PART II

The National Agricultural Authority

9. —(1) There shall be established a body to be known as the National Agricultural Authority to perform the functions given to it by this Act.

(2) The provisions of the First Schedule shall apply to the Authority.

10. —The Institute is hereby dissolved.

11. —The Authority shall have the general functions, subject to the provisions of this Act, of providing, or causing to be provided, educational, advisory and research services in agriculture and making available the scientific and practical knowledge required by the agricultural industry.

12. —(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 11 and subject to subsection (2), the Authority shall have the functions in relation to agricultural education (other than higher education) which, immediately before the commencement of this section, were exercised or performed or were capable of being exercised or performed by the Minister or by committees of agriculture, and the Authority may, in particular—

(a) provide and organise residential or non-residential whole-time or part-time courses in agriculture;

(b) provide and organise lectures and classes in agriculture;

(c) provide and organise seminars and conferences on agricultural education and on specific problems and programmes in relation thereto;

(d) make grants to institutions providing courses of study in agriculture;

(e) provide scholarships to students of agriculture at institutions of higher education, or such other institutions as may be approved by the Minister; and

(f) arrange and provide for the attendance, as may be considered desirable, of students at courses in agriculture or in related subjects provided by other educational institutions.

(2) Save as provided by section 17, the Authority shall not, except with the prior approval of the Minister, provide courses in higher education or courses which in the opinion of the Minister are of an equivalent standard or make grants to institutions providing such courses.

13. —(1) The Authority shall—

(a) maintain close liaison with the Minister for Education and with other educational institutions, and

(b) keep itself informed of the courses available to students in agricultural and allied sciences provided by the Minister for Education and by other educational institutions and may, on such terms as may be agreed upon, arrange for the attendance at these courses (or at particular classes which form part of these courses) of students enrolled in courses provided by the Authority.

(2) The Authority may also, on such terms as may be agreed, make corresponding arrangements for the attendance at classes or courses run by the Authority of students enrolled in courses provided by the Minister for Education and by other educational institutions.

14. —The Authority shall provide courses in agriculture for the purpose of implementing directives of the European Economic Community when requested to do so by the Minister.

15. —Without prejudice to the generality of section 11, the Authority shall, in relation to agricultural advice and instruction, have such functions as, immediately before the commencement of this section, were exercised or performed or were capable of being exercised or performed by committees of agriculture or by the Minister, and the Authority may, in particular—

(a) provide in each county an advisory service designed to assist farm families and others engaged in agriculture to make the best use of their resources and to encourage them, through the adoption of better practices and improved management, to increase output and income and to raise their standard of living generally;

(b) take steps to encourage, through co-operative effort and otherwise, improvement in the economic and social conditions of those engaged in agriculture in each county;

(c) provide for the dissemination of advice and instruction in agriculture by means of farm visits and otherwise;

(d) provide for giving advice on farm management;

(e) arrange for the conduct of field and livestock experiments and demonstrations;

(f) take steps to ensure that the results, as may be appropriate, of agricultural research are made known as speedily and as widely as possible to those engaged in agriculture;

(g) adopt measures to ensure that those engaged in agriculture—

(i) are fully informed as expeditiously as possible of schemes and facilities for the development of agriculture operated by the Minister and by other agencies, and

(ii) are encouraged to avail themselves of those schemes and facilities;

(h) provide and organise seminars, conferences and lectures in relation to agricultural advice and on specific problems and programmes in relation thereto.

16. —The Authority shall—

(a) maintain close liaison and co-operate, as may be necessary, with the Minister and other agencies in the operation of such schemes and facilities for agricultural development as may be administered by them, and

(b) provide such facilities and assistance as the Minister may require for the purpose of implementing directives of the European Economic Community in relation to the development of agriculture.

17. —(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 11 and subject to subsection (4), it shall be a function of the Authority to review, facilitate, encourage, assist, co-ordinate, promote and undertake agricultural research and basic veterinary research and, in relation to such research, the Authority shall also have such functions as, immediately before the commencement of this section, were exercised or performed or were capable of being exercised or performed by the Minister.

(2) In relation to agricultural research and basic veterinary research, the Authority may, in particular—

(a) make grants, subject to such conditions as it may think fit to impose, to persons engaged in such research for the extension and development of their facilities for carrying out the research,

(b) provide, as it considers desirable, such new facilities for carrying out such research and provide for their use, control and administration by or on behalf of the Authority or otherwise,

(c) provide for the use, control and administration by the Authority of such facilities as may be transferred to it for the carrying out of such research,

(d) consult with and advise persons engaged in carrying out such research in relation to their programmes of research,

(e) award fellowships, subject to such conditions as it may think fit to impose, to persons who have done outstanding work in relation to such research,

(f) provide and organise courses of study for advanced students in such research and related subjects,

(g) provide and organise seminars, conferences, lectures and demonstrations on such research and related subjects and on specific problems and programmes in relation thereto,

(h) disseminate, or procure the dissemination of, the results of such research to interested persons, including, in particular, persons engaged in providing advisory services in relation thereto,

(i) publish, or procure the publication of, the results of such research,

(j) make grants, subject to such conditions as it may think fit to impose, to assist the carrying out of specific programmes of agricultural or basic veterinary research, or of specific agricultural or basic veterinary research, and

(k) provide scholarships and other awards for the carrying out of post-graduate agricultural or basic veterinary research.

(3) In case of doubt as to whether any activity in relation to veterinary research is or is not proper to the Authority, the decision of the Minister shall be final.

(4) The functions of the Authority shall not include any function assigned to the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards by the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961 .

(5) Section 6 of the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961 , is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (4) of the following subsection:

“(4) The functions of the Institute shall not include any function assigned to the National Agricultural Authority by the National Agricultural Advisory, Education and Research Authority Act, 1977.”

(6) If there is disagreement as to whether any activity in relation to research is proper to the Authority or the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards, the matter shall be determined by the Minister and the Minister for Industry and Commerce.

18. —The Authority shall maintain close liaison with the Universities, other institutions of higher education and other bodies engaged in research activities so as to keep itself informed of the activities of those institutions and bodies in relation to agricultural and veterinary research and in order to avoid duplication of effort and, for that purpose, the Authority may, subject to the approval of the Board, engage in joint research activities with such institutions and bodies.

19. —(1) The Authority may, on such terms and conditions as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, approve, arrange for the performance of any activity in relation to any of its functions by the Minister or by another agency.

(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, prepare a list of activities of the Authority which may, at the request of the Authority, be performed by the Minister or by another agency and any such activity may, notwithstanding subsection (1), be performed without the further consent of the Minister for the Public Service.

20. —The Minister may, subject to the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, on such terms and conditions as he may determine, by order assign to the Authority such of his functions as he may think fit in relation to Council Directive No. 72/159/EEC of the 17th day of April, 1972, on the modernisation of farms.

21. —The Authority shall advise the Minister on any matter relating to agricultural education, advice or research or to basic veterinary research on which its views are requested by the Minister.

22. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Authority may charge, receive and recover fees for agricultural research or basic veterinary research undertaken on behalf of any person, firm, institution or agency and for services, courses, seminars, lectures and demonstrations provided or organised by it.

(2) No fee may, however, be charged in respect of—

(a) any advice that may be given by the Authority in response to a request from the Minister under section 21, or

(b) any facilities, assistance or courses of instruction that may be provided by the Authority under section 14 or 16 (b),

but the cost to the Authority of providing the services referred to in this subsection shall rank as an expense of the Authority and shall be taken into account when the amount of the annual grant referred to in section 48 (1) (b) is being determined.

23. —(1) The Authority may—

(a) accept gifts of money, land or other property, upon such trusts and conditions (if any) as may be specified by the donor, and

(b) accept contributions from farming organisations, co-operative societies and other bodies or persons towards the expenses incurred by the Authority in exercising any of its functions on such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the Authority and the contributor.

(2) The Authority shall not accept any gift or contribution if any conditions attached by the donor or contributor to the acceptance thereof are inconsistent with the functions of the Authority.

24. —(1) The Authority may provide itself with such offices and premises as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the Authority may, subject to subsection (3)—

(a) purchase or take on lease any land, offices or premises,

(b) build, equip and maintain offices and premises,

(c) sell or lease any land, offices or premises held by it and no longer required for the performance of its functions, and

(d) so far as may be authorised by the Minister, join with other bodies in leasing or otherwise acquiring land, offices or premises and in erecting offices or premises.

(3) The Authority may not sell or purchase any land, offices or premises except with the permission in writing of the Minister.