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21 1944

TRANSPORT ACT, 1944

Chapter VI.

Officers and Servants.

Compensation of certain officers and servants of the dissolved companies.

43. —(1) (a) Where—

(i) a person was, on the 1st day of July, 1944, an officer or servant of either dissolved company, and

(ii) that person has not, before the establishment date, become a pensioner or annuitant by reason of his service in that company, or voluntarily retired or been removed from the service of that company by reason of misconduct or incapacity, and

(iii) that person's office or situation is abolished after the said 1st day of July, 1944, and whether before, on or after the establishment date, and

(iv) the said office or situation is abolished directly and solely in anticipation of or as the result of the amalgamation effected by this Part,

that person shall be paid by the Company compensation calculated in the manner set out in the Fifth Schedule to this Act;

(b) if any dispute or difference shall arise between the Company and any person entitled or claiming to be entitled to compensation under paragraph (a) of this subsection as to whether that person's office or situation was or was not abolished directly and solely in anticipation of or as the result of the amalgamation effected by this Part, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved by the Company, that the office or situation was so abolished;

(c) where a person is dismissed from the service of the dissolved railway company or of the Company in such circumstances that he is entitled to compensation under subsection (4) of section 9 of the Railways Act, 1933 (No. 9 of 1933), then, notwithstanding anything in paragraph (a) of this subsection, he shall not be entitled to compensation by virtue of that paragraph.

(2) Where—

(a) a person was, on the 1st day of July, 1944, an officer or servant of either dissolved company, and

(b) that person, by reason of the amalgamation effected by this Part, is transferred to the service of the Company, and

(c) either—

(i) by reason of such transfer and without his consent, that person suffers any direct pecuniary loss, or is in any worse position in respect of the conditions of his service as a whole (including tenure of office, remuneration, gratuities, superannuation, sick fund or any benefits or allowances of that dissolved company, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice and whether applicable to himself or his widow or children or other dependents) as compared with the conditions of service formerly obtaining with respect to him, or

(ii) that person is required by the Company to perform duties which are not analogous to or are an unreasonable addition to those which, as officer or servant of that dissolved company, he was liable to perform,

he shall be entitled to be paid by the Company compensation consisting of a lump sum of such amount as is reasonable.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the managing director of the dissolved transport company shall be (deemed to be an officer of that company.

(4) If any dispute or difference shall arise between the Company and any person entitled or claiming to be entitled to compensation under this section as to whether he is or is not entitled to such compensation or as to the amount or method of calculation of such compensation or as to any other matter arising under the Fifth Schedule to this Act, such dispute or difference shall, on the application of the Company or such person, be referred to the standing arbitrator appointed under this section and the decision of the standing arbitrator shall be final.

(5) Any person who is in receipt of an annual sum by way of compensation under this section may, within one year from the date on which the annual sum is fixed, apply to the Company to commute not more than one-fourth of the annual sum by the payment of a capital sum, and thereupon the following provisions shall have effect:—

(a) the Company shall not unreasonably refuse the application;

(b) if the Company refuses the application the applicant may, within one month after the Company has notified the applicant of such refusal, appeal to the standing arbitrator, who shall hear and determine the appeal, and the decision of the standing arbitrator shall be final and conclusive;

(c) where the Company grants the application or, on the refusal of the application by the Company, the standing arbitrator, on appeal, decides it should be granted—

(i) the Company shall, after the capital sum to be paid by way of commutation has been calculated, inform the applicant of the amount thereof and the applicant may, within one month after being so informed, withdraw his application,

(ii) if the applicant does not so withdraw his application, the Company shall pay to the applicant the said capital sum by way of commutation of the said part of the said annual sum;

(d) the said capital sum to be paid by way of commutation shall be such sum as would, on the date of the application, purchase, through an annuity scheme approved by the Minister, an immediate life annuity payable to the applicant equal to the annual amount of the said part of the said annual sum, the applicant's age for this purpose being reckoned at the age he will attain on his birthday next following the date of the application.

(6) The Chief Justice, whenever so requested by the Minister, shall appoint a person to be the standing arbitrator for the purposes of this section, and shall fix the fees to be paid to that person in respect of· any dispute or difference referred to him under subsection (4) of this section or any appeal to him under subsection (5) of this section.

(7) The fees payable to the standing arbitrator shall be paid by the Company.

(8) The standing arbitrator—

(a) may administer oaths,

(b) may award costs in his discretion, direct to and by whom and in what manner those costs or any part thereof shall be paid, measure the amount of those costs and require security for costs to be given to his satisfaction by any party at any stage of the proceedings before him,

(c) may do all or any of the following things—

(i) summon witnesses to attend before him,

(ii) examine on oath any witnesses attending before him,

(iii) require any such witness to produce any document in his power or control which the arbitrator considers necessary,

(d) may at any time correct any clerical mistake or error in an award arising from any accidental slip or omission,

(e) may, at the request of either party to proceedings before him, hear the proceedings in open court.

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

(10) If any person—

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

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

such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

Superannuation scheme.

44. —(1) The Company may prepare and submit to the Minister and shall, if so required by the Minister, submit to the Minister within such time as he may direct, a scheme (in this section referred to as a superannuation scheme) for establishing on a contributory basis a superannuation fund for the benefit of the employees or any particular class of the employees of the Company.

(2) Where a superannuation scheme is submitted to the Minister under subsection (1) of this section, the Minister may refer the scheme back to the Company for reconsideration and fresh submission or by order confirm the scheme either without modification or with such modifications (whether by way of addition, omission or variation) as the Minister thinks proper.

(3) The Company may whenever it thinks proper prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme (in this section referred to as an amending superannuate scheme) amending (whether by addition, omission or variation) a superannuation scheme confirmed by the Minister or amending (whether by addition, omission or variation) or revoking an amending superannuation scheme for the time being in force, and the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall apply and have effect in relation to every amending superannuation scheme.

(4) Before confirming any superannuation scheme or amending superannuation scheme, the Minister shall hear all parties desirous of being heard and appearing to him to be interested therein.

(5) No superannuation scheme or amending superannuation scheme shall become operative unless and until it has been confirmed by order of the Minister, but, upon being so confirmed, shall come into operation on the date specified in that behalf in the order of the Minister confirming it and shall as on and from that date have the force of law in the form in which it was so confirmed.

(6) A fund set up for the purposes of a superannuation scheme shall be deemed to be set up under an irrevocable trust.

Existing superannuation funds.

45. —(1) In this section the expression “existing superannuation fund” means, in relation to a dissolved company, any superannuation, pension, provident, widows' and orphans' or other benefit fund or scheme established by that dissolved company or, if that dissolved company is the dissolved railway company, by an absorbed company or an amalgamated company within the meaning of the Railways Act, 1924 (No. 29 of 1924), and in existence immediately before the establishment date, and includes the Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, every existing superannuation fund of a dissolved company and the management thereof shall, on and after the establishment date, continue as if that dissolved company had not been dissolved by this Act.

(3) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to every existing superannuation fund established in the year 1944:—

(a) the Company shall submit to the Minister within one month after the establishment date the scheme relating to such fund;

(b) the Minister may refer the scheme back to the Company for reconsideration and fresh submission or by order confirm the scheme either without modification or with such modifications (whether by way of addition, omission or variation) as the Minister thinks proper;

(c) before confirming the scheme, the Minister shall hear all parties desirous of being heard and appearing to him to be interested therein;

(d) the scheme shall, if not so confirmed within three months after the establishment date, cease to be in force but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(4) For the purposes of any statutory enactment and of rules and regulations relating to any existing superannuation fund of a dissolved company, the following provisions shall, on and after the establishment date, have effect, that is to say:—

(a) any power of that dissolved company or the directors or any officer thereof in relation to the said fund may be exercised by the Company or its directors or any officer thereof,

(b) the service or employment or dismissal under or by the Company of any officer or servant of that dissolved company who is transferred, by virtue of this Act, to the Company shall be deemed to be service or employment or dismissal under or by that dissolved company,

(c) where under the rules of the said fund the directors of that dissolved company are empowered to appoint officers and servants of that dissolved company to any managing committee, the directors of the Company in exercising those powers shall appoint officers or servants of the Company who are members of the said fund or who, but for the dissolution of the dissolved company effected by this Act, would have been eligible for appointment to such managing committee.

(5) The obligations, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice, of any dissolved company in respect of any existing superannuation fund of that dissolved company and in respect of every member of the said existing superannuation fund shall be binding on the Company.

(6) All persons who are or have been members of any existing superannuation fund of a dissolved company and all persons claiming in right of any such members, shall be entitled to the same benefits, rights and privileges and subject to the same obligations, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice, as such persons would have been or might have become entitled or subject to, if that dissolved company had not been dissolved by this Act.

(7) Any person who—

(a) is in the service of any dissolved company immediately before the establishment date,

(b) is not a member of any existing superannuation fund of that dissolved company,

shall, so long as he remains in the service of the Company, have the same right (if any) to become a member of any such fund as he would have had if that dissolved company had not been dissolved by this Act and if he had remained in the service of that dissolved company, but save as aforesaid no person shall be entitled to become a member of any existing superannuation fund established before the 1st day of August, 1943, of a dissolved company who was not so entitled immediately before the establishment date.

(8) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section the Company may, if it so thinks fit, at any time cease to contribute to the Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund.

(9) An existing superannuation fund of a dissolved company shall be deemed to have been set up under an irrevocable trust.

Establishment of associations, etc., calculated to promote the welfare of employees.

46. —(1) The Company may establish and support, or aid in the establishment and support of, associations, clubs, institutions, funds, trusts and conveniences calculated to promote the welfare of employees or ex-employees of the Company or the dependants or connections of all or any such employees or ex-employees.

(2) The Company may make payments towards insurance for the benefit of all or any of its employees or ex-employees or the dependants or connections of all or any of such employees or ex-employees.

Appointment to clerical grades.

47. —(1) Save as is hereinafter provided in this section, all appointments to any office or situation in the clerical grades of the service of the Company shall be made by means of open competitive examination in accordance with regulations made by the Company.

(2) Irish shall be a compulsory subject at every open competitive examination held in pursuance of this section.

(3) Every open competitive examination held in pursuance of this section shall be open to all persons who are ordinarily resident within the national territory or who are Irish citizens or the children of Irish citizens and who pay the fees and possess the qualifications as to age, health and character prescribed by the regulations relating to the examination.

(4) The Company may by special regulation provide that such proportion as may be approved by the Minister of the vacancies in the clerical grades of its service shall be filled by means of limited competitive examinations, and where an examination is so limited only persons in or who have been in the employment of the dissolved companies or the Company or the children of such persons shall be admitted thereto.

(5) Any regulations or special regulation made by the dissolved railway company under section 56 of the Railways Act, 1924 (No. 29 of 1924), and in force immediately before the establishment date shall continue in force and apply to the Company and be deemed to have been made by the Company under this section.