Number 17 of 1951.
POST OFFICE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1951.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Acts Referred to | |
No. 5 of 1947 | |
Number 17 of 1951.
POST OFFICE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1951.
Interpretation.
1.—In this Act—
the expression “the Act of 1908” means the Post Office Act, 1908; the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.
Repeal of limit on postage rates for inland registered newspapers.
2.—(1) Paragraph (iii) of proviso (b) to subsection (1) of section 2 of the Act of 1908, as amended by subsection (2) of section 2 of the Post Office and Telegraph Act, 1920, is hereby repealed.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1948.
Repeal of limit on postage rates for newspapers sent out of the State.
3.—Proviso (c) to subsection (1) of section 2 of the Act of 1908 is hereby repealed.
Special postage rates for articles specially adapted for the use of the blind.
4.—Proviso (d) to subsection (1) of section 2 of the Act of 1908 is hereby amended by the insertion after the words “books and papers impressed for the use of the blind” of the words “or of any articles specially adapted for the use of the blind”.
Forms, amounts and poundage of postal orders.
5.—(1) The special form in which postal orders may be issued in accordance with the provisions of section 24 of the Act of 1908 shall be prescribed by the Minister, and accordingly in subsection (1) of that section for the words “the regulations made under the preceding section” there shall be substituted the word “him” and for the words “the said regulations” there shall be substituted the words “the regulations made under the preceding section”.
(2) Proviso (a) to subsection (1) of section 24 of the Act of 1908 shall cease to have effect and the amounts for which postal orders may be issued and the poundage to be payable in respect of them shall be such as may be prescribed, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by Post Office regulations.
Amendment of postal rates.
6.—A warrant made for the purposes of subsection (2) of section 2 of the Act of 1908 may provide that, in such cases and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed therein, no additional postage shall be charged on an inland postal packet which is not prepaid or is insufficiently prepaid.
Extension of section 14 of the Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882.
7.—Section 14 of the Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882, shall have effect as if the references in the said section to “foreign parcels” included references to such foreign postal packets as may be specified by regulations made under that section, and the word “foreign” shall have the same meaning in relation to such postal packets as it has in relation to parcels.
Application of certain sections of the Act of 1908 to aircraft and amendment of those sections.
8.—(1) Sections 27 to 32, 34 and 51 of the Act of 1908 shall apply to aircraft as well as in relation to vessels and the said sections shall be amended in the manner set out in the Schedule to this Act.
(2) Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 30 of the Act of 1908, and subsection (3) of that section shall cease to have effect.
(3) Post Office regulations made for the purpose of section 31 of the Act of 1908 may provide for the allowance to owners of vessels or aircraft of the gratuities mentioned in that section, and subsection (1) of section 30 of the said Act in so far as it relates to such gratuities shall cease to have effect.
Amendment of sections 20 and 21 of the Act of 1908.
9.—(1) Section 20 of the Act of 1908 is hereby amended by the deletion of the words “the British Islands” in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and the substitution therefor of the words “the State”.
(2) Section 21 of the Act of 1908 is hereby amended by the deletion of the word “London” in subsection (1) and the substitution therefore of the word “Dublin”.
(3) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that a newspaper is registered at the General Post Office in London, the newspaper may be accepted for transmission by post at the same rates as apply in the case of a newspaper registered in the General Post Office in Dublin.
Cash-on-Delivery service.
10.—(1) Any Cash-on-Delivery service established by the Minister shall be conducted in accordance with such provisions as may be contained in Post Office regulations.
(2) In this section the expression “Cash-on-Delivery service” means a service whereby the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs undertakes at the request of the sender of a postal packet to collect, or secure the collection of, a sum of money on the sender's behalf from the addressee of the packet as a condition of delivery.
Rates for telephone messages to other States.
11.—(1) The sums to be paid on account of the transmission of messages by telephone from the State to any other State shall be such as may be determined from time to time by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
(2) Notice of a determination under subsection (1) of this section shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil at least fourteen days before the coming into operation of the determination.
Prohibition of use of certain words, letters, signs or marks.
12.—(1) No person shall without the authority of the Minister—
(a) place or maintain in or on any vessel, vehicle, aircraft or premises belonging to him or under his control, or
(b) use in any document in relation to himself or any other person or in relation to any vessel, vehicle, aircraft or premises,
any words, letters, signs or marks, which signify or imply or may reasonably lead a member of the public to believe that the vessel, vehicle, aircraft or premises is or are used by the Minister or with his authority for the purpose of collecting or conveying postal packets or that the person or the other person is authorised by the Minister to collect or convey such packets.
(2) Every person when required by a notice given by the Minister to remove or efface or cease to use any such words, letters, signs or marks as aforesaid shall comply with the requirement.
(3) Subsection (1) of section 66 of the Act of 1908 shall apply to the words “public telephone call office” and any other words, letters, signs or marks, which signify or imply or may reasonably lead a member of the public to believe that any place is a place where the public may make telephone calls, as it applies to the words “postal telegraph office”.
(4) Subsection (2) of the said section 66 shall apply in relation to a contravention of this section as it applies in relation to a contravention of that section.
Offences in connection with telephones.
13.—(1) If any person—
(a) sends any message by telephone which is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character;
(b) sends any message by telephone which he knows to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, or needless anxiety to any other person; or
(c) persistently makes telephone calls without reasonable cause and for any such purpose as aforesaid;
he shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) A contravention of this section shall be deemed to be an offence under the Act of 1908.
Adaptation of references to “His Majesty's service” in the Act of 1908.
14.—The references in subsection (1) of section 64 of the Act of 1908 to “His Majesty's service” shall be construed as references to the “service of the State” and the Act shall have effect accordingly.
Short title, citation and construction.
15.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Post Office (Amendment) Act, 1951.
(2) The Post Office Acts, 1908 to 1937, and this Act may be cited together as the Post Office Acts, 1908 to 1951.
(3) This Act shall be construed as one with the Act of 1908.
SCHEDULE.
Amendment of Sections 27 to 32, 34 and 51 of the Act of 1908.
Section | Amendment |
27 | In subsection (1) after the words “inward bound” there shall be inserted the words “and every pilot or other person in charge of an aircraft inward bound”; and after the word “vessel” where it secondly occurs there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. For subsection (2) there shall be substituted the following:— “(2) Where there are on board any inward bound vessel or aircraft any postal packets required to be delivered under subsection (1) of this section, the master of the vessel or the pilot or other person in charge of the aircraft shall not break bulk or make entry of any part of her cargo in any port or place until he has complied with this section.” In subsection (3) after the words “master of a vessel” there shall be inserted the words “or the pilot or other person in charge of an aircraft” Subsection (4) shall cease to have effect. In subsection (5) after the words “master of a vessel” there shall be inserted the words “or the pilot or other person in charge of an aircraft”; and after the word “vessel” where it secondly occurs there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. |
28 | After the words “master of a vessel” in both places where they occur there shall be inserted the words “or pilot or other person in charge of an aircraft” and for the words “bring on shore” there shall be substituted “deliver to the Post Office”. |
29 | In subsection (1) for the words “shall not allow any inward bound vessel to report until the declaration required by this Act with respect to postal packets has been made and produced to him and” there shall be substituted the words “or an authorised officer appointed by the Minister for Industry and Commerce under section 8 of the Customs Free Airport Act, 1947 (No. 5 of 1947),”; for the words “such a vessel” there shall be substituted the words “any inward bound vessel”; after the word “vessel” wherever it occurs there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. In subsection (2) after the words “officer of customs” there shall be inserted the words “or an authorised officer appointed by the Minister for Industry and Commerce under section 8 of the Customs Free Airport Act, 1947” after the word “vessel” there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. |
30 | In subsection (1) after the word “vessels” where it first occurs there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”; for the words “when not exceeding the weights and” there shall be substituted the words “or aircraft”; after the word “port” there shall be inserted the words “or place”; after the word “vessel's” there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft's”; after the word “master” there shall be inserted the words “of the vessel or the pilot or other person in charge of the aircraft”. In paragraph (c) of subsection (2) after the word “manifest” there shall be inserted the words “or by the manifest and declaration of the aircraft”; and after the word “vessel” there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. In subsection (4) after the word “vessel” in both places where it occurs there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. |
31 | After the word “vessels” where it first occurs, there shall be inserted the words “or owners or persons in charge of aircraft” for the word “seamen” there shall be substituted the word “crew”; and after the word “vessels”, where it secondly occurs, there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. |
32 | For the words “the master or one of the officers or crew of a vessel inward bound” there shall be substituted the words “the master of a vessel inward bound or the pilot or other person in charge of an aircraft inward bound or one of the officers or crew of such a vessel or aircraft”; after the word “master” where it secondly occurs there shall be inserted the words “of the vessel or the pilot or other person in charge of the aircraft”; the words “his vessel” shall cease to have effect; after the word “vessel” where it last occurs, there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”; and after the words “officer of customs” there shall be inserted the words “or an authorised officer appointed by the Minister for Industry and Commerce under section 8 of the Customs Free Airport Act, 1947”. |
34 | In paragraph (e) of subsection (2) after the word “vessels” in both places where it occurs there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. At the beginning of paragraph (ii) of subsection (3) there shall be inserted the words “owners or pilots or other persons in charge of aircraft, or” and after the word “ships” where it secondly occurs, there shall be inserted the word “aircraft”; in paragraph (iii) of that subsection after the word “vessel” there shall be inserted the word “aircraft”. In subsection (6) after the word “water” there shall be inserted the words “or by air,” and after the word “vessels” there shall be inserted the words “or aircraft”. |
51 | After the word “vessel” there shall be inserted the words “vehicle or aircraft”. |