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29 1955

MERCANTILE MARINE ACT, 1955

PART I.

Preliminary and General.

Short title.

1. —This Act may be cited as the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955.

Interpretation.

2. —(1) In this Act—

the Act of 1894” means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and, save where the context otherwise requires, shall be construed as referring to that Act as amended or extended by subsequent enactments;

chief officer of customs and excise” includes the collector, or other chief officer of customs and excise at each port;

consular officer” includes any consular officer, whether he is or is not in the Civil Service of the State and also includes a person nominated whether individually or by reference to a class by the Minister for External Affairs, after consultation with the Minister, to exercise consular functions for the purposes of this Act or of any specified sections thereof;

diplomatic officer” means a person in the Civil Service of the State who is an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, a chargé d'affaires, a counsellor of embassy or legation, a secretary of embassy or legation or an attaché;

the General Register and Record Office” means the office to be maintained in accordance with section 96 of this Act;

Irish body corporate” means a body corporate established under and subject to the law of the State and having its principal place of business in the State;

master” includes every person (except a pilot) having command or charge of any ship;

the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

prescribed” means prescribed by a fees order under section 4 of this Act;

qualified person” means a person qualified under this Act to own a registered ship or a share therein;

reciprocating state” means a state declared by an order under section 19 of this Act for the time being in force to be a reciprocating state;

registered ship” means a ship registered under this Act;

ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation not propelled by oars;

State-owned ship” means a ship wholly owned by the Government or a Minister of State;

surveyor of ships” means a person appointed to be a surveyor of ships for the purposes of the Act of 1894 and “surveyor” shall be construed accordingly.

(2) References in any enactment to the Act of 1894 shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as including a reference to this Act.

(3) References in any enactment to Part I of the Act of 1894 shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to this Act.

Non-application of this Act.

3. —This Act shall not apply to ships of the Naval Service of the Defence Forces which are wholly manned by personnel of that Service.

Power to Minister to prescribe fees.

4. —(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe by order (in this Act referred to as a fees order) the fees to be charged for inspections made and certificates issued under this Act.

(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, at any time by order revoke or amend a fees order or an order made under this subsection.

Collection and disposal of fees.

5. —(1) All fees payable under a fees order shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the said Minister.

(2) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of any fees payable under a fees order.

Laying of orders, rules and regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas.

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

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.

Repeals.

8. —(1) The enactments mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the enactments mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act, then, unless the contrary otherwise appears,

(a) any order, licence, certificate, bye-law, rule or regulation made or granted under any such enactment shall continue in force as if it had been made or granted under this Act;

(b) any officer appointed, any body elected or constituted, and any office established under any enactment hereby repealed shall continue and be deemed to have been appointed, elected, constituted, or established, as the case may be, under this Act;

(c) any document referring to any Act or enactment hereby repealed shall be construed to refer to this Act or to the corresponding enactment of this Act.