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17 1953

GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY ACT, 1953

SECOND SCHEDULE.

The Great Northern Railway Board.

Section 6.

Incorporation.

1. The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.

Membership.

2. The Board shall consist of ten members.

Appointment.

3. (1) Five members shall be appointed by the Minister and five by the Minister of Commerce.

(2) Each member, unless appointed to fill a casual vacancy, shall be appointed for a period not exceeding six years.

(3) If a casual vacancy occurs amongst the members, the Minister who appointed the outgoing member shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

(4) An outgoing member may be re-appointed.

Terms and conditions of service.

4. Each member shall hold office on such terms and conditions (including the payment by the Board of remuneration and allowances for expenses) as are determined at the time of his appointment by the Minister and the Minister of Commerce jointly.

Chairman and vice-chairman.

5. (1) The Minister and the Minister of Commerce shall each designate one of the members appointed by him to be a senior member.

(2) The first chairman of the Board shall be such senior member as the members may elect. In the event of a tie he shall be chosen by lot.

(3) The first chairman shall hold office for one year.

(4) At the end of that year, the other senior member shall be chairman for a period of one year and thereafter the office shall be held in rotation for one year by the senior members.

(5) The other senior member shall be vice-chairman of the Board.

(6) If a person ceases to be a member during his term of office as chairman or vice-chairman, the member designated as senior member in his place shall hold that office for the remainder of the term.

(7) The chairman and vice-chairman shall receive equal remuneration.

Resignation.

6. A member may resign by notice in writing under his hand given to the Minister by whom he was appointed.

Disqualification and removal from office.

7. (1) A person shall be disqualified for being and shall cease to be a member of the Board if he is entitled to sit in either House of the Oireachtas or of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

(2) Where a member is absent from meetings of the Board for more than six months consecutively, except for a reason considered to be sufficient by the Minister by whom he was appointed, or becomes disqualified for being a member or becomes bankrupt or makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors, the said Minister shall declare the office vacant and shall notify the fact in such manner as he thinks fit, and thereupon the office shall become vacant.

(3) A member may be removed from office by the Minister by whom he was appointed for misconduct or incapacity or if the said Minister considers his removal necessary in the public interest, and that Minister shall lay before each House of the legislature of which that Minister is a member a statement of the reasons for such removal.

Financial interests.

8. (1) It shall be a condition of service of a member that he shall have no such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially the discharge by him of his functions as a member and any person who is, or whom the Minister proposes to appoint to be, a member shall, on request, furnish to the Minister such information as the Minister requires to satisfy himself that this condition is being complied with.

(2) Membership of Córas Iompair Éireann or the Ulster Transport Authority or service with either body shall not be a breach of this condition.

Disclosure of interest in contract.

9. A member who has any interest in any company or concern (other than Córas Iompair Éireann or the Ulster Transport Authority) with which the Board proposes to make a contract or any interest in the contract shall disclose to the Board the fact and nature of his interest and shall take no part in any deliberation or decision of the Board relating to the contract; and the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board.

Chairman of the meeting.

10. (1) At a meeting of the Board the chairman shall, if present, be chairman of the meeting.

(2) In the absence of the chairman, or if the office is vacant, the vice-chairman shall be chairman of the meeting.

(3) If both are absent or if both offices are vacant, the members present shall elect one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

Procedure at meeting.

11. (1) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be four or such greater number as the Board may from time to time determine.

(2) Save where, in relation to the Dundalk Works vested in the Board or the apportionment of profits and losses of the Board, the Minister and the Minister of Commerce otherwise jointly direct, every question at a meeting shall be decided by the votes of the majority of those present and voting, and, in case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

(3) Subject to subparagraph (1), the Board may act notwithstanding vacancies in its membership.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the Board may regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, its procedure and business.

Offices.

12. The Board shall have a principal office in Dublin and a principal office in Belfast.

Meetings.

13. Approximately half of the meetings of the Board in any year shall be held at each principal office.

Power to sue.

14. The Board may sue and be sued in its own name.

Common seal

15. (1) The common seal of the Board shall, when applied to a document, be attested by the signature of one member appointed by the Minister and one member appointed by the Minister of Commerce, and by the signature of the secretary of the Board or an officer of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

(2) Judicial notice shall be taken of the common seal of the Board and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with the common seal of the Board and to be attested in accordance with this paragraph shall, unless the contrary is shown, be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof.

Contracts and instruments not under seal.

16. Any contract or instrument which, if entered into or executed by an individual, would not require to be under seal may be entered into or executed on behalf of the Board by any person generally or specially authorised by the Board for that purpose.

Exercise of functions through officers and servants.

17. The Board may exercise any of its functions through or by any of its officers or servants authorised by the Board in that behalf.