S.I. No. 155/1989:

PRIZE BONDS REGULATIONS, 1989.

PRIZE BONDS REGULATIONS, 1989.

I, ALBERT REYNOLDS, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 23 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1956 (No. 47 of 1956), hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Prize Bonds Regulations, 1989.

(2) These Regulations shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of June, 1989.

2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:

"bond" means a prize bond;

"committee", in relation to a person of unsound mind, includes a guardian appointed under section 103 of the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act, 1871;

"draw" means a draw for prizes in respect of bonds held after the making of these Regulations;

"excluded number" has the meaning specified in Regulation 24 (2) of these Regulations;

"holder", in relation to a bond, means the individual person or the body corporate in whose name the bond is registered in the register kept by the Operator pursuant to these Regulations and "holders", in relation to a bond, means the individual persons in whose names or the persons under whose titles the bond is so registered;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Finance;

"multiple bond" means a bond representing any number of unit bonds and entitling the holder or holders to receive the aggregate amount of the sums repayable in respect of that number of unit bonds;

"register", includes any means of recording, in a legible form or otherwise, provided that in the case of a record maintained in a form other than a legible form such record shall be capable of reproduction in a legible form;

"the Operator" means the operator of the scheme for the time being acting on behalf of the Minister;

"person of unsound mind" includes any person to whom the provisions of the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act, 1871, relating to management and administration, as amended by any subsequent enactment, apply;

"unit bond" means a bond issued on the payment of the minimum amount for which a bond is issued.

3. (1) A bond may be purchased and held by:

( a ) an individual person of the age of seven years or upwards, being a person who is not under a legal disability otherwise than by reason of not having attained the age of eighteen years,

( b ) two such persons jointly,

( c ) a body corporate, or

( d ) two persons, each holding office or other position under the same unincorporated body, as persons so holding office or other position, but not otherwise.

(2) A bond may be purchased as a gift for another person of any age by persons and bodies qualified under paragraph (1) of this Regulation. Bonds so purchased shall be held in the name of the recipient.

4. (1) As soon as may be after issue, a bond shall be registered, in a register to be kept by the Operator:

( a ) in the case of a bond issued to an individual person--in the name of that person,

( b ) in the case of a bond issued to two individual persons jointly--in the names of those persons,

( c ) in the case of a bond issued to a body corporate--in the name of that body, and

( d ) in the case of a bond issued to two persons each holding office or other position under an unincorporated body--under the titles respectively under which they so hold office or other position.

(2) A bond shall not be transferable.

5. (1) Application for payment of the sum repayable, or of any prize payable, in respect of a bond shall (subject to the provisions of these Regulations relating to payment in the case of special classes of persons) be made by the holder of holders of the bond in writing in such a manner as the Operator may require.

(2) In the case of a bond held by a child aged seven years or over, but under eighteen years of age, application for the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond may be made by the child, where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Operator that the consent of the parents or legal guardians of the child has been obtained.

(3) In the case of a bond held by a child under seven years of age:

( a ) Application for payment of any prize payable, in respect of the bond may be made by the parents or legal guardians of the child, and

( b ) the sum repayable in respect of that bond shall not be repayable unless an application is made in that behalf by the parents or legal guardians of that child which satisfies the Operator that the sum repayable is urgently needed for the maintenance, education or benefit of such child.

(4) In the case of a multiple bond, an application may be made for repayment in respect of any number of the unit bonds represented by the multiple bond.

(5) ( a ) The holder of a bond may subject to the approval of the Operator, authorise any person to apply for or receive on his or her behalf the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond;

( b ) either or each of the holders of a bond may, subject to the approval of the Operator, authorise any person to act on his or her behalf in any application for or receipt of the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond.

(6) Every such application shall be made to the Operator and shall be accompanied by the bond or bonds to which it relates.

(7) Save as otherwise provided by these Regulations, every repayment or payment in respect of a bond shall, subject to any authorisation under paragraph (5) of this Regulation be made to the holder or holders of the bond.

(8) In the case of the death of one of the joint holders of a bond, every repayment or payment in respect thereof shall be made to the survivor.

(9) In the case of a bond issued to two persons each holding office or other position under an unincorporated body, every repayment or payment in respect thereof shall be made to the holders for the time being of such offices or positions under the titles under which the bond is registered.

6. (1) Payment of the sum repayable, or of any prize payable, in respect of a bond shall be made by the Operator by cheque or warrant or by lodgement to a banking account.

(2) The signature of a person of the age of seven years or upwards but who has not attained the age of eighteen years on any cheque or warrant issued pursuant to these Regulations, or otherwise given in relation to any payment made pursuant to these Regulations, shall be as valid for all purposes as if such person had attained the age of eighteen years.

(3) Notwithstanding that a cheque or warrant issued pursuant to these Regulations is drawn on the Operator by the Operator themselves or by any officer of the Operator, the provisions of section 60 and sections 76 to 82 of the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882, and the provisions of the Bills of Exchange (Crossed Cheques) Act, 1906, shall apply to the cheque or warrant as if it were a cheque within the meaning of those Acts.

7. (1) An application for payment of the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of a bond, of which the holder is a person of unsound mind shall be made by his or her committee, and payment thereof shall be made to such committee.

(2) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Operator that the holder, or either or each of the holders, of a bond is a person of unsound mind for whose estate no committee has been appointed, the Operator may, if they think fit, pay the whole or any part of the sum repayable, or of any prize payable, in respect of the bond to any person or persons satisfying the Operator that he or she or they will duly account therefor to the person or persons entitled to such sum or prize.

8. (1) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Operator that the holder of a bond has been adjudicated bankrupt, the Operator shall, on an application made in that behalf by the assignee or assignees in bankruptcy of such holder, pay to him or her or them the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond.

(2) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Operator that one of the joint holders of a bond has been adjudicated bankrupt, the Operator shall, on an application made in that behalf by the assignee or assignees in bankruptcy of such holder or by the other holder, pay to such assignee or assignees and such other holder jointly the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond.

9. (1) In the event of the death of the holder of a bond, the production of probate or letters of administration granted, or having effect as if granted, in respect of personal estate comprising the bond by a court in the State, or of a certified copy thereof, shall, subject to the provisions of these Regulations, be sufficient authority to the Operator to pay the sum repayable, and any prize payable, in respect of the bond to the person to whom the grant was made, or as directed by that person.

(2) Where any payment in respect of a bond is made in purported pursuance of this Regulation, the payment shall, notwithstanding the invalidity of, or any defect in, the probate or letters of administration be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations to have been duly made.

10. (1) Where, on the death of any person, being the holder of bonds the amount repayable or payable in respect of which does not, at the time of that person's death, exceed in the aggregate eight hundred pounds, probate of his or her will or letters of administration to his or her estate is not or are not produced to the Operator within such time as the Operator think reasonable in the circumstances of the case, the Operator, if they think fit, may, without requiring probate or letters of administration, pay the sum repayable, and any sum being the prize payable, in respect of those bonds, or any part of those sums:

( a ) to a person appearing to the Operator to be entitled to take out probate of the will of the deceased or letters of administration to his or her estate;

( b ) if the Operator is satisfied with respect to the will (if any) of the deceased that probate of the will or letters of administration with the will annexed would be granted by a court in the State, to any person to whom those sums or any part thereof would, in the opinion of the Operator, be payable under the will if such probate or letters of administration as aforesaid were so granted;

( c ) to any person who satisfies the Operator that he or she should receive those sums or any part thereof because of his or her being:

(i) a person who has paid the funeral expenses of the deceased,

(ii) a creditor of the deceased, or

(iii) a person who has a beneficial interest in the estate of the deceased;

( d ) if the deceased was an Irish citizen and his or her next of kin appears to the Operator to reside outside the State, to any officer or authority who, in the opinion of the Operator, may properly be entrusted with the duty of distributing those sums;

( e ) if the deceased was a seaman of a foreign country, being a country with which a convention making provision with respect to payment of moneys due to seamen is in force, to a consular officer of that country;

( f ) if the deceased was a foreign subject, not being a seaman to whom the provisions of the last preceding subparagraph apply, to a consular officer of the country to which the deceased belonged, or to such other authority as appears to the Operator to be appropriate, subject in either case to the Operator being satisfied that those sums will be duly distributed;

( g ) in a case where the estate of the deceased appears to the Operator to have devolved upon the State, to the Chief State Solicitor:

Provided that where a person to whom any sum may be paid under subparagraph (b) or subparagraph (c) of this paragraph has died before payment has been made to him or her, that sum or any part thereof may be paid to any person to whom it might have been paid if the first-mentioned person had, immediately before his or here death, been the holder of the bonds in question.

(2) Notwithstanding any rule of law to the contrary, any person to whom a payment may be made under subparagraph (b) or subparagraph (c) of paragraph (1) of this Regulation or under the proviso to that paragraph may effect a discharge thereof if he or she has attained the age of seven years, and his or her discharge shall be valid without the discharge of any other person, and where any person to whom a payment may be so made is unable, by reason of his or her age or for any other reason whatsoever, to give a discharge thereof under these Regulations the Operator may make the payment to any person who satisfies the Operator that he or she will apply it for the maintenance or otherwise for the benefit of the first-mentioned person.

(3) In this Regulation "will" includes a codicil.

11. Where, in the event of the death of the holder of a bond, any payment in respect of the bond made under these Regulations is made in accordance with the law of the place where the holder of the bond resided at the date of his or her death, that payment shall, unless notice in writing to the effect that the holder was, at that date, domiciled at some other place has been received by the Operator before the payment was made, be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations to have been duly made.

12. (1) If any individual person holding, whether by himself or herself alone or with another individual person, any bond is of unsound mind or is otherwise under legal disability, anything which under these Regulations is required or authorised to be done by or to the holder or holders of the bond shall or may be done, as respects such person, by or to the committee of, or other person having power in law to administer, his or her estate.

(2) Nothing in this Regulation shall affect any other provision of these Regulations relating to a person under the age of eighteen years.

13. (1) The loss or destruction of a bond, or of any document issued in pursuance of these Regulations, shall be notified in writing to the Operator as soon as practicable by the person entitled to the possession of the bond or document.

(2) If it appears to the Operator that any bond or any document issued in pursuance of these Regulations has been issued in error, lost, destroyed or tampered with, or is in such a condition as to render it desirable that it should be replaced by a new bond or document, the Operator may issue a new bond or document in lieu of the old bond or document to any person who satisfies the Operator that he or she is entitled to the possession of the bond or document.

(3) The Operator may attach to the issue under this Regulation of any new document such conditions as to indemnity or otherwise as they think fit.

14. (1) Any mistake in any bond or any document received by a person in pursuance of these Regulations shall, as soon as practicable, be notified in writing to the Operator by the person receiving the bond or document.

(2) If the Operator is satisfied that any transaction effected or thing done, or purporting to have been effected or done, in accordance with these Regulations has been effected or done in error, the Operator may cancel the transaction and may take all such steps as are, in the opinion of the Operator, necessary to rectify the error, and may for that purpose require the surrender to the Operator of any bond or other document.

15. (1) If any disputes arises, between any person making a claim in relation to a bond and the Minister of the Operator with respect to any matter (not being a matter as to which, under the provision of any prospectus relating to the bond, the decision of the Minister is final), the matter in dispute shall, it both parties to the dispute so agree, be referred to the Registrar of Friendly Societies.

(2) On any such reference, the Registrar or Friendly Societies may proceed on notice in writing to be sent by post to the parties to the dispute, and such parties shall be entitled to appear at the hearing.

(3) On the hearing of any such dispute, the Registrar of Friendly Societies shall be entitled to receive evidence (whether oral or written), to administer oaths to witnesses, to summon witnesses, to require the production of documents, and to read and examine all documents produced to him.

(4) The award of the Registrar of Friendly Societies on any reference under this Regulation shall be final and binding on all parties.

16. No notice of any trust shall be receivable by the Minister or the Operator in respect of a bond.

17. (1) The Minister, the Operator and any person acting under the authority of the Minister or the Operator shall not be liable in respect of any payment duly made or act done in accordance with these Regulations, and any such payment shall, subject to the provisions of these Regulations for saving the rights of third parties, be deemed to have been a valid payment, and shall constitute a full discharge to the Minister and the Operator in respect thereof.

(2) Where, as respect the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of a bond, a cheque or warrant is issued to, or a lodgement to a banking account is made in favour of, some person or persons being neither the holder or holders of the bond nor a person or persons entitled under these Regulations to receive payment in respect thereof, then, if it is shown that:

( a ) the cheque or warrant was issued, or the lodgement was made, by the Operator in good faith and without negligence, and

( b ) the issue of the cheque or warrant to, or the making of the lodgement in favour of, that person or those persons is attributable to some act or omission on the part of the holder or holders or a person or persons so entitled, the cheque or warrant shall be deemed to have been duly issued to, or the lodgement shall be deemed to have been duly made in favour of, the person entitled to the sum repayable or prize payable, subject however to the provisions of these Regulations for saving the rights of third parties.

(3) The posting of a letter or envelope containing a cheque, warrant or bond addressed to any person at the last address furnished by that person to the Operator shall, as regards the liability of the Minister or of the Operator, be equivalent to the delivery of the cheque, warrant or bond to the person to whom the letter or envelope was addressed.

18. Nothing in these Regulations for the protection of the Minister or the Operator in respect of any act done or any money paid shall operate to prevent the recovery by any person or his or her representative of any money lawfully due to him or her from the person to whom that money was paid by or under the direction of the Minister or the Operator, or from the representatives of that person, or affect the right which any person or his or her representative may have in respect of a bond against a third party.

19. Where any application is required by these Regulations to be made in such manner as the Operator may require, the documents in which the application is made shall contain a full and specific statement of the particulars required to be given, and any such document which is required by the Operator to be signed by any person shall be signed by that person.

20. Nothing in these Regulations shall be held to prejudice the right of the Operator to require evidence to be given to their satisfaction of the identity of any person or of the title of any person to any bond, document or money, or to require evidence that anything purporting to be had or done in pursuance of these Regulations has been duly had or done, or otherwise with respect to any matters on which the due exercise of their powers or performance of their duties under these Regulations depends, and the Operator may, for the purpose of obtaining any such evidence, require a statutory declaration to be made by any person.

21. The name or names of the holder or holders of any bond, the number of bonds held or the amount paid in respect of a bond shall not be disclosed save,

(i) to a person employed in carrying these Regulations into execution, and

(ii) to the parents or legal guardians of a bondholder under the age of eighteen years.

22. (1) Every draw shall be held at premises to be designated by the Operator with the approval of the Minister.

(2) Every draw shall be conducted by such officer of the Operator as the Operator nominates for that purpose.

(3) A representative of the Minister shall be present at every draw and the representative shall be any person as the Minister shall, from time to time, nominate for that purpose.

23. (1) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the conduct of every draw:

( a ) there shall be an apparatus consisting of seven containers capable of being rotated together, the containers being designated respectively from left to right facting the apparatus "index letters", "hundreds of thousands", "tens of thousands", "thousands", "hundreds", "tens" and "units";

( b ) there shall be counters bearing numbers concealed from view when the counters are closed, counters bearing index letters concealed from view when the counters are closed and a counter which bears neither a number nor an index letter and is identical when it is closed with the other counters when they are closed;

( c ) in the container designated "index letters" there shall be contained closed counters one of which is the counter bearing neither a number nor an index letter and the others of which consist of such number as my be appropriate (having regard to the prize bonds which have been issued before the draw) of counters bearing respectively either a single index letter different from the single index letter borne on any other counter in the container or a combination of index letters different from the combination of index letters borne on any other counter in the container, and in each of the remaining containers there shall be contained ten closed counters bearing respectively the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9;

( d ) the prizes shall be drawn for in order of amount, commencing with the largest prizes;

( e ) in relation to each prize, the procedure shall be as follows:

(i) firstly, the counters shall be mixed and the mixing of the counters shall be effected by rotation of the apparatus,

(ii) secondly, after mixing has been effected, the apparatus shall be brought to a stop,

(iii) thirdly, when the apparatus has been brought to a stop, one counter shall be drawn at random out of each container and the counters shall then be opened to display the number on each,

(iv) fourthly, the bond, the number of which consists of the numbers drawn as aforesaid from the seven containers, read from left to right facing the containers, shall, subject to the next sub-subparagraph of this subparagraph and Regulation 24 of these Regulations, shall, stand selected for the prize,

(v) fifthly, the number consisting of the numbers drawn as aforesaid shall be disregarded (and the procedure specified in this paragraph shall accordingly be repeated) if either that number is not the number of any of the bonds held on the first day of the month in which the draw is held or it has already occurred during the course of the draw,

(vi) sixthly, the counters shall be closed and replaced in the appropriate containers;

( f ) when numbers have been drawn for all the prizes available, additional numbers shall, for the purpose of enabling substitutions under Regulation 24 of these Regulations to be effected, be drawn in the manner specified in the foregoing sub-paragraph;

( g ) on completion of the list of the numbers drawn (that is to say, numbers of bonds selected for prizes and additional numbers), that list shall be signed by the person conducting the draw and by the representative at the draw of the Minister.

(2) Where, in the case of a bond held by an individual person, that person dies before the first day of the period of twenty-four months ending immediately before the commencement of the month in which the draw is held and notification of that person's death is received by the Operator before such commencement, the reference to the bonds held on that day contained in sub-subparagraph (v) of sub-paragraph (e) of paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be construed as not including a reference to that bond, irrespective of whether repayment in respect of it is or is not made before that day.

24. (1) If, at any time after a draw, it is ascertained that, as respects any bond which, in accordance with the draw together with any previous application of this Regulation, stands selected for a prize, either:

( a ) the holder has died, or in the case of a joint holding, both holders have died, before the first day of the period of twenty-four months ending immediately before the commencement of the month in which the draw was held, or

( b ) the bond is held by a person or persons not entitled to hold bonds, the following provisions shall have effect:

(i) the number which, disregarding any excluded number, was drawn next after the drawing of the number of the bond shall be substituted in respect of that prize, and

(ii) as respects the numbers which, disregarding any excluded number, were drawn subsequently, each such number (in this sub-paragraph referred to as the number to be substituted) shall be substituted in respect of such (if any) prize as is the prize in the case of the number which, disregarding any excluding number, was drawn immediately before the drawing of the number to be substituted.

(2) In paragraph (1) of this Regulation, "excluded number" means a number for which another number has been substituted pursuant to this Regulation.

25. The following Regulations are hereby revoked:

( a ) Prize Bonds Regulations, 1957 ( S.I. No. 40 of 1957 );

( b ) Prize Bonds (First Draw for Prizes) Regulations, 1957 ( S.I. No. 179 of 1957 );

( c ) Prize Bonds (Draws for Prizes) Regulations, 1958 ( S.I. No. 60 of 1958 );

( d ) Prize Bonds (Amendment) Regulations, 1964 ( S.I. No. 265 of 1964 );

( e ) Prize Bonds (Draws for Prizes) Regulations, 1971 ( S.I. No. 92 of 1971 );

( f ) Prize Bonds (Draws for Prizes) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 272 of 1972 );

( g ) Prize Bonds Regulations, 1957 (Amendment) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 284 of 1972 ).

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 20th day of June, 1989.

ALBERT REYNOLDS,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations consolidate and revoke all previous Prize Bonds Regulations. They prescribe changes in the Prize Bonds Scheme to allow for the purchase of Prize Bonds by persons aged seven years or above and to allow for the purchase of Prize Bonds as a gift for other persons including infants under the age of seven years. The Regulations also increase from £500 to £800 the amount which may be paid without grant of administration in the case of Prize Bonds held by deceased Bond holders.