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43 1937

SEANAD ELECTORAL (PANEL MEMBERS) ACT, 1937

PART II.

Register of Nominating Bodies.

The register of nominating bodies.

9. —(1) A register (in this Act referred to as the register of nominating bodies) of bodies (in this Act referred to as nominating bodies) entitled to nominate persons to the panels of candidates for the purposes of every Seanad election shall be set up and maintained in accordance with this Act.

(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to the register of nominating bodies, that is to say:—

(a) the said register shall be in such form as the Seanad returning officer shall, with the approval of the Minister, think proper;

(b) no body shall be eligible to be registered in the register in respect of any particular panel (other than the administrative panel) unless its objects and activities relate to or are connected with or it is representative of persons engaged in one or more of the interests and services mentioned in sub-section 1° of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution in respect of that particular panel;

(c) no body which is formed or carried on wholly or substantially for profit or which carries on, as its sole or principal function, any trade or business for profit shall be eligible for registration in the said register;

(d) no body which is composed wholly or mainly of persons who are in the employment of the State or of persons who are in the employment of local authorities and the objects of which include the advancement or protection of the interests of such persons in relation to their said employment shall be eligible for registration in the said register;

(e) every body which is registered in the said register shall be so registered in respect of one, and only one, panel;

(f) except as otherwise provided by this sub-section, no body shall be registered in the said register save in pursuance of an application in that behalf made by such body in accordance with this Act;

(g) the following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to the administrative panel, that is to say:—

(i) the Irish County Councils General Council and the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland shall be registered in the said register in respect of the said panel without any application in that behalf under this Act, and

(ii) no other body shall be registered in the said register in respect of the said panel unless its objects and activities consist, wholly or substantially, of voluntary social services of a charitable or eleemosynary character;

(h) the number of nominating bodies registered in the said register in respect of any particular panel shall be so limited that the full number of persons which may be nominated to such panel by nominating bodies shall not exceed thirty.

(3) Each of the following bodies, and no other body, shall be a local authority for the purposes of this section, that is to say:—

(a) the council of a county, a county or other borough, or an urban district, the commissioners of a town, a municipal corporation and a board of guardians, and

(b) a person who is established by or in pursuance of any statute to perform any of the functions of any of the bodies mentioned in the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section, and

(c) a committee or joint committee of or appointed by any one or more of the bodies mentioned in either of the preceding paragraphs of this sub-section.

Applications for registration in the register.

10. —(1) Any body which desires to be registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of any particular panel and claims to be eligible for registration in that register in respect of that panel may apply for that purpose to the Seanad returning officer in accordance with this section.

(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to applications for registration in the register of nominating bodies at the preparation of that register in the year 1938, that is to say:—

(a) every such application shall be made in writing on an application paper in the prescribed form provided by the Seanad returning officer;

(b) the Seanad returning officer shall furnish free of charge on request to any body which proposes to apply for registration in the said register an application paper for that purpose;

(c) every such application shall be delivered or sent by post to the Seanad returning officer at his office on or before the 24th day of January, 1938, and no such application which is received at the said office after the said date shall be entertained or considered by the Seanad returning officer;

(d) every such application shall state the panel in respect of which the applicant desires to be registered in the said register and the grounds on which the applicant claims to be eligible to be so registered;

(e) every such application shall also state all such things in relation to the applicant as are indicated in that behalf in the prescribed form of application paper

Publication of notice of the preparation of the register.

11. —As soon as practicable after the commencement of this Act, the Seanad returning officer shall publish in every morning daily newspaper published in the State and in such other (if any) daily newspapers as he shall, with the sanction of the Minister, think proper a notice in the prescribed form giving public notice that the register of nominating bodies is being prepared, and giving such information and instructions in relation to applications for such registration as the Minister shall think proper.

Preparation of the register.

12. —(1) As soon as practicable after the 24th day of January, 1938, and in any event not later than the 5th day of February, 1938, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare the register of nominating bodies and for that purpose—

(a) shall examine all applications for registration in the said register duly received by him, and

(b) shall disallow all such applications as appear to him to be irregular in form and all applications in respect of which he is of opinion that the applicant is not eligible for registration in the said register either at all or in respect of the panel to which the application relates, and

(c) may disallow any applications which he is authorised by the subsequent provisions of this section to disallow, and

(d) shall allow and register in the said register all such applications as he does not disallow in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this sub-section.

(2) The Seanad returning officer may require from any applicant for registration in the register of nominating bodies all such information relevant to the registration of such applicant as he shall reasonably require for the determination by him of the allowance or disallowance of the application of such applicant, and the Seanad returning officer may disallow the application of any applicant which fails or refuses to give any information required of it under this section.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Seanad returning officer to disallow an application for registration in the register of nominating bodies made by—

(a) any body which is a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to a body which is already registered in the said register or whose application for such registration he has allowed, or

(b) any body which appears to him to be representative of interests and services the representation of which is adequately provided for by a body or bodies already registered in the said register or whose application for such registration he has allowed.

(4) The Seanad returning officer may, at his absolute discretion, allow an application for registration in the register of nominating bodies to be amended by the applicant at any time or in any respect.

(5) The three next preceding sub-sections of this section shall apply and have effect in relation to every annual revision of the register of nominating bodies as well as the first preparation of that register.

(6) Not later than the 5th day of February, 1938, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to every body which applied for registration in the register of nominating bodies (whether its application has been allowed or disallowed) a copy of the said register as prepared by the Seanad returning officer under this section.

(7) Whenever the Seanad returning officer has disallowed an application for registration in the register of nominating bodies he shall, on the request of the body which made such application, furnish to such body a statement of his reasons for such disallowance.

(8) The allowance or disallowance by the Seanad returning officer of any application for registration in the register of nominating bodies shall be final and conclusive, subject only to such appeal as is provided for by this Act.

Election of the appeal committee.

13. —(1) As soon as practicable after the commencement of this Act and in any event not later than the fifth day on which Dáil Eireann shall have sat after such commencement, Dáil Eireann shall elect a committee (in this Act referred to as the appeal committee) consisting of fifteen members of Dáil Eireann.

(2) The appeal committee shall be elected by the votes of the members of Dáil Eireann (or of such of them as may think proper to vote) voting on the principles of proportional representation.

(3) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, Dáil Eireann shall regulate the procedure for the election of the appeal committee.

(4) The quorum for a meeting of the appeal committee shall be nine members personally present.

(5) Subject to the express provisions of this Act, the appeal committee shall regulate its own procedure.

Appeals to the appeal committee.

14. —(1) Any applicant for registration in the register of nominating bodies whose application for such registration has been disallowed by the Seanad returning officer may appeal in accordance with this section to the appeal committee against such disallowance.

(2) Any applicant for registration in the register of nominating bodies in respect of any particular panel (whether its application for such registration has been allowed or has been disallowed by the Seanad returning officer) may appeal in accordance with this section to the appeal committee against the allowance by the Seanad returning officer of the application of any other applicant for such registration in respect of the same panel.

(3) Every appeal under this section to the appeal committee shall be made in writing and shall state the grounds on which the appeal is made and shall be delivered or sent by post to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann on or before the 11th day of February, 1938, and no such appeal which is received by the Clerk of Dáil Eireann after the said date shall be entertained or considered by the appeal committee.

(4) Every appeal under this section shall be open to inspection at all convenient times by the Seanad returning officer.

Decision of appeals by the appeal committee.

15. —(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the 11th day of February, 1938, and not later than four days before the time for the expiration of general panel nominations at the first Seanad election the appeal committee shall consider every appeal duly made to it under this Act and shall, in respect of each such appeal, either reverse the decision of the Seanad returning officer which is the subject of the appeal or disallow the appeal.

(2) No decision of the Seanad returning officer shall be reversed by the appeal committee unless at least nine members of that committee vote in favour of such reversal.

(3) If an appeal to the appeal committee is not decided on or before the fourth day before the expiration of the time for general panel nominations at the first Seanad election, such appeal shall be deemed to have been disallowed by the appeal committee, and the decision of the Seanad returning officer which was the subject of such appeal shall have effect accordingly.

(4) The Seanad returning officer shall give to the appeal committee such information and assistance as that committee shall reasonably require of him.

(5) The Seanad returning officer shall be entitled, if he so desires, to be heard by the appeal committee in respect of every appeal considered by that committee in pursuance of this section.

(6) The decision of the appeal committee on any appeal to that committee under this Act shall be final and conclusive.

Completion and publication of the register.

16. —(1) If no appeal is duly made to the appeal committee, the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall, on the 12th day of February, 1938, inform the Seanad returning officer of that fact and the Seanad returning officer shall thereupon sign and publish in the Iris Oifigiúil the register of nominating bodies prepared by him under the foregoing provisions of this Act.

(2) If any appeal is duly made to the appeal committee, that committee shall communicate to the Seanad returning officer their decision (if any) on every such appeal and the Seanad returning officer shall thereupon make such (if any) amendment in the register of nominating bodies prepared by him under the foregoing provisions of this Act as may be necessary to give effect to such decision and, when all such appeals have been decided or deemed to have been disallowed and the decisions (if any) thereon have been communicated to and dealt with by the Seanad returning officer, the Seanad returning officer shall on or before the third day before the expiration of the time for general panel nominations at the first Seanad election, sign the register of nominating bodies as so prepared and amended (if at all) by him as aforesaid and shall publish the same in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as conveniently may be.

(3) The register of nominating bodies as published in the Iris Oifigiúil in pursuance of this section shall be final and conclusive and shall not be open to review by any court and shall be in force for the first and every subsequent Seanad election, subject only to such annual revision as is provided for by this Act.

Annual revision of register of nominating bodies.

17. —(1) The Seanad returning officer shall, on or after the 1st, but not later than the 15th day of January in the year 1939 and every subsequent year, publish in every morning daily newspaper published in the State and in such other (if any) daily newspapers as the said officer shall, with the sanction of the Minister, think proper a notice in the prescribed form giving public notice that, on the 15th day of February next following or, if that day is a Sunday, the 16th day of February next following, the Seanad returning officer will proceed to revise the register of nominating bodies, and giving such information and instructions in relation to applications for insertion, deletion, or amendment of entries in that register as the Minister shall think proper.

(2) Any body not registered in the register of nominating bodies, which desires to be registered in that register and claims to be eligible for such registration, and any body registered in the said register which desires to be removed therefrom or desires that the entry in respect of it in such register should be amended in any way, may apply to the Seanad returning officer in writing during the period beginning on the 15th day of January and ending on the 15th day of February in the year 1939 or any subsequent year, for such registration, deletion, or amendment, as the case may be.

(3) On the 15th day of February or, if that day is a Sunday, on the 16th day of February in the year 1939 and every subsequent year the Seanad returning officer shall revise (in this Act referred to as an annual revision) the register of nominating bodies by—

(a) allowing and registering in the said register all bodies which have duly applied under this section for such registration at such annual revision and whose applications he does not disallow, and

(b) deleting from the said register the registration of every body which appears to him to have ceased to exist or to have ceased to be eligible for such registration or the deletion of which from the said register appears to him to be necessary and proper in consequence of or to permit the allowance of the application of another body for such registration, and

(c) making all such amendments in the said register as appear to him, by virtue of applications under this section or otherwise, to be requisite or proper.

(4) The Seanad returning officer may make such inquiries as he shall think proper for the purpose of any annual revision of the register of nominating bodies and may, at any annual revision, make all such deletions from and amendments of the register of nominating bodies which appear to him, in consequence of such inquiries, to be requisite or proper, but the Seanad returning officer shall not make any such deletion or amendment without giving notice thereof to the body affected thereby or without giving such body a reasonable opportunity of making representations in regard thereto.

(5) Every allowance or disallowance by the Seanad returning officer of any application under this section for registration in, deletion from, or amendment of the register of nominating bodies, and every deletion from or amendment of the said register made by the Seanad returning officer at an annual revision otherwise than on an application under this section, shall be final and conclusive, subject only to such appeal as is provided for by this Act.

Appeals to the annual revision appeal committee.

18. —(1) Not later than the 1st day of March in the year 1939 and every subsequent year, the Seanad returning officer shall—

(a) inform every body which applied for registration in, deletion from, or amendment of the register of nominating bodies at the annual revision in that year whether he allowed or disallowed such application and, in the case of disallowance, his reasons therefor, and

(b) communicate to every body affected by a deletion from or amendment of the register of nominating bodies made by him at the annual revision in that year otherwise than on an application by such body the particulars of such deletion or amendment and his reasons therefor.

(2) Any of the following persons may appeal to the annual revision appeal committee against such of the decisions of the Seanad returning officer as are hereinafter specified, that is to say:—

(a) in the case of a disallowance of an application, the body by which such application was made,

(b) in the case of an allowance of an application for registration, any nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies, and any body which applied at such annual revision for registration in the said register, whether such application was allowed or disallowed,

(c) in the case of a deletion from or amendment of the said register made by the Seanad returning officer otherwise than on an application under this Act, the body affected by such deletion or amendment.

(3) Every appeal under this section to an annual revision appeal committee shall be made in writing and shall state the grounds on which the appeal is made and shall be delivered or sent by post to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann on or before the 15th day of March in the year in which the decision appealed against was given.

(4) Every appeal under this section shall be open to inspection at all convenient times by the Seanad returning officer.

Completion of annual revision.

19. —(1) If in any year an appeal to the annual revision appeal committee is received by the Clerk of Dáil Eireann within the time limited in that behalf by this Act, Dáil Eireann shall, as soon as conveniently may be, elect a committee (in this Act referred to as an annual revision appeal committee) consisting of fifteen members of Dáil Eireann.

(2) The provisions of this Act in relation to the election, quorum and procedure of, the hearing of appeals by, and the decisions of the appeal committee shall apply to the election, quorum and procedure of, the hearing of appeals by, and the decisions of every annual revision appeal committee so far as such provisions are not inconsistent with the express provisions of this Act in relation to annual revision appeal committees.

(3) Not later than the 20th day of March in the year 1939 and in every subsequent year the Seanad returning officer shall revise the register of nominating bodies in such manner as may be requisite to give effect to all decisions given by him at the annual revision in that year against which no appeal to the annual revision committee has been made within the time limited in that behalf by this Act, and every revision so made shall come into force on the 21st day of March of the year in which it is made.

(4) The Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall communicate to the Seanad returning officer every decision by an annual revision committee on an appeal under this Act to such committee, and the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith make such (if any) revision of the register of nominating bodies as is necessary to give effect to such decision, and every such revision shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

(5) As soon as any annual revision of the register of nominating bodies has been completed in accordance with this Part of this Act, the Seanad returning officer shall sign and publish in the Iris Oifigiúil the said register as revised at such annual revision and the said register as so published shall be conclusive evidence of the alterations made in the said register at such annual revision.

Payment of fee on appeal.

20. —(1) Every body which appeals to the appeal committee or to an annual revision appeal committee shall pay to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann a fee of twenty pounds, and the payment of such fee before the expiration of the time limited by this Act for sending or delivering such appeal to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall be a condition precedent to the entertainment of such appeal by the appeal committee or the annual revision appeal committee, as the case may be.

(2) Every fee paid to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann in pursuance of this section shall be retained by him until the appeal in respect of which such fee was paid has been decided by the appeal committee or annual revision appeal·committee (as the case may be) and—

(a) if such committee reverses the decision of the Seanad returning officer which is the subject of such appeal or if, in the case of an appeal to the appeal committee, such committee fails to decide the appeal within the time limited in that behalf by this Act, the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall forthwith repay such fee to the appellant by whom it was paid to him, and

(b) in every other case, the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall pay such fee into, or dispose of it for the benefit of, the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

(3) The Public Offices (Fees) Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of fees payable under this section.