The power conferred by section 21 of the Act of 1950 to make abandonment orders (within the meaning of that section) shall extend to the making of abandonment orders in relation to railway lines or sections vested in the Board and over which the services of trains have been terminated at any time—

(a) either before or after such vesting, and

(b) either before the passing of this Act (including a time before the passing of the Act of 1950) or after such passing,

and (in the case of services of trains which have not been operated since before the date of the passing of the Act of 1958) whether or not orders referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of the said section 21 have been made in respect of the services.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the said section 21 or in any other enactment, a railway company may sell any land under or adjoining an abandoned railway line by private treaty to any tenant of the land on either side of the line or to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland or to the Irish Land Commission.

19.—(1) Section 14 of the Act of 1958 (which provides for compensation for certain employees of the Board whose services are dispensed with or conditions of service worsened) is hereby amended by the substitution in subsections (1) and (6) of "on or before the 31st day of March, 1964" for "within five years after the passing of this Act".

(2) For the purpose of reckoning the pensionable service under the Fourth Schedule to the Transport Act, 1950 , of a person to whom the said section 14 applies, if the person was taken into the employment of the Board as a specially qualified person at an age exceeding that at which transport service usually began, his pensionable service may be increased by the addition of such number of years as may seem just.

20.— Section 17 (which provides for compensation for certain employees of the Board and former employees of the Great Northern Railway Board whose services are dispensed with or conditions of service worsened) of the Great Northern Railway Act, 1958 , is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of "on or before the 31st day of March, 1964" for "within five years after the passing of this Act",

(b) the insertion in the said subsection (1) after paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

"(bb) where, in the circumstances referred to in subsection (6) of section 14 of the Transport Act, 1958 , the services of an officer or servant (being an officer or servant transferred or seconded under section 14 of this Act) are dispensed with or he is transferred to another position in the service of the Board and an order is made under the said subsection (6) in respect of the case;", and

( c ) the substitution in paragraph (c) of the said subsection (1) of "on or before the 31st day of March, 1964" for "within five years after the passing of that Act".

21.—The Second Schedule to the Act of 1958 is, as respects persons whose services with the Board or the Company are dispensed with after the passing of this Act, hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in paragraph 5 of "Industrial Engineering Company Limited" for "Dundalk Engineering Works Limited",

(b) the insertion in the said paragraph 5 after "on behalf of a State-sponsored company" of ", any board or body aforesaid or Industrial Engineering Company Limited", and

(c) the insertion in paragraph 6 after "reference to the Board" of "and to the Company".

22.—This Act may be cited as the Transport Act, 1963 .