No. 11/1971:

BRITISH & IRISH STEAM PACKET COMPANY LIMITED (ACQUISITION) (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1971

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1 Definitions.

2 Purchase of additional shares of Company by Minister for Finance.

3 Provision of money for payments under Act out of Central Fund.

4 Holding by Minister for Finance of shares of Company.

5 Guarantee by Minister for Finance of borrowings by Company.

6 Expenses of Minister.

7 Short title and collective citation.

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE BRITISH & IRISH STEAM PACKET COMPANY LIMITED (ACQUISITION) ACT, 1965 .

[29th June, 1971.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1.—In this Act—

"the Company" means the British & Irish Steam Packet Company Limited;

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

"the Principal Act" means the British & Irish Steam Packet Company Limited (Acquisition) Act, 1965 .

2.—The Minister for Finance may purchase, in addition to the ordinary shares of the Company purchased by him under the agreement approved of by section 2 of the Principal Act, not more than three million ordinary shares of the Company of £1 each.

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

(2) 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 purposes 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.

(3) 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.

4.—(1) The Minister for Finance may hold for so long as he thinks fit shares of the Company acquired by him under this Act and, after consultation with the Minister may, as and when he thinks fit, sell or otherwise dispose of all or any of such shares.

(2) The net proceeds of a sale by the Minister for Finance of shares of the Company shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer.

5.—(1) The Minister for Finance may, after consultation with the Minister, guarantee, in such form and manner and in such moneys (including moneys in a currency other than the currency of the State) and on such terms and conditions as the Minister for Finance may sanction, the due repayment by the Company of the principal of such moneys as are borrowed by the Company with the approval of the Minister or the payment of interest on such moneys or both the repayment of the principal and the payment of the interest.

(2) The Minister for Finance shall not so exercise the powers conferred by subsection (1) of this section that the amount, or the aggregate amount, of principal which he may at any one time be liable to pay on foot of any guarantee or guarantees under that subsection for the time being in force, together with the amount of principal (if any) which the Minister for Finance has previously paid on foot of any such guarantees and has not been repaid by the Company, exceeds £5,000,000.

(3) Where a guarantee under this section is or has been given, the Company shall, if the Minister for Finance so requires, give to him such security (including, in particular, debentures) as may be specified in the requisition for the purpose of securing to the Minister for Finance the repayment of any moneys which he may be liable to pay or has paid under the guarantee.

(4) The Minister for Finance shall, as soon as may be after the expiration of every financial year, lay before each House of the Oireachtas a statement setting out with respect to each guarantee under this section given during that year or given at any time before, and in force at, the commencement of that year—

( a ) particulars of the guarantee,

( b ) in case any payment has been made by the Minister for Finance under the guarantee before the end of that year, the amount of the payment and the amount (if any) repaid to the Minister for Finance on foot of the payment,

( c ) the amount of principal covered by the guarantee which was outstanding at the end of that year.

(5) Moneys paid by the Minister for Finance under a guarantee under this section shall be repaid to the Minister for Finance (with interest thereon at such rate or rates as the Minister for Finance appoints) by the Company within two years from the date of the advance of the moneys out of the Central Fund.

(6) Where the whole or any part of moneys required by subsection (5) of this section to be repaid to the Minister for Finance has not been repaid in accordance with that subsection, the amount so remaining outstanding shall be repaid to the Central Fund out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(7) Notwithstanding the provision of moneys under subsection (6) of this section to repay the amount to the Central Fund, the Company shall remain liable to the Minister for Finance in respect of that amount and that amount (with interest thereon at such rate or rates as the Minister for Finance appoints) shall be repaid to the Minister for Finance by the Company at such times and in such instalments as the Minister for Finance appoints and, in default of repayment as aforesaid and without prejudice to any other method of recovery, shall be recoverable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(8) Moneys repaid by the Company to the Minister for Finance or recovered from the Company by the Minister for Finance under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer.

(9) In relation to a guarantee under this section in money in a currency other than the currency of the State—

( a ) the references to principal in subsection (1) of this section shall be taken as referring to the equivalent in currency of the State of the actual principal, such equivalent being calculated according to the rate of exchange at the time of the giving of the guarantee subject to the proviso that, if the currencies having at that time par values established under the Articles of the Agreement of the International Monetary Fund include the currency of the State and the other currency, the calculation shall be effected according to the rate of exchange based on those values;

( b ) each of the references to moneys in subsection (5) of this section shall be taken as referring to the cost in currency of the State of the actual moneys.

6.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

7.—(1) This Act may be cited as the British & Irish Steam Packet Company Limited (Acquisition) (Amendment) Act, 1971 .

(2) The Principal Act and this Act may be cited together as the British & Irish Steam Packet Company Limited (Acquisition) Acts, 1965 and 1971.