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31 1940

MINERALS DEVELOPMENT ACT, 1940

PART V.

The Mining Board.

Establishment of the Mining Board.

33. —(1) There shall be established a board to be known as the Mining Board (in this Act referred to as the Board) consisting of a chairman and two ordinary members to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The chairman of the Board shall be a practising barrister of at least ten years standing or a practising solicitor of like standing and one of the ordinary members shall be a person who is a member of the panel of official arbitrators appointed under the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, as amended by the Acquisition of Land (Reference Committee) Act, 1925 (No. 22 of 1925), and the other ordinary member shall be an officer of the Minister.

(3) Every member of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister for such period as he thinks fit and may be removed from office by the Minister and may resign his office at any time.

(4) There may be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas to any member of the Board such fees or other remuneration and such expenses as the Minister for Finance may determine.

(5) If any member of the Board is for any reason temporarily unable to attend the sittings of the Board the Minister may appoint another person to act temporarily during such inability of such member as a member of the Board, but no person shall be appointed to act as a member of the Board under this sub-section unless he possesses the qualifications required by sub-section (2) of this section to be possessed by the member of the Board in the place of whom such person is so temporarily appointed.

Regulations for proceedings before Board.

34. —The Minister may by order make regulations in relation to all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) the times and places of the sittings of the Board;

(b) the persons to whom and the times and manner in which notice of the sittings of the Board shall be given;

(c) the admission or exclusion of the public to or from sittings of the Board;

(d) such other matters in relation to the practice and procedure of the Board as the Minister may consider necessary or expedient for the proper conduct of the business of the Board.

Powers of Board.

35. —(1) The Board shall have all such powers, rights, and privileges for enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath (which any member of the Board is hereby authorised to administer) or otherwise and for compelling the production of documents as are vested in the High Court or a judge thereof in respect of the trial of an action, and a summons signed by any one or more members of the Board shall be equivalent to and have the like effect as a formal process issued by the High Court for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or compelling the production of documents, as the case may be.

(2) If any person—

(a) on being duly summoned as a witness before the Board makes default in attending, or

(b) being in attendance as a witness refuses to take an oath legally required by the Board to be taken, or to produce any document in his power or control legally required by the Board to be produced by him, or to answer any question to which the Board may legally require an answer, or

(c) does any thing which would, if the Board were a Court of Justice having power to commit for contempt of Court, be contempt of such Court,

the Board may certify the offence of that person under their hands to the High Court and that Court may, after such inquiry as it thinks proper to make, punish or take steps for the punishment of that person in like manner as if he had been guilty of contempt of the said Court.

(3) A witness before the Board shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.

Entry on land by the Board or officers thereof.

36. —(1) Any member of the Board and any person authorised in that behalf by the Board may for any purpose connected with the performance of the functions imposed by this Act on the Board enter on any land and make such investigation thereon as the Board may consider necessary for the purpose aforesaid.

(2) If any person obstructs or impedes any member of the Board or any person authorised by the Board in the exercise of the powers conferred on such member or person by this section, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Staff of the Board.

37. —(1) The Minister shall appoint a secretary of the Board and may, subject to the consent of the Minister for Finance as to the number, appoint such other officers and servants of the Board as he may consider necessary for assisting the Board in the performance of its functions.

(2) The secretary and other officers and the servants of the Board shall hold office upon such terms and be remunerated at such rates and in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall sanction.