S.I. No. 279/1979:

MINES (GENERAL) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1979.

MINES (GENERAL) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1979.

I, GENE FITZGERALD, Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 112 and 127 of the Mines and Quarries Act, 1965 (No. 7 of 1965), and the Labour (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1966 ( S.I. No. 164 of 1966 ), after consultation with the Minister for Health and after due compliance with the provisions of the Act relating to the procedure for making general regulations, hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Mines (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 1979.

(2) The Mines (General) Regulations, 1975 ( S.I. No. 331 of 1975 ), and these Regulations may be cited together as the Mines (General) Regulations, 1975 and 1979.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 31st day of August, 1979.

3. Regulation 54 of the Mines (General) Regulations, 1975, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (2):

"(2) ( a ) The manager of a mine specified in the Sixth Schedule to these Regulations shall cause arrangements to be made for the examination by a doctor, during the last quarter of each twelve-month period of service, of every person employed in the mine.

( b ) The manager of a mine, other than a mine specified in the Sixth Schedule to these Regulations, shall cause arrangements to be made for the examination by a doctor, during the last quarter of each twelve-month period of service, of every person first employed in the mine on or after the 31st day of August, 1979."

4. Regulation 56 of the Mines (General) Regulations, 1975, is hereby amended by,

( a ) the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (1):

"(1) Where a certificate issued for the purposes of Regulation 54 of these Regulations relates to a person employed at the surface of a mine who, at the date of the relevant examination, is under twenty-one years of age, that certificate shall lapse and be deemed to have expired at the end of the period of twelve months beginning on the date of the certificate.";

and

( b ) the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (3):

"(3) Where a certificate issued for the purposes of these Regulations relates to a person who is employed in a mine, that certificate shall lapse and be deemed to have expired at the end of the period of twelve months beginning on the date of the certificate."

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 10th day of August, 1979.

GENE FITZGERALD,

Minister for Labour.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These regulations provide that persons first employed in a mine, other than a mine specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Mines (General) Regulations, 1975, on or after 31st August, 1979, must be medically examined during the last quarter of each twelve-month period of service.