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40 1960

LOCAL GOVERNMENT (No. 2) ACT, 1960

PART II.

Borrowing and Lending of Money.

Borrowing.

4. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section and any regulations under subsection (3) of this section—

(a) a local authority may borrow money,

(b) the borrowing may be effected in any manner which the local authority consider suitable, including, in particular, by way of mortgage, drawing of bills of exchange, issue of stock or bonds, temporary loan or overdraft,

(c) the loan and the interest or dividends thereon may be secured on the revenues, funds or property of the local authority.

(2) (a) Borrowing under this section, other than excepted borrowing, shall not be effected save with the sanction of the appropriate Minister.

(b) The appropriate Minister may by direction except any borrowing from the foregoing paragraph, and the reference in that paragraph to excepted borrowing shall be construed as a reference to borrowing so excepted.

(3) The Minister for Local Government may, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, make regulations in relation to borrowing by local authorities and such regulations may, in particular, make provision with respect to all or any of the following matters:

(a) sources of loans,

(b) periods for repayment of loans,

(c) charging of and security for loans,

(d) in the case of mortgages, the form thereof, the registers to be kept in relation thereto, the transfer thereof and the form of such transfers and the appointment and powers of receivers.

Lending to another local authority.

5. —(1) A local authority may, subject to the sanction of the appropriate Minister, lend money, on such terms as to repayment and other matters as they consider proper, to another local authority.

(2) If a sum, which consists either of a portion of a loan advanced pursuant to this section by the council of a county to the commissioners of a town which is not an urban district and which is situated in the county, or of interest on any such loan, is not included in the appropriate demand under subsection (1) of section 26 of the Local Government Act, 1946 , it shall be deemed to have been included in the demand and subsection (4) of section 10 of that Act shall have effect accordingly.

(3) Lending under this section shall be a reserved function.

Issue of stock.

6. —(1) Where a local authority borrow by way of an issue of stock, the stock shall be created, issued, transferred, dealt with, redeemed and extinguished in such manner, on such terms and in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by the Minister for Local Government by regulations.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, regulations under this section may make provision in respect of any of the following matters:

(a) the discharge of any loan raised by the stock issued in accordance with the regulations,

(b) in the case of consolidation of debt, for extending or varying the times within which loans may be discharged,

(c) consent of limited owners,

(d) the application of the Acts relating to stamp duties and to cheques,

(e) disposal of unclaimed dividends.

(3) Every regulation continued in force by subsection (6) of section 87 of the Local Government Act, 1946 , shall, without prejudice to the provisions of that subsection, be treated as regulations made under this section and, as so treated, shall be capable of being amended or revoked by regulations under this section.

Issues from local loans fund.

7. —Money borrowed pursuant to this Part of this Act may be lent by means of an issue from the local loans fund as if the loan constituted a local loan within the meaning of the Local Loans Fund Acts, 1935 to 1957, and was authorised by an Act of the Oireachtas.

Payment of contributions to loan charges to lender.

8. —Where a Minister makes contributions to the loan charges in respect of a loan obtained by a local authority, he may, if he so thinks proper and subject to the consent of the lender, make any such contributions directly to the lender and they shall then be treated as corresponding payments of loan charges by the local authority.

General restriction.

9. —A local authority shall not

(a) borrow money, or

(b) lend money to another local authority,

save pursuant to this Part of this Act.