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7 1965

MINES AND QUARRIES ACT, 1965

PART I

Preliminary and General

Short title.

1. —This Act may be cited as the Mines and Quarries Act, 1965.

Commencement.

2. —This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as shall be fixed therefor by order or orders of the Minister either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

Meaning of “mine” and “quarry”.

3. —(1) In this Act “mine” means an excavation or system of excavations made for the purpose of, or in connection with, the getting, wholly or substantially by means involving the employment of persons below ground, of minerals (whether in their natural state or in solution or suspension) or products of minerals.

(2) In this Act “quarry” means an excavation or system of excavations made for the purpose of, or in connection with, the getting of minerals (whether in their natural state or in solution or suspension) or products of minerals, being neither a mine nor merely a well or bore-hole or a well and bore-hole combined.

(3) “Mine” and “quarry” include, respectively, any place on the surface surrounding or adjacent to the shafts of the mine or to the quarry occupied together with the mine or quarry for the storage or removal of the minerals or for the purposes of a process ancillary to the getting of minerals, including the breaking, crushing, grinding, screening, washing or dressing of such minerals but, subject thereto, does not include any place at which any manufacturing process is carried on.

(4) For the purposes of this Act, any place occupied by the owner of a mine or quarry and used for depositing refuse from it shall form part of the mine or quarry, but any place so used in connection with two or more mines or quarries, and occupied by the owner of one of them, or by the owners of any two or more in common, shall be deemed to form part of such one of those mines or quarries as the Minister may direct.

(5) For the purposes of this Act any line or siding (not being part of a railway) serving a mine or quarry shall form part of the mine or quarry, but, if serving two or more of them, shall be deemed to form part of such one of them as the Minister may direct.

(6) For the purposes of this Act a conveyor or aerial ropeway provided for the removal from a mine or quarry of minerals or refuse shall form part of the mine or quarry.

Meaning of “owner”.

4. —(1) In this Act “owner” means, in relation to a mine or quarry, the person for the time being entitled to work it.

(2) Where the working of a quarry is wholly carried out by a contractor on behalf of the person entitled to work it, the contractor shall, to the exclusion of that person, be taken for the purposes of this Act to be the owner of the quarry.

(3) Where two or more persons are entitled to work a quarry independently, that one of those persons who is the licensor of the others shall, to the exclusion of the others, be taken for the purposes of this Act to be the owner of the quarry.

(4) Where the business of a person who, by virtue of the foregoing provisions, is to be taken to be owner of a mine or quarry is carried on by a liquidator, receiver or manager, or by some other person authorised to carry it on by order of court, the liquidator, receiver, manager or other person shall be taken for the purposes of this Act to be an additional owner of the mine or quarry.

Interpretation generally.

5. —(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

bodily injury” includes injury to health;

child” means a person who is under the school-leaving age;

contravention” includes, in relation to—

(a) a provision of this Act, of an order made thereunder or of regulations, or

(b) a direction, prohibition, restriction or requirement given or imposed by a notice served under or by virtue of this Act by an inspector, or

(c) a condition attached to an exemption, consent, approval or authority granted or given under or by virtue of this Act by the Minister or an inspector,

a failure to comply with the provision, direction, prohibition, restriction, requirement or condition, and “contravene” shall be construed accordingly;

gas” includes fume or vapour;

general regulations” means regulations other than those applicable to a particular mine or quarry only;

gravity operated rope haulage apparatus” means rope haulage apparatus worked solely by the action of gravity on a vehicle or vehicles attached to a rope forming part of the apparatus;

gravity operated winding apparatus” means winding apparatus worked solely by the action of gravity on a part of it in which a load is carried;

inspector” means an inspector appointed under this Act;

legal proceedings” includes arbitration;

mechanically operated rope haulage apparatus” means rope haulage apparatus worked by a stationary engine;

mechanically operated winding apparatus” means winding apparatus worked by a stationary engine;

minerals” includes stone, slate, clay, gravel, sand and other natural deposits except peat;

the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

notice” means a notice in writing;

parent” means, in relation to a child or young person, the individual having the legal custody of the child or young person and where, owing to the absence of that individual or for any other reason, the child or young person is not living with or in the actual custody of that individual, includes the individual with whom the child or young person is living or in whose actual custody the child or young person is;

period of employment” means the period (inclusive of the time allowed for meals and rest) within which a person may be employed on any day;

permitted lights” means, in relation to a mine or a part of a mine, locked safety-lamps and any other means of lighting the use of which below ground in mines generally, in mines of a class to which that mine belongs or in that mine is authorised by regulations;

prescribed” means prescribed by regulations;

railway” means any railway used for the purposes of public traffic whether passenger, goods or other traffic and includes any works of the body corporate managing and controlling the railway which are connected with the railway;

regulations” means regulations made by the Minister;

responsible person” means, in relation to a mine, the manager and, in relation to a quarry, the owner;

road” includes part of a road but does not include an unwalkable outlet;

rope” includes chain;

rope haulage apparatus” means apparatus for transporting loads in vehicles attached to ropes;

sanitary conveniences” includes urinals, water-closets, earth-closets, ash-pits, privies and any similar convenience;

the school-leaving age” means the age at which the School Attendance Act, 1926 , ceases to apply;

shaft” means a shaft the top of which is, or is intended to be, at the surface;

special regulations” means regulations applicable to a particular mine or quarry only;

staple-pit” includes winze;

statutory responsibilities” means responsibilities under this Act, orders made thereunder and regulations;

support rules” means rules made under section 55 for any of the purposes of the sections relating to support in mines;

travelling road” means a length of road in a mine, used for the purpose of walking to or from working places;

unwalkable outlet” means an outlet which, owing to the gradient thereof or of any part thereof (whether alone or in combination with other circumstances), persons cannot walk up with reasonable convenience;

week” means the period between midnight on Saturday night and midnight on the succeeding Saturday night;

winding apparatus” means, in relation to a mine shaft or staple-pit, apparatus for lowering and raising loads through the shaft or staple-pit;

woman” means a woman whose age is not less than eighteen years;

young person” means a person who has reached the school-leaving age but is less than eighteen years of age.

(2) For the purposes of this Act mine workings having a common system of ventilation, or any part of a system of ventilation in common, shall be deemed to form part of the same mine.

(3) For the purposes of this Act—

(a) the working of a mine shall be deemed to include the operation of driving a shaft or outlet therefor;

(b) the working of a quarry shall be deemed to include the operation of removing overburden thereat;

(c) a mine or quarry shall be deemed to be worked notwithstanding that the only operations carried on thereat are operations carried on with a view to abandoning the mine or quarry or for the purpose of preventing the flow therefrom into an adjacent mine or quarry of water or material that flows when wet, but shall not be deemed to be worked by reason only that pumping operations are carried on thereat for the purpose of supplying water to any person.

(4) References in this Act to the use of safety-lamps by way of temporary precaution shall, in relation to a mine, be construed as references to the occasional or intermittent use of locked safety-lamps by workmen employed below ground in the mine in a place in which the use of naked lights might be dangerous and, in relation to a part of a mine below ground, be construed as references to the occasional or intermittent use of locked safety-lamps by workmen employed in that part in such a place.

(5) References in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment including this Act.

Application to State.

6. —This Act applies to mines and quarries belonging to or in the occupation of the State in the same manner as it applies to mines and quarries generally.

Expenses.

7. —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Laying of regulations before Houses of Oireachtas.

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

Consultation with Minister for Health as to health regulations.

9. —Regulations under this Act in regard to the health of persons employed shall be made by the Minister only after consultation with the Minister for Health.

Repeals.

10. —The Acts mentioned in the First Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the Schedule.

Continuance of instruments, office-holders and registers.

11. —(1) Any order, regulation, rule, certificate, exemption, consent, approval, permission, notice or authority made or given under any enactment repealed by this Act and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue in force and shall have effect as though it had been made or given under this Act and, in so far as it could have been made or given under a particular provision of this Act, shall be deemed to have been made or given under that provision.

(2) Any such order, regulation or rule made under a power which is exercisable under a corresponding provision of this Act by a different class of instrument shall be deemed to be an instrument of that class.

(3) Any person holding office or acting or serving under or by virtue of an enactment repealed by this Act shall continue to hold office or to act or serve as if he had been appointed under the corresponding provision of this Act.

(4) Any register kept under an enactment repealed by this Act shall be deemed part of the register to be kept under the corresponding provision of this Act.

(5) The provisions of this section are without prejudice to the general application of section 21 of the Interpretation Act, 1937 , as to the effect of repeals.