PART VI

Consequential and Transitional

53. —(1) On the commencement of this section, the following properties (including all rights, powers and privileges relating to or connected with any such property) shall, subject to sections 54 and 55, be transferred to the Authority:

(a) any property real or personal (including choses-in-action) which, immediately before the commencement of this section, was vested in or belonged to or was held in trust for the Institute or a committee of agriculture;

(b) the properties of the Minister commonly known as—

(i) Mellowes Agricultural College, Athenry, County Galway,

(ii) Clonakilty Agricultural College, Clonakilty, County Cork,

(iii) Ballyhaise Agricultural College, Ballyhaise, County Cavan, and

(iv) Kildalton Agricultural and Horticultural College, Kildalton, Piltown, County Kilkenny,

and which are described in the Third Schedule, including the lands, buildings, offices, out-offices, crops, livestock, farm machinery, farm and office equipment and other movable property on those properties immediately before the commencement of this section, and

(c) the interest of the Minister in the lands and property known as the Cereal Station, Ballinacurra, Midleton, County Cork, and which are described in the Third Schedule including the interest of the Minister in the lands, buildings, offices, out-offices, office equipment, crops, livestock, farm machinery and equipment and other movable property thereon immediately before the commencement of this section.

(2) The properties referred to in this section shall be transferred without any conveyance or assignment but subject, where necessary, to transfer in the books of any bank, corporation or company and shall become the property of, or be held in trust for and be vested in (as the case may require) the Authority for all the estate, term or interest by which they were held immediately before the commencement of this section but subject to all trusts, equities and statutory requirements affecting the properties and then subsisting and capable of being performed.

(3) Any property transferred by this section which, immediately before the commencement of the section, was standing in the books of any bank, corporation or company, or registered in the books of any bank, corporation or company in the name of the Institute, a committee of agriculture or the Minister shall, upon the request of the Authority made at any time after such commencement, be transferred in those books by that bank, corporation or company into the name of the Authority.

(4) After the commencement of this section, every chose-in-action transferred in accordance therewith to the Authority may be sued upon, recovered or enforced by the Authority in its own name and it shall not be necessary for the Authority to give notice to the person bound by such chose-in-action of the transfer.

54. —(1) The moneys in the Endowment Fund of the Institute and any unexpended balance in the Capital Fund of the Institute (referred to in sections 10 and 11 of the Act of 1958) on the commencement of section 53 shall be lodged to a special fund of the Authority to be known as the Transferred Fund.

(2) The Transferred Fund shall be used by the Authority solely for such capital purposes and to such extent as may from time to time be approved by the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Finance.

(3) Any unexpended balance of the Transferred Fund shall be kept invested by the Authority in such securities as may from time to time be approved by the Minister for Finance.

(4) The interest on the Transferred Fund shall accrue to the Authority as income.

55. —Section 53 shall not apply to office accommodation which, immediately before the commencement of that section, was leased by a committee of agriculture for use as a headquarters office or to office equipment and office furniture therein.

56. —On the commencement of section 53, every debt and other liability (including unliquidated liabilities) which, immediately before the commencement of that section, is owing and unpaid and has been incurred and is undischarged by the Institute or a committee of agriculture or, as the case may be, the Minister in relation to the functions and properties transferred to the Authority under this Act shall, on the commencement of that section become and be the debt or liability of the Authority and shall be paid or discharged by, and may be recovered from or enforced against, the Authority accordingly.

57. —Where the property of a committee of agriculture transferred to the Authority under section 53 includes office accommodation used as a headquarters office and office furniture and equipment contained therein, the Authority shall, on and after the commencement of that section, make available to that committee such office accommodation (for use as a headquarters office), equipment and furniture as may be agreed between the committee and the Authority as adequate, on such terms and conditions as may be agreed between them or, in the event of disagreement, whether as to adequacy or otherwise, as the Minister may determine.

58. —Every committee of agriculture shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of section 53, prepare and transmit to the Board and to the Minister—

(a) an inventory (itemised as may be appropriate) of the property and other assets transferred from it to the Authority under that section, indicating the current value of the property and other assets so transferred,

(b) a statement (itemised as may be appropriate) of the debts and liabilities of the committee outstanding immediately preceding such commencement and distinguishing between the undischarged portion of any loans negotiated by the committee under section 5 (2) of the Agriculture (Amendment) Act, 1958 , and other debts and liabilities, and

(c) a statement of the principal and interest paid by the committee up to the date of such commencement in respect of each loan referred to in paragraph (b) of this section.

59. —(1) The Authority shall pay to each committee of agriculture, over such period and at such times and in such manner as the Minister may direct, such proportion of one-half of the net value of the assets of the committee transferred to the Authority under section 53 as the net expenditure of the committee concerned in the financial year immediately preceding the commencement of that section, in relation to the functions retained by it under this Act, bears to the total net expenditure of the committee in that financial year.

(2) The Authority shall, in relation to the balance of one-half of the net value of the transferred assets of the committee, enter as an expense in the part of the annual estimate referred to in section 44 which deals with expenditure on education and advisory services in the county concerned, such portion as the Minister may direct, and the Minister shall have regard to such entry when specifying the amount of the annual local contribution in the certificate referred to in section 39.

(3) For the purpose of this section—

(a) “net value of the transferred assets” means the sum of the total of—

(i) the valuations indicated in the inventory referred to in paragraph (a) of section 58, which relate to property other than property for the acquisition of which a loan was raised by the committee, and

(ii) the amounts specified in paragraph (c) of that section, less such portion of the total of the other debts and liabilities (other than the undischarged portions of any loans raised by the committee for the acquisition of property) referred to in paragraph (b) of that section as relates to the functions of the committee in question transferred to the Authority under sections 12 and 15, and

(b) “net expenditure” means the difference between the total expenditure (other than expenditure in connection with activities financed from loans negotiated under section 5 (2) of the Agriculture (Amendment) Act, 1958 ) of the committee concerned and the total receipts accruing to the committee during the financial year in question from all sources, other than—

(i) receipts in connection with activities financed from loans negotiated under the said section 5 (2), and

(ii) receipts by way of grants to the committee from the Minister and of contributions from the council of the county concerned.

(4) The valuations of property referred to in this section and in section 58 shall be such valuations as may be agreed upon between the committee and the Authority or, in default of agreement, such valuations as may be determined by the Minister.

60. —(1) Notwithstanding section 53, the lands and buildings (or any portion of the lands and buildings) together with any crops, livestock, equipment and other movable property on the properties referred to in subsection (1) (b) of that section which, before the commencement of that section, were used by the Minister for purposes other than the performance of functions transferred to the Authority under this Act, shall remain the property of the Minister, and the Authority shall, at all reasonable times, afford free access to such retained property to the Minister, his officers and servants in the performance of their functions and to such machinery and vehicles as may be necessary for the performance of those functions.

(2) The Minister may by order transfer, at his discretion, to the Authority any of the lands, buildings or other property referred to in subsection (1) or any other lands, buildings or property in his possession and, where such an order is made, the relevant provisions of sections 53 and 56 shall apply to the transfer.

61. —The dissolution of the Institute by section 10 shall not invalidate or affect any payable order or cheque issued by the Institute and not presented for payment before the commencement of that section, or any authority given by the Institute for the payment of the amount of any payable order or cheque and the Authority shall make arrangements for the payment of the amount of every such order or cheque upon due presentation within a reasonable time after such commencement.

62. —Any bond, guarantee or other security of a continuing character made or given by—

(a) the Institute, or

(b) a committee of agriculture, or

(c) the Minister,

in respect of properties and functions transferred to the Authority under this Act to another person, or by any person to the Institute or to a committee of agriculture or the Minister in respect of such properties and functions, and in force immediately before the commencement of section 53 and every contract or agreement in writing between the Institute, a committee of agriculture or the Minister in respect of such properties or functions and another person and not fully executed and completed before such commencement shall, notwithstanding the transfer of property effected by this Act, continue in force after such commencement and shall be construed and have effect as if the name of the Authority were substituted therein for, as the case may be, the name of the Institute or a committee of agriculture or the Minister, and such security, contract or agreement shall be enforceable accordingly by or against the Authority.

63. —In any action, suit, prosecution or other proceeding which was pending immediately before the commencement of section 53 in any court or tribunal and to which the Institute was a party, the Authority shall, on such commencement, become and be a party in place of the Institute, and those proceedings shall be continued between the Authority and other parties thereto accordingly, and no such proceedings shall abate or be discontinued or prejudicially affected by reason of the dissolution of the Institute.

64. —Any contract of service (express or implied) in force immediately before the commencement of section 53 between—

(a) the Institute, or

(b) a committee of agriculture, or

(c) the Minister,

in relation to the property and functions transferred to the Authority under this Act and any person, not being an officer or servant of the Institute or of the Minister or of a committee of agriculture, shall continue in force on or after such commencement but shall be construed and have effect as if the name of the Authority were substituted therein for the name of the Institute, the committee of agriculture or the Minister, as the case may be, and every such contract shall be enforceable accordingly by or against the Authority or, as the case may be, the person concerned.

65. —(1) Every person who, immediately before the commencement of this section, is in the service of the Institute or a committee of agriculture shall, on such commencement, be transferred to and become, as the case may be, an officer or servant of the Authority, and all persons so transferred shall be members of the transferred staff of the Authority and are in this Act referred to as transferred staff.

(2) Any person in the service of the Minister who is designated by him for transfer to the Authority shall, on the date of such designation, be transferred to and become, as the case may be, an officer or servant of the Authority and all persons so transferred shall be members of the transferred staff and are in this Act referred to as transferred staff.

(3) (a) Subject to subsection (4), a member of the transferred staff shall not, while in the service of the Authority, receive less remuneration or be subject to less beneficial conditions of service than the remuneration to which he was entitled and the conditions of service to which he was subject in the service from which he has been transferred.

(b) Until such time as a staff scheme applicable to a particular member of the transferred staff and approved by the Minister under section 34 comes into operation, the conditions of service, restrictions, requirements and obligations to which the member was subject before his transfer to the service of the Authority shall continue to apply to him and may be exercised or imposed by the Board or the Director, as the case may be, while he is in the service of the Authority.

(4) The Board may, subject to section 34 and following consultation with the recognised staff associations and trade unions concerned, redistribute or rearrange the duties to be performed by members of the transferred staff as appropriate to their grade or employment and every such member shall be bound to perform the duties allotted to him in any such redistribution or rearrangement, and no such redistribution or rearrangement shall be taken to be a removal from or abolition of office for the purpose of any scheme or enactment relating to superannuation or compensation for loss of office.

66. —(1) A member of the transferred staff shall not, while in the service of the Authority, be subject to less favourable conditions in relation to the grant of superannuation allowances (whether by way of lump sum, pension, gratuity or compensation for loss of office) than the conditions which applied to him immediately before his transfer to the service of the Authority.

(2) (a) Every member of the transferred staff who, immediately before the commencement of section 65, was in the service of a committee of agriculture and was required to make contributions to the committee for the purpose of the Act of 1956 shall, until a superannuation scheme applicable to him and approved by the Minister under section 35 comes into operation, pay to the Authority the appropriate contributions under sections 23 and 43 of the Act of 1956, as he would have been liable to pay if he had continued to be an officer or servant of such committee.

(b) The arrangements for the payment to the Authority of contributions under this section shall be as required by sections 23 (2) and 43 (2) of the Act of 1956 and for the purpose of this section “the Authority” shall be substituted for “a local authority” in the said sections 23 (2) and 43 (2).

(c) Section 24 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (which relates to the return by a local authority of contributions to pensionable officers) and section 44 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (which relates to the return of such contributions to pensionable servants) of the Act of 1956 shall have effect in relation to contributions paid to the Authority under this section as if the liabilities imposed on a local authority by those sections were liabilities of the Authority.

(d) Where contributions are, by virtue of paragraph (c), returned to a member of the transferred staff who, prior to his transfer to the Authority had made contributions for superannuation to a local authority or any other body under section 24 (1) or 44 (1) of the Act of 1956, the Authority shall also return to him or, as the case may be, to his legal personal representative, the total amount of such contributions, and the local authority and the other body (if any) concerned shall recoup to the Authority such sum as may be held by them in respect of the contributions made by the member.

(e) Contributions returned to a member of the transferred staff under paragraphs (c) and (d) may be repaid to the Authority in accordance with such directions and subject to such conditions as the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister for the Public Service, may specify.

(3) Where an allowance to which subsection (1) relates falls due for payment to or in respect of a member of the transferred staff in the period between the commencement of section 65 and the coming into operation of a scheme approved by the Minister under section 35, the allowance shall be calculated and paid by the Authority in accordance with such superannuation scheme, or such enactments in relation to superannuation, as applied to such member immediately before his transfer to the service of the Authority and, for that purpose, his pensionable service with the Authority shall be aggregated with his previous pensionable service.

67. —(1) Where an allowance to which section 66 relates is paid under this Act to or in respect of any person and in determining the amount thereof any period of service which was not service with the Authority was reckoned, then, subject to section 68, a refund shall be made to the Authority in respect of such service—

(a) in case it was service in the civil service (as defined in the Act of 1956), by the Minister for the Public Service, of such amount as he may determine, and

(b) in case it was service under a committee of agriculture, by the council of the county which appointed that committee, of such amount as the Minister for the Public Service may determine, after consultation with the Authority and such council.

(2) Payments made by the Minister for the Public Service under this section shall be made out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

68. —(1) Where, within the period between the commencement of section 65 and the coming into operation of a scheme approved by the Minister under section 35 which is applicable to the officer concerned, an allowance to which section 66 relates falls for payment to a transferred officer who before his transfer was a pensionable officer of a committee of agriculture and to whom section 13 of the Act of 1956 is applicable, the Board may decide to add a period of years to the officer's pensionable service as if the Authority were a local authority and, in that event, the allowance shall be calculated and paid by the Authority in relation to the officer's total pensionable service, including any addition thereto that may have been decided on under this subsection.

(2) Where, under subsection (1), a period of years has been added to the pensionable service of a transferred officer and an allowance to which section 66 relates is paid by the Authority to the officer, the council of the county which appointed the committee shall, notwithstanding section 67, refund to the Authority such proportion of the allowance attributable to the period of years so added as the officer's pensionable local service bears to his total pensionable service (excluding any period added under this section).

69. —Where, in the case of a member of the transferred staff to whom a scheme approved by the Minister under sections 34 or 35 has not been applied, a complaint is made to the Minister either by the member, his legal personal representative or a recognised staff association or trade union acting on his behalf, that either his conditions of service are less beneficial, or the conditions in relation to the grant to him of superannuation allowances (whether by way of pension, lump sum, gratuity or compensation for loss of office), are less favourable than those which applied to him immediately before his transfer to the service of the Authority, the Minister shall arrange to have such complaint heard by a person appointed by him for that purpose and agreed by the member, the legal personal representative, the staff association or trade union, as the case may be, who made the complaint. The person so appointed, having heard such representations as may be put forward by or on behalf of the complainant and any representations that may be made on behalf of the Board, shall report on the matter to the Minister who having considered the report, shall give his decision on the complaint.