PART V

Miscellaneous

64. —(1) The Minister may by order provide for the payment by the owner or operator of an aircraft of all or part of the costs incurred by the Minister in the investigation of an accident of a specified kind, or other incident of a specified kind, involving the aircraft.

(2) An order under this section may apply to—

(a) aircraft generally or specified classes of aircraft, and

(b) owners or operators generally of aircraft or specified classes of such owners or operators.

65. —(1) The company may by order—

(a) require that notice be given to the company in such manner, within such time and by such person as may be specified of—

(i) any accident involving an aircraft notice of which is required by or under the Acts to be given to the Secretary of the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, or

(ii) any incident (other than an accident aforesaid) of a kind specified in the order involving aircraft, and

(b) provide for the investigation by officers of the company of incidents specified pursuant to paragraph (a) (ii) in an order under this section.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), an order under this section may—

(a) authorise a member of the staff of the company who is conducting an investigation under this section to detain the aircraft concerned,

(b) authorise such a member to have access to the aircraft concerned and its equipment, to examine and test the aircraft and its equipment and to remove and detain any such equipment,

(c) authorise such a member to obtain from any person such information within his knowledge or procurement as he may reasonably require for the purposes of his functions under this section and for that purpose to require his attendance at a specified place and time on a specified day,

(d) authorise such a member to have access to such records as he may reasonably require for the purposes of his functions under this section and to examine and take copies of or of extracts from any such records, and

(e) authorise such a member to enter any place where such entry is reasonably required for the purposes of his functions.

(3) An officer of the Minister who is investigating an accident referred to in subsection (1) shall allow members of the staff of the company authorised by the company in that behalf to have access to the aircraft involved in the accident, and to examine the aircraft and its equipment, at such reasonable times as the officer of the Minister may determine.

(4) The company shall, if so requested by the Minister, furnish to him a report in writing in relation to any incident investigated by it under this section and specifying the results of the investigation.

66. —(1) If it appears to the Minister that an aircraft does not comply with the standards specified in a direction under section 13 of the Act of 1988, he may give a direction in writing to the company requiring it to cancel the registration of the aircraft under this Act on such date as may be specified in the direction or, as may be appropriate, to refuse to register the aircraft under this Act.

(2) Upon receipt of a direction under this section, the company shall forthwith notify the owner of the aircraft concerned of the direction and its contents and shall cancel the registration concerned on the date specified in the direction or, as the case may be, refuse to register the aircraft under this Act.

67. —The powers conferred on the Minister by sections 32 and 41 of the Act of 1988 in relation to a matter to which a function of the company relates shall, in lieu of being exercisable by the Minister, be exercisable by the company with the following, and any other necessary, modifications:

(a) the references in the said section 32 to aerodrome charges shall be construed as references to charges for air navigation services or aeronautical communications services payable to the Minister or the company or, under the terms of the Multilateral Agreement, to Eurocontrol,

(b) the references in the said section 32 to aircraft documents shall be construed as references to certificates, records or other documents relating to the use of an aircraft or its equipment,

(c) in the said section 32—

(i) in subsection (2), “or, in case the charges are alleged to be due to Eurocontrol, to Eurocontrol” shall be inserted after “as the case may be,”,

(ii) in subsection (3) (a), “or Eurocontrol” shall be inserted after “authority”, and

(iii) in subsection (10) “or Eurocontrol” shall be inserted after “authority”,

(d) in subsection (1) of the said section 41, the following shall be substituted for paragraphs (a) to (d):

“(a) any provision of the Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993, or order or regulations made or directions given thereunder,

(b) the Annexes to the Chicago Convention specified in the Schedule to the Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993,

(c) (i) the Eurocontrol Convention,

(ii) the Principal Act and instruments made thereunder,

(iii) orders made under Part II of the Act of 1946 and regulations made and directions given under such orders, or

(iv) instruments made under the Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) Act, 1963.”, and

(e) in the said section 41, the following shall be substituted for subsection (6):

“(6) In this section ‘authorised officer’ means an authorised officer of the company within the meaning of the Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993.”.

68. —(1) The company shall by order made with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Defence designate areas of Irish airspace (an area so designated being referred to in this section as “a designated area”) for use by the Defence Forces.

(2) Aircraft other than aircraft of the Defence Forces shall not enter a designated area without the permission of the person operating air navigation services in the area.

(3) Air navigation services in a designated area may be provided and operated by the Minister for Defence or, with the consent of the Minister for Defence, by the company or, by agreement between them, by the Minister for Defence and the company.

69. —Property vested in the company on or after the vesting day shall from the commencement of the financial year commencing next after the vesting day, cease to be exempt from the rate chargeable by a local authority notwithstanding that the property may appear as exempt on a valuation list.

70. —(1) The Minister may by order transfer to the company the functions of the Minister under section 5 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 , or assign to the company functions of the Minister under section 7 of that Act in so far, in each case, as they relate to apparatus for wireless telegraphy in aircraft.

(2) (a) Where an order under subsection (1) is in force, in relation to functions under the said section 7, those functions shall continue to be vested in the Minister but shall be so vested concurrently with the company and so as to be capable of being performed, as the Minister may determine, by the Minister or the company.

(b) Any fees paid to the company under the said section 5 shall be remitted by it to the Minister subject to the deduction therefrom by the company of such amounts as may be determined by the company and the Minister in respect of the expenses incurred by the company under the said section 5.

(3) The company shall furnish to the Minister information in relation to such matters concerning the performance of functions transferred or assigned to it under this section as he may request.

(4) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that section 3 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 , applies to the company.

71. —The Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Acts, 1977 to 1991, shall not apply to the company.

72. —(1) Sections 55 and 56 of the Principal Act, as amended, in each case, by the Act of 1988, shall have effect as if the references to an order under Part II of the Act of 1946 included references to an order under this Act.

(2) The powers conferred on the Minister by sections 13 and 14 of the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1950 , may be exercised also by the company and, for the purposes of such exercise—

(a) the references in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) of section 13 to an authorised person shall be construed as references to an authorised officer of the company, and

(b) the references in those sections to the Minister shall be construed as references to the company.

(3) The powers conferred on the Minister by section 9 of the Act of 1988 in relation to the licences and authorisations specified in that section may be exercised by him also in relation to licences and authorisations for the operation of aerodromes granted by the company.

(4) An authorised officer of the company may for the purposes of the enforcement of any provisions of—

(a) the Acts or this Act or an instrument made or given thereunder and relating to a matter to which a function of the company relates,

(b) the Annexes to the Chicago Convention specified in the Schedule , or

(c) the Eurocontrol Convention,

exercise any of the powers conferred by section 18 of the Act of 1988 on an authorised person within the meaning of that section and, for the purposes of such exercise, subsections (2) and (4) of that section shall apply in relation to an authorised officer of the company as they apply in relation to an authorised person within the meaning aforesaid.

(5) The powers conferred on an authorised officer within the meaning of section 33 of the Act of 1988 by subsection (1) (b) of that section may be exercised by an authorised person within the meaning of section 18 of that Act.

(6) (a) Section 28 of the Act of 1988 is hereby amended by the substitution of “£100,000” for “£50,000” in each place where it occurs in subsections (1) (b), (2) (b) and (3) (b).

(b) Section 29 of the Act of 1988 is hereby amended by the substitution of “£100,000” for “£50,000” in subsections (1) (b) and (2) (b).

73. —(1) Summary proceedings for an offence consisting of a contravention of an instrument to which section 74 applies made, given or issued by the company or an offence under section 74 (5) (other than an offence in relation to an authorised officer) may be brought and prosecuted by the company.

(2) Summary proceedings for an offence under section 33 , 34 , 35 or 36 or an offence consisting of a contravention of an instrument to which section 74 applies made, given or issued by the Minister or an offence under section 74 (5) in relation to an authorised officer may be prosecuted by the Minister.

(3) 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.

74. —(1) Without prejudice to subsection (2), if in relation to an aircraft there is a contravention of a provision of this Act or an instrument to which this section applies, the operator of the aircraft (not being the State) and the pilot in command thereof shall be deemed to have contravened the provision or instrument, as the case may be.

(2) A person who contravenes or is deemed to have contravened an instrument to which this section applies or fails to comply with a condition thereof shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) A person guilty of—

(a) an offence under section 33 , 34 , 35 or 36, or

(b) an offence under subsection (2) (other than such an offence consisting of a contravention of regulations under section 43 (4) or 56 ),

shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) consisting of a contravention of a regulation under section 43 (4) or section 56 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(5) A person who obstructs or impedes an authorised officer, an authorised officer of the company, a member of the staff of the company or an officer of Eurocontrol in the performance of any function conferred on him by or under this Act or fails to furnish to such a member information to which he is entitled under an order under section 65 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(6) In a prosecution of a person for an offence under this Act (other than sections 33 to 36), it shall be a defence for the person to prove that the contravention concerned was due to stress of weather or other unavoidable cause and in a prosecution of the operator or pilot in command of an aircraft for such an offence, it shall be a defence for him to prove that the contravention concerned took place without his actual default or privity.

(7) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and 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, being a director, manager or secretary of such body, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

(8) On conviction of a person on indictment for an offence under this Act, the court may, in addition to any other penalty, order any apparatus, equipment or other thing, other than an aircraft, used to commit the offence to be forfeited.

(9) (a) In this section “an instrument to which this section applies” means an order or regulation made under this Act or (in so far as it relates to a matter to which a function of the company relates) the Acts or the Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) Acts, 1963 to 1983, a direction or authorisation to aircraft to proceed given under this Act or (in so far as it relates to such a matter as aforesaid) the Acts or under an order or regulation made under this Act or (in so far as it relates to such a matter as aforesaid) the Acts and a certificate, licence or authorisation issued or given under this Act or (in so far as it relates to such a matter as aforesaid) the Acts.

(b) In paragraph (a) “authorisation to proceed” means an authorisation or instruction, whether oral or written and by whatever name called given by or on behalf of the company to the pilot in charge of an aircraft in relation to the piloting, control or movement of the aircraft or otherwise in relation to the aircraft.