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23 1941

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1941

PART IX.

Miscellaneous.

Restriction on amount of allowances under Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919.

76. —(1) Save with the consent of the Minister, no allowance the amount of which exceeds the amount of an allowance calculated according to the scale provided by the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1884, and the rules thereunder shall be granted under section 8 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919, to an officer to whom, by virtue of section 43 of the Act of 1925, Part IV of the Act of 1925 does not wholly apply.

(2) For the purpose of removing doubts, it is hereby declared that sub-section (5) (repealed by this Act) of section 11 of the Act of 1923 applied to every officer of a local authority within the meaning of that Act.

Treasurer in the case of a county or other borough.

77. —On the occurrence after the commencement of this section of a vacancy in the office of treasurer for a county or other borough, the Minister, after consultation with the corporation of such borough may by order abolish the said office, and on the making of such order the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the corporation of such borough shall appoint a banking company to act as their treasurer for the purpose of receipts and payments of money and the keeping of accounts of such receipts and payments, and the banking company so appointed shall act as such treasurer;

(b) from and after such appointment, all the powers and duties conferred or imposed on the treasurer for such borough for any purpose other than the purpose referred to in paragraph (a) of this section shall be exercised and performed by such officer or officers of the corporation other than the treasurer as the corporation, with the consent of the Minister, directs.

Reckoning of service in a temporary capacity.

78. —(1) In this section the expressions “pensionable officer” and “pensionable office” have the same meaning as in Part IV of the Act of 1925 and the expression “local body” includes every body which is a local body for the purposes of the said Part IV.

(2) Where a pensionable officer was, immediately before the commencement of his service as a pensionable officer, in the temporary employment of any local body and such employment would, if permanent, have been employment in a pensionable office, the Minister may, if he so thinks fit, direct that a specified part (not exceeding one half) of the period of such temporary employment shall be reckoned as service in a pensionable office and such part shall be so reckoned accordingly.

(3) For the purpose of removing doubts, it is hereby declared that sub-section (6) (repealed by this Act) of section 11 of the Act of 1923 applied to every officer of a local authority within the meaning of that Act.

Joint mental hospitals.

79. —In lieu of the provisions (repealed by this Act) of sub-section (7) of section 9 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, as amended by section 77 of the Act of 1925, the following provisions shall apply in relation to every mental hospital to which the said section 9 applies and of which the district comprises two or more counties or a county borough and one or more counties, and the said section 9 shall be construed and have effect accordingly, that is to say:—

(a) the powers, functions, and duties in relation to the hospital of the local authorities concerned shall be exercised and performed by such local authorities through a joint committee of such local authorities;

(b) the expenses of the management and maintenance of the hospital during every half year ending on the 31st day of March or the 30th day of September shall be defrayed by such local authorities severally in proportion to the average daily number of patients from their respective functional areas maintained in the hospital during such half year;

(c) each such local authority shall make in each year a new appointment of members for such joint committee, in the case of a county council, at the annual meeting or, in the case of the corporation of a county borough, at the quarterly meeting next after a triennial election or between the 23rd day of June and the 1st day of July in a year in which there is not a triennial election;

(d) the number of members to be appointed by each such local authority shall, as nearly as possible, be proportionate to the contribution payable by such local authority to the expenses of the management and maintenance of the hospital during the local financial year ending on the 31st day of March next previous to the appointment and such number shall, in case of dispute, be determined by the Minister whose decision shall be final;

(e) every member of such joint committee shall hold office (unless he dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified) until his successor is appointed;

(f) casual vacancies occurring in such joint committee by reason of death, resignation, or disqualification of any member shall be filled by the local authority by whom such member was appointed.

Travelling expenses of county councillors.

80. —(1) Each of the following local authorities shall be a local authority to which this section applies, that is to say:—

(a) a council of a county,

(b) a joint committee of management of a district mental hospital, and

(c) a local authority in respect of which an order under sub-section (2) of this section is for the time being in force.

(2) The Minister may by order apply this section to any local authority and may at any time, either on the application of such local authority or without any application, revoke such order.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this section, every local authority to which this section applies shall defray the expenses of locomotion incurred by each of their members in travelling to and from meetings of such local authority.

(4) No person shall be paid under this section travelling expenses in respect of a meeting held at a place less than five miles by any route from his official residence.

(5) The amount of travelling expenses paid under this section to any person in respect of any particular meeting shall not exceed the amount which would reasonably have been incurred by such person in travelling from and to his official residence to and from the place of such meeting.

(6) Every member of a local authority to which this section applies shall, immediately after becoming such member communicate in writing to such local authority the address at which he ordinarily resides and such address shall be regarded as the official residence of such member for the purposes of this section.

District electoral divisions.

81. —(1) For the purposes incidental to parliamentary and local elections and for convenience in local administration, the area of every county and county borough shall be divided into areas to be known as district electoral divisions.

(2) The areas which immediately before the commencement of this section are district electoral divisions by virtue of sub-section (4) of section 22 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, shall, upon and after such commencement but subject to such orders as may from time to time be made under this section, be district electoral divisions for the purposes of this section and every reference in any enactment (whether in force immediately before the commencement of this section or coming into force at the same time as such commencement or any subsequent time) to a district electoral division shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(3) The Minister may by order alter the division of a county into district electoral divisions in such manner as he thinks fit,

Annuities and other payments to the Irish Land Commission or to the Commissioners of Public Works on land acquired by a local authority.

82. —Whenever land acquired by a local authority is subject in conjunction with other land to an annuity or other payment to the Irish Land Commission or to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, the said Commission or the said Commissioners (as the case may be) may apportion such annuity or other payment in such manner as they consider proper between the land so acquired and such other land or may charge the whole of such annuity or other payment on any part of the land subject thereto in exoneration of the residue of such land.

Local inquiries.

83. —(1) The Minister may cause such local inquiries to be held as he may consider necessary or desirable for the purposes of any of the powers and duties for the time being conferred or imposed on him.

(2) Where the Minister causes a local inquiry to be held under this section or under any other Act, the costs incurred in relation to such inquiry shall be certified by the Minister and such certificate shall direct the payment of such costs to the Minister—

(a) where not more than one local authority is concerned in such inquiry, by such local authority,

(b) where two or more local authorities are concerned in such inquiry, by (according as may be specified in such certificate) all or one or more of such local authorities.

(3) A certificate under this section which directs the payment of the costs of a local inquiry by two or more local authorities shall specify the proportion of such costs which shall be paid by each of such local authorities.

(4) Where a local authority fails to pay a sum directed to be paid by a certificate under this section, such sum may be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or may be deducted in whole or in part from any moneys payable by any Minister of State for any purpose whatsoever to such local authority.

(5) The power to deduct under the immediately preceding sub-section of this section from moneys payable to a local authority shall be subject to and without prejudice to the claims of the guarantee fund under the Land Purchase Acts.

(6) For the purposes of this section, the costs incurred in relation to a local inquiry shall include a reasonable charge for the services of any inspector or officer of the Minister engaged in such inquiry and also the necessary expenses of witnesses.

Returns, information, etc.

84. —(1) The Minister may require a local authority to make to him any return or report or to furnish him with any information in relation to their functions which he may consider necessary or desirable for the purposes of any of the powers and duties for the time being conferred or imposed on him in relation to such local authority, and it shall be the duty of such local authority to comply with such requirement.

(2) An inspector of the Minister may require any officer of a local authority to give to such inspector any information in relation to the functions of such officer which such inspector reasonably requires for the purpose of performing the duties imposed on such inspector by the Minister, and it shall be the duty of such officer to comply with such requirement.

Power of inspector to visit premises.

85. —(1) An inspector of the Minister may for the purpose of the functions imposed on him by the Minister visit and inspect any premises used by a local authority for the purposes of their powers and duties.

(2) Any person who obstructs an inspector of the Minister in the exercise of the power conferred on him by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

Powers of inspectors and auditors to obtain evidence, etc.

86. —(1) An inspector holding a local inquiry pursuant to a direction of the Minister under this or any other Act or a local government auditor auditing the accounts of a local authority may take evidence on oath and for that purpose may administer oaths.

(2) Subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section of this section, an inspector holding a local inquiry pursuant to a direction of the Minister under this or any other Act or a local government auditor auditing the accounts of a local authority may, by giving notice in that behalf in writing to any person, require such person to attend at such time and place as is specified in such notice to give evidence in relation to any matter in question at such inquiry or audit (as the case may be) or to produce any books, deeds, contracts, accounts, vouchers, maps, plans, or other documents in his possession custody or control which relate to any such matter.

(3) The following provisions shall apply and have effect for the purposes of the immediately preceding sub-section of this section, that is to say:—

(a) it shall not be necessary for a person to attend in compliance with a notice given under the said sub-section by an inspector or auditor at a place more than ten miles from such person's ordinary place of residence unless such sum as will cover the reasonable and necessary expenses of such attendance have been paid or tendered to such person;

(b) a local authority whose accounts are being audited shall, at the request of the auditor, pay or tender to any person whose attendance the auditor requires under the said sub-section such sum as the auditor considers will cover the reasonable and necessary expenses of such attendance;

(c) a local authority concerned in a local inquiry held or to be held by an inspector pursuant to a direction by the Minister under this or any other Act, shall, at the request of the inspector, pay or tender to any person whose attendance at such local inquiry such inspector requires under the said sub-section such sum as the inspector considers will cover the reasonable and necessary expenses of such attendance;

(d) any person who in compliance with a notice under the said sub-section has attended at any place shall, save in so far as the reasonable and necessary expenses of such attendance have already been paid to him, be paid such expenses if such notice was given by an auditor, by the local authority whose accounts are being audited or, if such notice was given by an inspector for the purposes of a local inquiry, by such local authority concerned in such inquiry as such inspector shall direct, and such expenses, save as aforesaid, shall, in default of being so paid, be recoverable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction;

(e) no person shall be required to produce the title of or any instrument relating to the title of land unless—

(i) in the case of an inquiry, such land is the property of the local authority or of any of the local authorities concerned in such inquiry, or

(ii) in the case of an audit, such land is the property of the local authority whose accounts are being audited;

(f) subject to the provisions of the foregoing paragraph of this sub-section; every person to whom a notice has been given under this sub-section who refuses or wilfully neglects to attend in accordance with such notice or who wilfully alters, suppresses, conceals, or destroys any document to which such notice relates, or who, having so attended, refuses to give evidence or refuses or wilfully fails to produce any document to which such notice relates shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Vaccination.

87. —(1) In this section—

the expression “the Vaccination Acts” means the Vaccination (Ireland) Acts, that is to say, the Vaccination (Ireland) Act, 1858, the Vaccination (Ireland) Act, 1863, the Vaccination Amendment (Ireland) Act, 1868, and the Vaccination Amendment (Ireland) Act, 1879, together with section 147 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and

the expressions “sanitary district” and “sanitary authority” have the same meaning as in the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931.

(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to the Vaccination Acts, that is to say:—

(a) the powers and duties conferred or imposed by the said Acts on a board of guardians or on a committee of management of a dispensary district shall, in every sanitary district, be exercised and performed by the sanitary authority of such sanitary district;

(b) every vaccination district existing immediately before the commencement of this section which is wholly within one sanitary district shall be a vaccination district at and after such commencement;

(c) if portion of a vaccination district existing immediately before the commencement of this section is within one sanitary district and another portion is within another sanitary district each of such portions shall be a vaccination district at and after such commencement;

(d) every mention or reference contained in the said Acts of or to a board of guardians or of or to the guardians of the poor or of or to a committee of management of a dispensary district shall be construed and have effect as a mention of or reference to the appropriate sanitary authority;

(e) every mention or reference contained in the said Acts of or to a poor law union shall be construed and have effect as a mention of or reference to a sanitary district;

(f) every mention or reference contained in the said Acts of or to a dispensary district shall be construed and have effect as a mention of or reference to so much of a dispensary district for the purposes of medical assistance under the Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939), as is situate within the relevant sanitary district;

(g) every mention or reference contained in the said Acts of or to the medical officer of a dispensary district shall be construed and have effect as a mention of or reference to the medical officer of health of the appropriate dispensary district, or where there is more than one such medical officer, to the medical officer who acts for the appropriate vaccination district.

(3) The provisions of section 9 of the Act of 1923 and the provisions of any order made under section 20 of that Act shall, if and in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of the next preceding-sub-section of this section, cease to have effect.

(4) The expenses incurred by a sanitary authority for the purposes of the Vaccination Acts as adapted or affected by this section shall be raised in the same manner as the expenses or, in the case of a rural sanitary authority, the general expenses of such sanitary authority for the purposes of the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931, are raised.

Contributions by urban authorities to approved associations.

88. —(1) In this section—

the expression “urban authority” means any of the following local authorities, that is to say, a corporation of a county or other borough, a council of an urban district, and the commissioners of a town;

the expression “approved association” means an association of urban authorities approved of by the Minister and the objects of which include consultation as to the common interests of urban authorities and discussion of matters relating to local government;

the expression “the approved amount” means—

(a) where the urban authority in respect of which the expression is used is a corporation of a county borough—twenty pounds,

(b) where such urban authority is a corporation of a borough which is not a county borough or is a council of an urban district—ten pounds, and

(c) where such urban authority is the commissioners of a town—five pounds.

(2) Subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section of this section, an urban authority may contribute to the funds of any approved association.

(3) The total amount standing for the time being contributed under this section by an urban authority shall not exceed the approved amount in respect of such urban authority.

Contributions to associations supplementing library services.

89. —(1) A local authority to which this section applies may, with the consent of the Minister, pay an annual or other contribution to the funds of any association which supplements the regular library services maintained by local authorities to which this section applies by providing books specially required by students.

(2) Any expenses incurred by a local authority under this section shall be defrayed in the same manner in which expenses incurred by such local authority under the Public Libraries (Ireland) Acts, 1855 to 1920, as amended by section 65 of the Act of 1925, are defrayed.

(3) This section applies to the following local authorities, that is to say, the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough, and the council of an urban district.

Appointment of first county managers and assistant county managers.

90. —(1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this section, the appointment under section 4 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940), of the first county manager for every county (other than the county of Dublin) or each of every two grouped counties shall be proceeded with and completed notwithstanding that that Act has not then come into force, but the day appointed by the Minister under sub-section (2) of the said section 4 as the day as on and from which any such appointment takes effect shall not be earlier than the day on which the said County Management Act, 1940 , comes into operation.

(2) Sub-section (5) of section 4 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940) shall not apply or have effect in relation to a county in respect of which the appointment of the first county manager takes effect on the day on which that Act comes into operation.

(3) As soon as may be after the commencement of this section, the first appointments of persons to fill the several offices to which section 12 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940), applies shall be proceeded with and completed under that Act notwithstanding that the said Act has not then come into operation, but the day appointed by the Minister under paragraph (b) of sub-section (3) of the said section 12 as the day as on and from which any such appointment takes effect shall not be earlier than the day on which the said County Management Act, 1940 , comes into operation.