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30 1981

FIRE SERVICES ACT, 1981

PART I

Preliminary and General

Short title and commencement.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Fire Services Act, 1981.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be appointed by order or orders of the Minister, either generally or with reference to a particular purpose or provision, and different days may be fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

Interpretation.

2. —(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

building” means a building, structure or erection (whether permanent or temporary) of any kind or of any materials;

fire authority” means a fire authority to which section 9 applies;

fire brigade” means an organised body of persons trained and equipped for extinguishing fires occurring in buildings and other places and for rescuing persons and property from such fires, and includes the vehicles and equipment with which that body is provided;

fire hydrant” includes any hydrant marker-plate, cover or box;

fire safety” includes fire prevention and precautions against fire;

flammable” includes combustible;

functional area”, in relation to a fire authority, has the meaning assigned by section 9 (3);

functions” includes powers and duties;

the Minister” means the Minister for the Environment;

owner” includes any person having any estate or interest in premises;

person in control”, in relation to a fire or other emergency, has the meaning assigned by section 27 ;

planning authority” has the meaning assigned by section 2 (2) of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 ;

potentially dangerous building” has the meaning assigned by section 19 ;

prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

reserved function” means—

(a) in the case of the council of a county or an elective body for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1972, a reserved function for the purposes of those Acts;

(b) in the case of the corporation of a county borough, a reserved function for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of the county borough;

sanitary authority” means a sanitary authority for the purposes of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts, 1878 to 1964.

(2) In this Act references to extinguishing a fire shall be construed as including the prevention of a fire from spreading.

(3) A reference in this Act to a section is to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(4) A reference in this Act to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

(5) A reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by any subsequent enactment.

Orders and regulations.

3. —(1) The Minister may make orders and regulations for the purposes of this Act.

(2) Every order of the Minister under section 9 or 11 and every regulation made by him under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order or regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent 21 days on which that House has sat after the order or regulation is laid before it, the order or regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Offences.

4. —Any person who contravenes (by act or omission) any requirement of Part III of this Act or of any regulation under this Act or of any notice to which this Act applies shall be guilty of an offence.

Penalties.

5. —(1) A person guilty of an offence under this Act (other than an offence to which subsection (2) applies) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(2) A person guilty of an offence by reason of a contravention of section 18 (2), 20 or 37 shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £10,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(3) A Justice of the District Court shall have jurisdiction to try summarily an offence to which subsection (2) relates if—

(a) the Justice is of opinion that the facts proved or alleged against a defendant charged with such an offence constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily,

(b) the Director of Public Prosecutions consents, and

(c) the defendant (on being informed by the Justice of his right to be tried by a jury) does not object to being tried summarily,

and, upon conviction under this subsection, the defendant shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £500, or at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(4) Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 , shall apply in relation to an offence to which subsection (2) relates as if, in lieu of the penalties provided for in subsection (3) of the said section, there were specified therein the penalties provided for in subsection (3) of this section, and the reference in subsection (2) (a) of the said section 13 to the penalties provided for in the said subsection (3) shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(5) Where an offence under this Act which is committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person (or any person acting on his behalf) being a director, manager, or secretary of such body, that person or the person so acting as the case may be, shall also be guilty of that offence.

Summary prosecution of offences.

6. —(1) Summary proceedings for an offence to which section 5 (1) applies may be brought and prosecuted by the fire authority for the functional area in which the offence is alleged to have been committed or by any other person.

(2) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted within 12 months from the date of the offence.

Expenses of Minister.

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 following Acts are hereby repealed—

the Cinematograph Act, 1909,

the Fire Brigades Act, 1940 .

(2) Every agreement in force immediately before the commencement of this section under section 2 (3) (a) of the Fire Brigades Act, 1940 , between a sanitary authority and a fire brigade authority shall, where each of them becomes a fire authority on such commencement, continue in force and shall be deemed to be an agreement made under section 59 of the Local Government Act, 1955 .