No. 13/1979:

IRISH STEEL HOLDINGS LIMITED (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1979

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1 Interpretation and construction.

2 Amendment of section 1 of Principal Act.

3 Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act.

4 Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act.

5 Amendment of section 9 of Principal Act.

6 Chief officer's remuneration etc.

7 Superannuation of staff of Company.

8 Short title and collective citation.

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE IRISH STEEL HOLDINGS LIMITED ACTS, 1960 TO 1971.

[3rd July, 1979].

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

1.—(1) In this Act—

"the Act of 1963" means the Irish Steel Holdings Limited (Amendment) Act, 1963 ;

"the Act of 1971" means the Irish Steel Holdings Limited (Amendment) Act, 1971 ;

"the Principal Act" means the Irish Steel Holdings Limited Act, 1960 .

(2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Principal Act.

2.—(1) Section 1 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following for the definition of "the Company":

"'the Company' means Irish Steel Limited;".

(2) This section shall come into force on such day as the Minister shall fix by order.

3.—Section 2 of the Principal Act (which provides that the share capital of the Company shall be £6,000,000) is hereby amended by the substitution of "£25,000,000" for "£6,000,000" (inserted by section 2 of the Act of 1963) and section 2 of the Principal Act, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

2.—Notwithstanding anything contained in the Companies Acts or in the memorandum or articles of association of the Company, the share capital of the Company shall be twenty-five million pounds divided into shares of one pound each and the Company shall have power, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to divide the shares in the capital of the Company into several classes and to attach thereto respectively any preferential, deferred, qualified or special rights, privileges or conditions.

4.—Section 3 (1) of the Principal Act (which imposes a limit of £6,000,000 on the acquisition of shares of the Company by the Minister for Finance) is hereby amended by the substitution of "£25,000,000" for "£6,000,000" (inserted by section 3 of the Act of 1963), and the said section 3 (1) as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

3.—(1) The Minister for Finance may, after consultation with the Minister, from time to time, take up by subscription or purchase from the holder shares of the Company of any class or classes to an amount not exceeding in the aggregate £25,000,000, including any sum expended before the passing of this Act on such purchases from moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

5.—(1) Subsection (3) of section 9 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of "£60,000,000" for "£3,000,000" (inserted by section 2 of the Act of 1971), and the said subsection (3), as so amended is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

9.—(3) The Minister shall not so exercise the powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2) of this section that the amount, or the aggregate amount, of principal which he may at any one time be liable to repay on foot of any guarantee or guarantees under those subsections for the time being in force, together with the amount of principal (if any) which the Minister has previously paid on foot of any such guarantees and has not been repaid by the Company, exceeds £60,000,000.

(2) The following subsections are hereby substituted for subsections (1) and (2) of section 9 of the Principal Act:

"(1) The Minister may if he so thinks fit, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, guarantee a loan to the Company or the due payment by the Company of instalments or other amounts of money (including money in a currency other than the currency of the State) owed by the Company and outstanding under a contract entered into by the Company or the interest on any such instalments or amounts outstanding or both the payment of such instalments or amounts outstanding and such interest.

(2) Whenever the Minister guarantees a loan under this section, he may guarantee, in such form and manner and on such terms and conditions as the Minister for Finance may sanction, the due repayment by the Company of the principal of the loan or the payment of interest on the loan or both the repayment of such principal and the payment of such interest or the due payment by the Company of instalments or other amounts of money (including money in a currency other than the currency of the State) owed by the Company and outstanding under a contract entered into by the Company or the interest on any such instalments or amounts outstanding or both the payment of such instalments or amounts outstanding and such interest, and the guarantee may also guarantee the payment by the Company of commissions and incidental expenses arising in connection with the loan or contract."

(3) Section 9 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the addition of the following subsections:

"(11) For the purposes of calculating the amount of moneys guaranteed by the Minister under this section by reference to the limit on principal in subsection (3) of this section, the equivalent in the currency of the State of moneys in a currency other than the currency of the State shall be calculated at the exchange rate prevailing at the time of the giving of the guarantee.

(12) In relation to guarantees given under this section by the Minister in money in a currency other than the currency of the State—

(i) the reference to a loan, each of the references to instalments and each of the references to amounts in subsection (1) of this section shall be taken as referring to the equivalent in currency of the State of the actual principal, the actual instalments and the actual amounts, respectively, such equivalent being calculated according to the cost in currency of the State of the actual principal, the actual instalments or the actual amounts as may be appropriate,

(ii) the reference to a loan, each of the references to principal, each of the references to instalments, each of the references to amounts and the reference to commissions and incidental expenses in subsection (2) of this section shall be taken as referring to the equivalent in currency of the State of the actual loan, the actual principal, the actual instalments, the actual amounts and the actual commissions and incidental expenses, such equivalent being calculated according to the rate of exchange for the time being for the currency concerned and the currency of the State,

(iii) each of the references to moneys in subsections (4) to (9) of this section shall be taken as referring to the cost in the currency of the State of the actual moneys."

6.—There shall be paid by the Company to its chief officer (whether that officer is so described or otherwise) such remuneration and allowances as the Company, with the approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, shall determine.

7.—Any alteration in the terms, in operation at the passing of this Act, governing the grant of pensions, gratuities, allowances or other payments on resignation, retirement or death, to or in respect of a member of the permanent staff of the Company, including its chief officer, or any other arrangement to provide for benefits additional to the terms referred to above, shall not take effect unless the alteration or arrangement has the approval of the Minister, given with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service.

8.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Irish Steel Holdings Limited (Amendment) Act, 1979 .

(2) The Irish Steel Holdings Limited Acts, 1960 to 1971, and this Act may be cited together as the Irish Steel Holdings Limited Acts, 1960 to 1979.

ACTS REFERRED TO