PART I.

Constitution, Finance and General Functions of the Electricity Supply Board.

2. —(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act a board to be styled and known as the Electricity Supply Board (in this Act referred to as the Board) shall be established in accordance with this Act to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and may sue and be sued under its said style and name.

(3) The Board shall consist of a chairman and such number (not being less than two nor more than six) of other members as the Executive Council shall from time to time determine.

(4) The members of the Board shall be appointed by the Executive Council and every person so appointed to be a member of the Board shall hold office for such period not exceeding five years as shall be fixed by the Executive Council when appointing him and every such person shall on the expiration of his term of office be eligible for re-appointment.

(5) The chairman of the Board shall be that member of the Board who at the time of his appointment to be a member of the Board or subsequently is appointed by the Executive Council to be such chairman.

(6) The chairman of the Board shall devote the whole of his time to his duties as such chairman and each of the other members of the Board shall devote the whole or so much of his time to his duties as such member as shall be prescribed by the Executive Council at the time of his appointment.

(7) Every member of the Board shall be paid out of the funds at the disposal of the Board such remuneration and such allowances for expenses as the Executive Council shall when appointing him prescribe.

3. —Every member of the Board and every officer and servant of the Board shall while holding office or employed as such member, officer, or servant be disqualified from being nominated or elected and from sitting or receiving payment as a member of Dáil Eireann or of Seanad Eireann.

4. —(1) The Board shall provide and have a common seal, and such seal shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman of the Board or some other member thereof authorised by the Board to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

(2) All courts of justice shall take judicial notice of the seal of the Board, and every document purporting to be an order or other instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with the seal of the Board authenticated in accordance with this section shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such order or instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

5. —(1) If at any time it appears to the Executive Council that the removal from office of all or any of the members of the Board is necessary in the interests of the effective and economical performance of the functions of the Board under this Act the Executive Council may remove from office all or so many of the members of the Board as the Executive Council considers necessary in the interests aforesaid.

(2) The Executive Council may at any time remove from office any member of the Board who has become incapable through ill-health of performing efficiently his duties as such member or who has (otherwise than for a reason considered by the Executive Council to be sufficient) been absent from all meetings of the Board during a period of six months.

(3) If and whenever the Executive Council removes from office under this section any member of the Board, the Executive Council shall lay before each House of the Oireachtas a statement in writing of the fact of the removal from office of such member and of the reasons for such removal.

6. —(1) The procedure of the Board at its meetings and otherwise shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the regulations in that behalf made by the Board under this Act.

(2) Whenever and so long as the Board consists of three members only, two members of the Board shall constitute a quorum, and whenever and so long as the Board consists of more than three members, one-third of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum.

(3) The Board may act notwithstanding a vacancy in its membership.

7. —(1) The Board shall keep in such form as shall be approved by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Finance all proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expended by them, including a capital account, revenue account, profit and loss account, and a balance sheet, and in particular shall keep in such form as aforesaid all such special accounts as the Minister on his motion or at the request of the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct.

(2) The accounts of the Board shall in each year be audited and be the subject of a report by duly qualified auditors appointed annually for the purpose by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and the fees of such auditors and the expenses generally of such audits shall be paid by the Board.

(3) The Minister may with the consent of the Minister for Finance make regulations prescribing the time, place, and method of conducting the audit of the accounts of the Board under this section and may also prescribe by such regulations the accounts of which copies are to be furnished to the Minister under this section and the accounts which are to be published and put on sale under this section and the time and method of such publication and sale.

(4) Immediately after every audit under this section of the accounts of the Board, the Board shall send to the Minister a copy of the balance sheet and profit and loss account as passed by the auditors, a copy of the auditors' report, and copies of such of the accounts submitted to the auditors as are prescribed in that behalf by regulations made under this section or may be specially called for by the Minister, and shall publish and put on sale in accordance with such regulations such of the accounts submitted to the auditors as are prescribed in that behalf by such regulations.

8. —(1) The Board shall appoint such and so many officers and servants as it shall from time to time think proper.

(2) There shall be paid by the Board to its officers and servants out of the funds at its disposal under this Act such remuneration and allowances as the Board shall determine.

(3) The Board may, if it so thinks fit, for the purpose of the appointment of a person to fill a situation in the service of the Board request the Local Appointments Commissioners to recommend to it a person for appointment to such situation, and the said Commissioners on receiving such request shall select and recommend under and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 (No. 39 of 1926) to the Board a person for appointment to such situation and shall, if they so think proper, select and recommend to the Board two or more persons for such appointment, and the Board on receiving from the said Commissioners such recommendation shall appoint to such situation the person so recommended by the Commissioners or, where more than one person is so recommended, such one of the persons so recommended as the Board thinks proper.

(4) The Board shall pay to the Local Appointments Commissioners out of the funds at its disposal under this Act such expenses in respect of the selection and recommendation by the said Commissioners under this section of persons to fill situations in the service of the Board as shall be fixed by agreement between the Board and the said Commissioners with the consent of the Minister for Finance or, in default of such agreement, by the Minister for Finance.

9. —The Board may exercise any of the powers and perform any of the functions and duties (other than the making of orders) conferred and imposed on the Board by this Act through or by any of its officers or servants authorised by the Board in that behalf.

10. —A member of the Board who has any interest in any company or concern with which the Board proposes to make any contract or any interest in such contract shall disclose to the Board the fact of such interest and the nature thereof, and such member shall take no part in any deliberation or decision of the Board relating to such contract, and such disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board.

11. —(1) Every person appointed to be a member of the Board shall within three months after his appointment absolutely sell and dispose of all shares in any electrical undertaking which he shall at the time of his appointment own or be interested in for his own benefit, and if any shares in any electrical undertaking shall come to or vest in a member of the Board by will or succession for his own benefit, he shall within three months after the same shall have so come to or vested in him, absolutely sell and dispose of the same or his interest therein.

(2) A member of the Board shall not, while he holds that office, purchase, take, or become interested in for his own benefit any shares in any electrical undertaking.

(3) Any member of the Board who shall retain, purchase, take, or become or remain interested in any shares in any electrical undertaking in contravention of this section shall be disqualified for and be deemed to have vacated his office as such member.

(4) In this section the expression “shares in any electrical undertaking” means and includes any stock, shares, debentures, debenture stock, bonds, or other securities of any company engaged in the generation, distribution, or supply of electricity or the manufacture of or wholesale or retail dealing in electrical apparatus and includes any share or interest in any unincorporated undertaking similarly engaged.

12. —(1) The Minister for Finance shall, subject to the limitations imposed by this section, advance out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof to the Board as and when requested so to do by the Board all such sums as the Board shall from time to time, but not later than the appointed day request the said Minister to advance to it.

(2) The total amount of the sums advanced to the Board under this section to meet the liability of the Board under this Act in respect of interest and arrears of interest on sums advanced out of the Central Fund under the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (No. 26 of 1925) to the separate fund established under section 11 of that Act and the expenses incurred by the Board in the operation, maintenance, and repair of the Shannon works under this Act shall not exceed such sum as with the said sums advanced whether before or after the passing of this Act to the said separate fund out of the Central Fund under section 11 of the Shannon Electricity Act 1925 (No. 26 of 1925) amounts to the sum of five millions, two hundred and ten thousand pounds, and, subject to that limitation shall not exceed the sum of six hundred thousand pounds, and the total amount of the sums so advanced in any one half-year to meet the said liability and expenses shall not exceed the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

(3) The total amount of the sums advanced to the Board under this section for any purpose other than to meet the liability and expenses mentioned in the foregoing sub-section shall not exceed the sum of two millions, five hundred thousand pounds, and the total amount of the sums so advanced in any one half-year except in the half-year ending on the appointed day for any purpose other than as aforesaid shall not exceed the sum of four hundred thousand pounds.

(4) The Minister for Finance may, for the purpose of providing for the advance of sums out of the Central Fund under this section, or for the repayment to that Fund of all or any part of the sums so advanced, or for paying off any securities issued under this section so far as such payment is not otherwise provided for, borrow money by means of the issue of such securities as he thinks proper, and all sums so borrowed shall be paid into the Exchequer.

(5) The principal of and interest on all securities issued under this section shall be charged on and payable out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(6) The sums to be advanced under this section shall be advanced by the Minister for Finance, and shall be expended by the Board solely for the purpose of the exercise and performance of the powers and functions conferred on the Board by this Act.

(7) In this section the expression “the appointed day” means the 31st day of December, 1932 or such later date as the Minister, after consultation with the Board, may by order made under this section appoint.

(8) The Minister may by order made with the consent of the Minister for Finance before the 31st day of December, 1932 appoint such date subsequent to the said 31st day of December, 1932 as with the consent aforesaid he thinks proper to be the appointed day.

Every order made under this sub-section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if either such House shall, within one month after the first day on which such House sits after such order is laid before it, pass a resolution annulling such order, such order shall be annulled accordingly without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

13. —(1) The Board shall pay to the Minister for Finance on every sum advanced to the Board out of the Central Fund under this Act interest from the date of the advance of such sum until the same is repaid at such rate as shall be appointed by the Minister for Finance at the time of the advance and such interest shall be so paid by equal half-yearly payments on such days in every year as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time appoint.

(2) If the Board fails to pay to the Minister for Finance any interest payable by it under this section at the time appointed in that behalf under this section, the Board shall pay to the said Minister interest at the rate appointed by the said Minister on the interest so unpaid from the time appointed as aforesaid until the same is actually paid.

(3) Any interest payable by the Board to the Minister for Finance under this section on or before the appointed day, may be paid by the Board out of the moneys advanced to the Board out of the Central Fund under this Act.

(4) All interest paid to the Minister for Finance by the Board under this section shall be paid into the Exchequer in such manner as the said Minister shall from time to time direct.

14. —(1) For the purpose of providing for the repayment by the Board of the advances made to it out of the Central Fund under this Act, the Board shall make to the Minister for Finance half-yearly payments commencing on such date, not being earlier than the 1st day of January, 1933 as the said Minister after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce shall appoint and continuing for such number of years and being of such amounts and payable at such times as the said Minister after such consultation as aforesaid shall appoint, and different such dates, numbers of years, amounts, and times may be so appointed in respect of different portions of such advances.

(2) The several half-yearly payments to be made to the Minister for Finance by the Board under this section shall be applied by the said Minister as sinking funds for the repayment of the several portions of the advances in respect of which such half-yearly payments are made and when the Board has paid to the said Minister the full number of the half-yearly payments appointed under this section in respect of any portion of such advances (together with any interest which may have become payable under this section in respect of any of such half-yearly payments) such portion of such advances shall be deemed to be fully repaid by the Board without prejudice to the liability of the Board for any interest then unpaid in respect of such portion of such advances.

(3) If the Board fails to pay to the Minister for Finance any half-yearly payment or portion of a half-yearly payment payable by it to the said Minister under this section at the time appointed in that behalf under this section, the Board shall pay to the said Minister interest at the rate appointed by the said Minister on such half-yearly payment or portion of a half-yearly payment from the time appointed as aforesaid until the same is actually paid.

(4) All moneys paid by the Board to the Minister for Finance under this section shall be paid into the Exchequer in such manner as the said Minister shall from time to time direct.

15. —(1) If the whole of the Shannon works are handed over to the Board by the Minister under this Act at the one time, the Board shall immediately upon such handing over become liable to the Minister for Finance for the repayment of the whole of the sums (in this section called “the said advances”) advanced whether before or after such handing over out of the Central Fund under the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (No. 26 of 1925) to the separate fund established for that purpose under section 11 of that Act together with all interest due and unpaid on the said advances or any part thereof.

(2) If different portions of the Shannon works are handed over to the Board by the Minister under this Act at different times, the Board shall immediately upon the handing over of any such portion of the Shannon works become liable to the Minister for Finance for the repayment of a proportionate part (to be fixed by the Minister for Finance after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce) of the said advances and of the interest then due and unpaid on the said advances or any part thereof.

(3) The Board shall pay to the Minister for Finance interest on the several portions of the said advances as from the respective dates on which the Board becomes liable under this section for the repayment thereof until such liability is discharged under this section or otherwise, and such interest shall be so paid at such rate as the said Minister shall appoint at the time when such interest commences to run and shall be so paid by equal half-yearly payments on such days in every year as the said Minister shall from time to time appoint.

(4) For the purpose of providing for the repayment by the Board of the said advances, the Board shall make to the Minister for Finance half-yearly payments commencing on such date, not being earlier than the 1st day of January, 1933 as the said Minister after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce shall appoint and continuing for such number of years and being of such amounts and payable at such times as the said Minister after such consultation as aforesaid shall appoint, and different such dates, numbers of years, amounts, and times may be so appointed in respect of different portions of the said advances.

(5) The several half-yearly payments to be made to the Minister for Finance by the Board under the foregoing sub-section shall be applied by the said Minister as sinking funds for the repayment of the said advances and when the Board has paid to the said Minister the full number of the half-yearly payments appointed under this section in respect of any portion of the said advances (together with any interest which may have become payable under this section in respect of any of such half-yearly payments) the liability of the Board for the repayment of such portion of the said advances shall be discharged but without prejudice to the liability of the Board for any interest then unpaid in respect of such portion of the said advances.

(6) All interest due on the said advances or any part thereof at the time when the Board becomes liable under this section for the repayment of the said advances or such part thereof shall be paid by the Board to the Minister for Finance within six months after the Board so becomes liable for such repayment and if the Board fails to pay any such interest within such six months the Board shall pay to the said Minister interest at the rate appointed by the said Minister on such interest so due from the expiration of such six months until the same is paid.

(7) If the Board fails to pay to the Minister for Finance any interest on the said advances or any part thereof or any half-yearly payment or portion of a half-yearly payment payable by it to the said Minister under this section at the time appointed in that behalf under this section, the Board shall pay to the said Minister interest at the rate appointed by the said Minister on the interest, half-yearly payment, or portion of a half-yearly payment (as the case may be) so unpaid from the time appointed as aforesaid until the same is paid.

(8) Any interest payable by the Board to the Minister for Finance under this section on or before the appointed day may be paid by the Board out of the moneys advanced to the Board out of the Central Fund under this Act.

(9) All moneys paid by the Board to the Minister for Finance under this section shall be paid into the Exchequer in such manner as the said Minister shall from time to time direct.

16. —(1) Every sum advanced to the Board out of the Central Fund under this Act and all interest and every half-yearly payment payable by the Board under this Act on or in respect of such sum and all interest payable by the Board under this Act on any such interest or half-yearly payment shall become and be—

(a) a first charge on the Shannon works or the different portions thereof immediately upon such works or the different portions thereof (as the case may be) being handed over to the Board by the Minister under this Act, and

(b) a first floating charge on all property of whatsoever nature or kind (other than the Shannon works) from time to time vested in or owned by the Board, but such floating charge shall not operate to prevent or restrict the alienation or other dealing by the Board of or with any of such property in the due and proper exercise of the powers or performance of the duties conferred or imposed on the Board by this or any future Act.

(2) Immediately upon the Board becoming liable under this Act for the repayment of the whole or a proportionate part (as the case may be) of the sums advanced out of the Central Fund under the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (No. 26 of 1925) to the separate fund established for that purpose under section 11 of that Act, such sums or such proportionate part (as the case may be) and all interest and every half-yearly payment payable on or in respect thereof by the Board under this Act and all interest payable by the Board under this Act on any such interest or half-yearly payment shall become and be—

(a) a charge (second only to the charge created by the foregoing sub-section) on the Shannon works or the different portions thereof immediately upon such works or the different portions thereof (as the case may be) being handed over to the Board by the Minister under this Act, and

(b) a floating charge (second only to the floating charge created by the foregoing sub-section) on all property of whatsoever nature or kind (other than the Shannon works) from time to time vested in or owned by the Board, but such floating charge shall not operate to prevent or restrict the alienation or other dealing by the Board of or with any of such property in the due and proper exercise of the powers or performance of the duties conferred or imposed on the Board by this or any future Act.

(3) The several charges (including floating charges) created by this section shall be vested in the Minister for Finance and may be enforced by that Minister in due form of law whenever he shall think proper so to do and whether any interest or half-yearly payment secured by such charge is or is not due and unpaid and all moneys recovered by virtue of any such charge shall be paid into the Exchequer in such manner as the said Minister shall direct.

17. —(1) When the Shannon works are completed and handed over to the Minister by the contractor engaged in the construction thereof the Minister shall, as soon as conveniently may be, by order under his seal hand such works over to the Board, and, in the event of any portion of the Shannon works being completed and handed over to the Minister by the said contractor, the Minister may if he so thinks fit at any time thereafter by order under his seal hand over to the Board such completed portion of the said works at any time before the completion of the whole of the said works.

(2) The handing over of the Shannon works or any part thereof by the Minister to the Board under this section shall be without prejudice to the rights of the Minister under his contract with the contractor engaged in the construction of the said works and nothing in this section relating to legal proceedings shall apply to any legal proceedings brought by the Minister to enforce such rights.

(3) Notwithstanding the handing over of the Shannon works or any part thereof to the Board under this section such works shall remain and be vested in law in the Minister but as from the date on which the Shannon works or any portion thereof are handed over to the Board under this section the Board shall, unless and until the Oireachtas otherwise directs, have the exclusive possession and control of such works or portion thereof (as the case may be) and the exclusive right to exercise powers and rights in relation thereto conferred on the Minister by the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (No. 26 of 1925) as amended by this Act, and the Board shall enjoy and exercise such possession and control under and in accordance with this Act and any amendment thereof hereafter made by the Oireachtas, and for the purpose of any legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in respect of any matter occurring during such possession and control (including proceedings by the Minister for Finance to enforce a charge created by this Act) the Board may sue or prosecute and be sued or prosecuted as the owner of the said works or of such portion thereof as shall then have been handed over to it under this section, and the property in such works or such portion thereof may be laid in the Board.

18. —(1) Whenever the Shannon works or any portion thereof are handed over to the Board by the Minister under this Act, the Minister may by the order effecting such handing over or by a subsequent order transfer to the Board all or any vehicles, tools, machinery, instruments, and other chattels (not being fixtures passing with the Shannon works or any portion thereof) acquired by him under or for the purposes of the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (No. 26 of 1925).

(2) All chattels transferred to the Board by an order under this section shall immediately upon such transfer become and be the property of the Board as fully as if the same had been purchased by the Board under this Act.

19. —It shall be the duty of the Board—

(a) to produce and generate electricity in the Shannon works so soon as such works or a sufficient portion thereof for the purpose are handed over to the Board by the Minister, and to transmit through the transmission system of the Shannon works and any extension of that system the electricity so generated, and

(b) to control, manage, and maintain in good repair and condition and proper and efficient working order each and every part or section of the Shannon works as from the respective dates on which such parts or sections are respectively handed over to the Board by the Minister, and

(c) to distribute, utilise and sell the electricity generated by the Board in the Shannon works and to promote and encourage the purchase and use of such electricity, and

(d) to control, co-ordinate, and improve the supply distribution, and sale of electricity generally in Saorstát Eireann and for the purposes of such control, co-ordination, and improvement to exercise and employ the powers conferred on the Board by this Act, and

(e) generally to perform and exercise all duties and powers which are imposed or conferred on the Board by this Act and all such other duties and powers as may hereafter be imposed or conferred on the Board by the Oireachtas.

20. —(1) The Board may, subject to and in accordance with the particular provisions of this Act, distribute and supply electricity (whether generated or purchased by it) in any part of Saorstát Eireann either in bulk or to individual consumers and shall for the purposes of such distribution and supply have and be subject to all the rights, powers, obligations, and duties conferred or imposed by this Act on an authorised undertaker but the Board shall not under this sub-section distribute or supply electricity in bulk or otherwise to any person or premises within the area of supply of an authorised undertaker save either with the consent of such authorised undertaker or under and in accordance with a particular power in that behalf conferred on the Board by this Act.

(2) The Board may by special order constitute itself to be the authorised undertaker for any particular area specified in that behalf in such order which at the date of such order is not included in and does not include the whole or any part of the area of supply of an authorised undertaker and every such special order—

(a) may be modified or revoked by the Board as and when it thinks fit,

(b) shall continue in force and operation during the period specified in that behalf therein or, if no such period is so specified, until revoked by the Board,

(c) shall operate to confer on the Board the exclusive right to supply electricity in the area to which the order relates and to confer and impose on the Board in or in relation to such area and the generation, distribution, and supply of electricity by the Board therein all the rights and powers and all the obligations and duties conferred or imposed by this Act on an authorised undertaker in or in relation to his area of supply, save that where any such power is only exercisable with the consent of the Board the exercise of such power by the Board shall be sufficient evidence of its consent to such exercise.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act the Board may construct, re-construct, maintain, and operate electric generating stations, transformer stations and other stations and places for transforming, storing, or otherwise dealing with electricity and extend or enlarge the transmission system of the Shannon works and construct, re-construct, maintain, and operate such other lines and works as the Board may think fit.

(4) For the purpose of the exercise or performance of any of the powers or functions conferred on the Board by this Act, the Board may enter on any lands or premises and there make such inquiries, investigations, and examinations as it thinks proper.

21. —(1) All charges made by the Board on or before the appointed day for electricity (whether derived from the Shannon works or otherwise) sold by it in bulk or direct to consumers and for goods sold or services rendered by it shall be fixed at such rates and on such scales as are in the opinion of the Board most conducive to the Board being from and after the said appointed day in a position to comply with the next following sub-section of this section.

(2) All charges made by the Board after the appointed day for electricity (whether derived from the Shannon works or otherwise) sold by it in bulk or direct to consumers and for goods sold and services rendered by it shall be fixed at such rates and on such scales that the revenue derived in any year by the Board from such sales and services together with its revenue (if any) in such year from other sources will be sufficient and only sufficient (as nearly as may be) to pay all salaries, working expenses, and other outgoings of the Board properly chargeable to income in that year (including the payments falling to be made in such year by the Board to the Minister for Finance in respect of interest and sinking fund payments on advances out of the Central Fund) and such sums as the Board may think proper to set aside in that year for reserve fund, extensions, renewals, depreciation, loans, and other like purposes.

(3) In this section the expression “the appointed day” has the same meaning as it has in section 12 (which relates to advances from the Central Fund to the Board) of this Act.

22. —The Board may out of the funds at its disposal make advances to any authorised undertaker, permitted undertaker or statutory undertaker for the purpose of his undertaking on such terms as the Board thinks proper and, where so required under any other section of this Act, shall make such advances on such terms as may be fixed in the manner provided in that behalf by such section, and any authorised undertaker, permitted undertaker or statutory undertaker, notwithstanding anything contained in the Act, order, memorandum of association or other document constituting such undertaker, may borrow from the Board.

23. —The Board may require any authorised undertaker to give to the Board and every such undertaker when so required shall give to the Board such information relating to his undertaking as the Board considers necessary and every authorised undertaker who on being so required fails or refuses to give to the Board such information as aforesaid shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

24. —(1) The Board may at any time hold or appoint any person to hold an investigation into the administration and financial position of the undertaking of any authorised undertaker, and the Board or the person so appointed as aforesaid (as the case may be) shall have power to summon witnesses to attend such investigation and to examine witnesses on oath and for that purpose to administer an oath to witnesses attending such investigation and to compel such witnesses to produce any documents in their power or control the production of which the Board or such person (as the case may be) considers necessary for the purposes of such investigation.

(2) Whenever an investigation is held under this section into the administration and financial position of the undertaking of an authorised undertaker such authorised undertaker shall be entitled to be heard and adduce evidence and, if he so desires, to be represented professionally at such investigation.

(3) Every person who on being duly summoned by the Board or by any such person as aforesaid to attend as a witness at any such investigation as aforesaid fails to attend such investigation, or being in attendance thereat as a witness refuses to take an oath or to give evidence or to produce any document in his power or control when required so to do shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

25. —The Board may require any person controlling or using electrical apparatus to give to the Board and every such person when so required shall give to the Board such information relating only to the nature, control, and use of such electrical apparatus (not including the nature or purpose of any experimental work for which such apparatus is used) as the Board thinks necessary, and every person who, on being so required, fails or refuses to give to the Board such information shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

26. —(1) The Board may from time to time employ such technical or other advisers as it thinks fit to advise it in regard to any matter or thing in connection with the exercise or performance by the Board of the powers, duties and functions conferred or imposed on it by or under this Act.

(2) There shall be paid out of the funds at the disposal of the Board under this Act to every person employed by the Board under this section such fees and such allowances as the Board shall determine.

27. —It shall be the duty of the Board to advise the Executive Council generally on all matters relating to the exploitation of water power and other natural resources of Saorstát Eireann for the generation of electricity and to make all such investigations and collect all such data relating to such water power and such natural resources as may be necessary for the purpose of the exploitation thereof for the generation of electricity and to advise the Minister on the location and extent of the transmission system to be constructed in pursuance of the provisions of the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (No. 26 of 1925) and on such other matters arising out of the exercise and performance by the Minister of the powers, functions and duties conferred and imposed on him by the said Act as the Minister may think fit to refer to the Board for their advice.

28. —(1) The Board may conduct such investigations, experiments, and trials as the Board thinks fit for the improvement of the methods of transmission, distribution, and supply of electricity or of the utilisation of fuel, water power, or other means of generating electricity and may establish and maintain a testing laboratory for the testing and standardisation of electrical instruments.

(2) The Board may take such measures as, in the opinion of the Board, are calculated to advance the exploitation of water power in Saorstát Eireann and may organise and carry out national power and hydrometric survey work and make or arrange for the making of such maps, plans, sections, and estimates as are necessary for any of the purposes aforesaid.

(3) The Board may enter on any lands or premises for the purpose of doing thereon or on any other lands or premises all or any of the things which the Board is by this section authorised to do or making thereon or on any other lands or premises any inquiry, investigation, or examination preliminary or incidental to the doing of any such thing.

29. —The Board may, for the purpose of promoting and extending the uses of electricity for domestic, industrial, agricultural, and other purposes, open or arrange for the opening of showrooms for the exhibition and display of electrical apparatus and appliances and may organise and conduct or arrange for the organisation and conduct throughout Saorstát Eireann of demonstrations, exhibitions, and instruction relating to the uses of electricity for the purposes aforesaid.

30. —The Board may contract with any Minister who is head of a Department of State established by the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924 (No. 16 of 1924) or with any statutory body under the control of any such Minister and such Minister or statutory body may with the consent of the Minister for Finance contract with the Board for the rendering of services and supply of materials to the Board in respect of the exercise and performance by the Board of the rights and duties conferred and imposed on it by this Act, and upon any such contract being made such Minister or statutory body and his or their officers and servants shall render services and supply materials to the Board in accordance with such contract.

31. —(1) The Board may hold or cause to be held such inquiries as the Board considers necessary for the purposes of this Act, and the Board, and, if authorised in that behalf by the Board, the person appointed by the Board to hold any such inquiry shall have power to take evidence on oath and for that purpose to administer oaths, and may also by order require any person, subject to the payment or tender of the reasonable expenses of his attendance, to attend as a witness and give evidence or to produce documents at such inquiry, and if any person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any of the provisions of such order he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(2) Notice of any inquiry to be held for the purposes of this Act may be given and published in accordance with such general or special directions as the Board may give.

32. —(1) The Board shall in each year, at such date and in such form as the Minister may prescribe, make to the Minister a report of its proceedings under this Act during the preceding year.

(2) The Board shall furnish to the Minister at such times and in such form and manner as the Minister may direct such statistics and returns as the Minister may require.

(3) The Minister shall lay as soon as may be before each House of the Oireachtas a copy of every report made to him by the Board under this section together with a copy of the last capital account, revenue account, profit and loss account, and balance sheet of the Board and a copy of the auditors' report on such accounts and balance sheet and shall with every such report by the Board lay before each House of the Oireachtas copies of such statistics, returns, and accounts furnished to him by the Board under this Act as may be necessary for the proper understanding of such report.

33. —The Board may by order make such general regulations as may be required for carrying this Act into effect and in particular may, subject to the provisions of this Act, make such regulations as it thinks proper relating to all or any of the following matters or things, that is to say:—

(a) the making of special orders by the Board and applications to the Board for such orders,

(b) the making of orders (not being special orders) by the Board,

(c) the granting by the Board of permits to generate, distribute, and supply or to distribute and supply electricity,

(d) the fees to be paid in respect of the making by the Board of special orders authorising and in respect of the granting by the Board of permits empowering the generation, distribution and supply or the distribution and supply of electricity,

(e) the procedure in relation to the acquisition of authorised undertakings by the Board,

(f) the advancing of moneys to undertakers and the repayment of such moneys,

(g) the procedure in relation to the taking and relinquishing of control by the Board of authorised undertakings and the direction and management of such undertakings while controlled by the Board,

(h) the procedure to be followed by authorised undertakers in the inviting, considering and accepting of tenders for works and supplies,

(i) the erection and maintenance of aerials for receiving messages or other communications by wireless telegraphy with a view to prohibiting by such regulations the erection and maintenance of such aerials in any place or position in which in the opinion of the Board the erection or maintenance thereof constitutes by reason of proximity to a line for the transmission or distribution of electricity a danger to the users of such aerials or to the public or which in the opinion of the Board is an obstruction to the development of electrical distribution (including penalties for the breach of such regulations and the recovery thereof by summary proceedings),

(j) the protection and safety of the Shannon works and of all or any transmission or distribution systems (including the imposition of penalties for the breach of such regulations and the recovery of such penalties by summary proceedings),

(k) the protection of the public safety (including the imposition of penalties for the breach of such regulations and the recovery of such penalties by summary proceedings), and

(l) the procedure of the Board generally.

34. —(1) The Board may by order make regulations (including regulations imposing penalties) in lieu of or in addition to the provisions heretofore contained in the Electric Lighting Clauses Act, 1899, as amended by the Electric Lighting Act, 1909, or by any other Act and all regulations so made shall be deemed to be incorporated in every Special Act or Order passed or made before the passing of this Act in substitution for any provisions on the same matters contained or incorporated in such Special Act or Order whether such provisions are or are not the provisions of the Electric Lighting Clauses Act, 1899, as amended as aforesaid.

(2) All regulations made by the Board under this section shall be incorporated with and form part of every special order made by the Board constituting the Board or any other person to be an authorised undertaker save in so far as such regulations are expressly excepted or varied by such special order, and shall, subject to such variations or exceptions (if any), apply so far as applicable to the undertaking authorised by such special order.

(3) Where the provisions of the Electric Lighting Clauses Act, 1899, as amended as aforesaid have before the passing of this Act been incorporated with any Electric Lighting Order made under any Act the several provisions of the said Electric Lighting Clauses Act, 1899, as so amended shall in so far as not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act remain in force until such time as such provisions are respectively replaced by regulations made by the Board under this section.

(4) Whenever any regulation proposed to be made by the Board under this section contains any provision imposing any restriction on any local authority or requiring or authorising any interference with the functions or duties of any local authority such regulation shall not be made until after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health and the service of such notices (if any) and the holding of such inquiries (if any) as the said Minister may require to be served or held.

(5) Whenever any regulation proposed to be made by the Board under this section contains any provision relating to any gas undertaking, railway, canal, inland navigation, dock, or harbour such regulation shall not be made until after consultation with the Minister and the service of such notices (if any) and the holding of such inquiries (if any) as the Minister may require to be served and held.

(6) Whenever any regulation proposed to be made by the Board under this section contains any provision relating to or affecting any lands, premises, works, or materials or other property of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs such regulation shall not be made until after consultation with the said Minister.

(7) All rules and regulations made under any Act repealed by this Act shall, so far as they are in force at the date of the passing of this Act, remain in force unless and until such rules or regulations are replaced by regulations (relating to the same subject matter as the subject matter of the rules or regulations aforesaid) made by the Board under this section.

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