Number 8 of 1931.
AGRICULTURE ACT, 1931.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Preliminary.
Section | |
DISSOLUTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION FOR IRELAND AND TRANSFER OF THE FUNCTIONS THEREOF.
AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY SCHEMES.
Application of certain provisions of the Act of 1925 as amended. | |
Application of Local Authorities (Mutual Assurance) Acts, 1926 and 1928. | |
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS.
Transfer of debts and liabilities to committees of agriculture. | |
MISCELLANEOUS.
Enactments, the Powers and Duties under which are Transferred by this Act
Appointment and Membership of Committees of Agriculture
Rules for Payments of Travelling Expenses
Enactments repealed
Acts Referred to | |
No. 5 of 1925 | |
No. 3 of 1927 | |
No. 29 of 1924 | |
No. 36 of 1929 | |
No. 39 of 1926 | |
No. 26 of 1928 | |
Number 8 of 1931.
AGRICULTURE ACT, 1931.
Preliminary.
Short title and commencement.
1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Agriculture Act, 1931.
(2) This Act shall come into operation on the 1st day of April, 1931.
Definitions.
2.—In this Act—
the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture;
the expression “the Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland;
the expression “the Act of 1899” means the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899;
the expression “the Act of 1925” means the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925);
the expression “the Act of 1927” means the Local Government Act, 1927 (No. 3 of 1927);
the expression “the purposes of agriculture and other rural industries” includes assistance, improvement, and development of and instruction in all or any of the following industries, that is to say, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, dairying, the breeding of horses, cattle and other live stock and poultry, bee-keeping, the cultivation and preparation of flax, and any industry immediately connected with and subservient to any of the said industries, and the said expression also includes aiding or facilitating the carriage and distribution of agricultural requisites and produce;
the word “county” means an administrative county but does not include a county borough;
the expression “rateable value” means the annual rateable value under the Valuation Acts;
the expression “local financial year” means a period of twelve months ending on any 31st day of March.
PART I.
Dissolution of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland and Transfer of the Functions thereof.
Dissolution of the Department.
3.—Immediately upon the commencement of this Act the Department shall stand dissolved.
Transfer of powers and duties to the Minister for Agriculture.
4.—(1) The several powers and duties (in this Act collectively referred to as the powers and duties transferred to the Minister) hereinafter mentioned are hereby transferred to and conferred and imposed on the Minister, that is to say:—
(a) the several powers and duties under the respective enactments mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act which, immediately before the commencement of this Act, were exercised or performed or capable of being exercised or performed by the Department, and
(b) the powers and duties in connection with the Albert Agricultural College (otherwise known as the Albert Agricultural and Dairy Training Department and formerly known as the Albert Institution) at Glasnevin, Dublin, and the Munster Institute (otherwise known as the Munster Dairy School and Agricultural Institute and formerly known as the Munster Institution) which were transferred to the Department under paragraph (h) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Act of 1899 and all other (if any) powers and duties exercised or performed or capable of being exercised or performed by the Department in connection with the said College or the said Institute immediately before the commencement of this Act, and
(c) all other (if any) statutory powers and duties (except powers and duties transferred by this Act to the Minister for Industry and Commerce) which immediately before the commencement of this Act were exercised or performed or were capable of being exercised or performed by the Department.
(2) In addition to the powers and duties hereinbefore transferred to the Minister, the Minister shall have and may exercise and perform the following powers and duties heretofore vested in the Department under the Act of 1899, that is to say:—
(a) the Minister may make, or cause to be made, or aid in making, such inquiries, experiments, and research, and collect, or aid in collecting, such information as he may think important for the purposes of agriculture and other rural industries; and
(b) the Minister may take such steps as he thinks proper for appearing as complainant on behalf of any person aggrieved in reference to any matter (other than a matter affecting the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs) which the Railway Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and determine by virtue of any function, jurisdiction, power, or duty transferred to it from the Railway and Canal Commissioners; and
(c) the Minister may take such steps as he thinks proper for instituting prosecutions under sections 6, 7 and 8 of the Fertilizers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1906.
(3) In addition to the powers conferred on the Minister by paragraph (b) of the foregoing sub-section and without prejudice to the exercise of such powers, the Minister shall have the right of audience either by an officer of the Minister or by counsel or solicitor, before the Railway Tribunal in relation to any matter which the Railway Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and determine by virtue of the Railways Act, 1924 (No. 29 of 1924).
(4) The Minister shall before exercising the powers conferred on him by paragraph (b) of sub-section (2) of this section or the right conferred on him by sub-section (3) of this section consult with the Minister for Industry and Commerce in regard to the exercise of such powers or right.
(5) The Minister may publish in such manner as shall appear to him desirable such particulars as he shall think fit in regard to any inquiries, experiments, research, and information made or collected by or for him or with his aid under or by virtue of the powers in that behalf hereinbefore conferred on him.
Transfer of powers and duties to the Minister for Industry and Commerce.
5.—The powers and duties (in this Act collectively referred to as the powers and duties transferred to the Minister for Industry and Commerce) under section 3 and sub-section (2) of section 4 of the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Act, 1891, which were formerly vested in the Irish Land Commission and immediately before the commencement of this Act were vested in the Department are hereby transferred to and conferred and imposed on the Minister for Industry and Commerce.
Transfer of Officers.
6.—(1) Such of the officers of the Department as are at the commencement of this Act concerned with the powers and duties transferred to the Minister are hereby transferred to the Department of Agriculture.
(2) Such of the officers of the Department as are at the commencement of this Act concerned with the powers and duties transferred to the Minister for Industry and Commerce are hereby transferred to the Department of Industry and Commerce.
Adaptation of existing enactments.
7.—(1) Every mention or reference contained in any enactment to which this section applies in relation to the exercise or performance of the powers and duties transferred to the Minister of or to the Lord Lieutenant, the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, the Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, the Commissioners of National Education, the Irish Land Commission, the Loan Fund Board, or the Department shall be construed and take effect as a mention of or reference to the Minister for Agriculture.
(2) Every mention or reference contained in any enactment to which this section applies in relation to the exercise or performance of the powers and duties transferred to the Minister for Industry and Commerce of or to the Irish Land Commission or the Department shall be construed and take effect as a mention of or a reference to the Minister for Industry and Commerce.
(3) This section applies to the following enactments, that is to say, every Act of the Oireachtas passed before the commencement of this Act, and every British Statute, and every order, rule, regulation or bye-law made or to be made under any such Act or Statute or under any such Act and any such Statute jointly.
Transfer of property of the Department.
8.—(1) Immediately upon the commencement of this Act all land in Saorstát Eireann which immediately before the commencement of this Act is by statute, deed, contract, or otherwise vested in or held in trust for the Department shall without any conveyance thereof become and be vested in or held in trust for (as the case may require) the Minister for all the estate, term and interest for which the same were immediately before the commencement of this Act vested in or held in trust for the Department.
(2) Immediately upon the commencement of this Act all property and assets (including choses-in-action but excluding land) which immediately before the commencement of this Act, are by statute, deed, contract, or otherwise vested in or held in trust for or by the Department shall vest in the Minister for all the interest for which the same were immediately before the commencement of this Act vested in or held in trust for the Department.
(3) All moneys, stocks, shares and securities transferred to the Minister by this section which at the date of the commencement of this Act are standing in the books of the Bank of Ireland or of any other corporation or company in the name of the Department shall, upon the request of the Minister, be transferred into the name of the Minister.
(4) From and after the commencement of this Act, every bond, obligation, security or other chose-in-action made with or to the Department and the benefit of which is transferred by this section may be sued upon by the Minister in his own name and it shall not be necessary for the Minister to give notice to the person bound by such bond, obligation, security or chose-in-action of the transfer effected by this section.
Adaptation of pending contracts.
9.—(1) Every deed and every contract in writing made before the commencement of this Act with or by any person by or with the Department shall, if and so far as the terms and provisions of such deed, contract or agreement are not fully executed and completed before the commencement of this Act, be construed and read as if the Minister were substituted in such deed, contract or agreement for the Department.
(2) The benefits conferred and the obligations imposed on the Department by any such deed, contract or agreement as is mentioned in the preceding sub-section shall, so far as the same remain to be performed, be as from the commencement of this Act respectively vested in or imposed on the Minister as fully as if the Minister were actually named in such deed, contract or agreement.
Continuation of proceedings pending by or against the Department.
10.—In all suits, matters and proceedings to which the Department are a party and which at the commencement of this Act are pending in any Court in Saorstát Eireann, the Minister shall immediately upon the commencement of this Act become and be a party in place of the Department, and every such suit, matter and proceeding shall be continued between the Minister and the other parties thereto accordingly.
Consultative Councils.
11.—(1) The Minister whenever and so often as he so thinks fit may with the consent of the Minister for Finance and after consultation with such bodies and persons as he shall consider most representative of the several interests concerned, establish by order a consultative council for giving advice and assistance to him in relation to such matters (being matters relating to or concerned with the public services for the time being comprised in the Department of Agriculture other than matters which by virtue of an Act of the Oireachtas passed before or after this Act are the concern of a consultative council established under such Act) as he shall specify in such order or in any subsequent order.
(2) A consultative council established under this section shall consist of such persons having experience or special knowledge of the matters on which such council may give advice or assistance to the Minister as the Minister, after such consultation as aforesaid, shall from time to time nominate to be member; thereof.
(3) Every member of a consultative council established under this section shall, unless he previously dies or resigns, retain his membership for two years only from the date of his nomination, but shall be eligible for re-nomination.
(4) A consultative council established under this section shall meet whenever summoned by the Minister and also on such other occasions as such council shall from time to time determine.
(5) Payments may be made by the Minister, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to members of a consultative council established under this section or of a committee thereof, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, in respect of repayment of travelling expenses and payment of subsistence allowance.
Superannuation of certain former officers of the Department.
12.—(1) There may be granted to or in respect of such persons (being persons who at the passing of this Act are in the service of the Government of Saorstát Eireann and who at any time were paid wholly or partly out of any special fund) as may be approved by the Minister for Finance and in respect of such service as that Minister may direct, superannuation or other allowances or gratuities on the scale laid down in the Superannuation Acts for the time being in force, and subject to the provisions of those Acts (except so much of section 17 of the Superannuation Act, 1859, as enacts that for the purposes of that Act no person hereafter to be appointed shall be deemed to have served in the permanent Civil Service of the State unless such person holds his appointment or has been admitted into the Civil Service in the manner therein mentioned), and for the purposes of this section such persons as may be so approved shall be deemed to have been paid in respect of every period of service which is special service from moneys voted by the Oireachtas within the meaning of section 17 of the Superannuation Act, 1859.
(2) Whenever a person who has been approved by the Minister for Finance under the foregoing sub-section is a transferred officer within the meaning of the Civil Service (Transferred Officers) Compensation Act, 1929 (No. 36 of 1929) and is alive at the time such approval is given the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) such approval shall be deemed to be granted subject to a condition (in this sub-section referred to as the first condition) that any benefit accruing to such person under this section shall not be taken into account in determining any question of compensation under the said Act; and
(b) subject to the next following paragraph, such approval shall also be deemed to be granted subject to a condition (in this sub-section referred to as the second condition) that such person shall send to the Minister for Finance within one month after such approval has been notified to him a consent in writing accepting the first condition and in the event of such person failing or neglecting to comply with the second condition such failure or neglect shall operate as a cancellation of such approval; and
(c) such approval shall not be deemed to be granted subject to the second condition if—
(i) such person dies before such approval is notified to him, or
(ii) such person dies after such approval is notified to him and within a period of one month from the date of such notification, or
(iii) the Minister for Finance certifies that having regard to bodily or mental infirmity of such person, such approval should not in the case of such person be deemed to be granted subject to the second condition.
(3) In this section—
the expression “special fund” means—
(a) the former Cattle Pleuro-pneumonia Account for Ireland of the General Cattle Diseases Fund being the Account referred to in section 73 of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894; or
(b) moneys (including proceeds thereof) formerly placed at the disposal of the Department by section 15 of the Act of 1899; or
(c) moneys (including proceeds thereof) formerly placed at the disposal of the Department by section 1 of the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) (No. 2) Act, 1902; or
(d) moneys (including proceeds thereof) formerly placed at the disposal of the Department by section 49 of the Irish Land Act, 1909; or
(e) moneys (including proceeds thereof) formerly placed at the disposal of the Department under sections 1 and 2 of the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act, 1909; or
(f) the former Forestry Fund established under section 8 of the Forestry Act, 1919;
the expression “special service” means—
(a) service under the Department; or
(b) service under the Minister; or
(c) in the case of an officer of any committee or joint committee appointed under section 14 of the Act of 1899 who was appointed to a situation directly under the Department on or prior to the 6th day of December, 1922, service under such committee or joint committee; or
(d) service under the Forestry Commissioners; or
(e) service under any other authority the whole or part of whose powers and duties was transferred directly or indirectly to the Minister or to the Department.
PART II
Agricultural and Forestry Schemes.
Establishment of committee of agriculture.
13.—There shall be in every county a committee, to be called a committee of agriculture, to fulfil in respect of such county the functions assigned to committees of agriculture by this Part of this Act.
Existing committees of agriculture.
14.—(1) The committee which at the commencement of this Act is in a county the committee appointed under section 14 of the Act of 1899 for that county shall be the committee of agriculture for that county for the purposes of this Act until the first annual meeting of the council of that county held next after the commencement of this Act.
(2) So long as a committee appointed under section 14 of the Act of 1899 continues to be a committee of agriculture for the purposes of this Act all the enactments, rules and orders regulating the appointment and membership of such committee which were in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue to apply to such committee notwithstanding anything contained in this Act.
Appointment and membership of committees of agriculture.
15.—Subject to the provisions of this Act constituting a committee appointed under section 14 of the Act of 1899 to be a committee of agriculture for the purposes of this Act, the committee of agriculture for a county shall be appointed by the council of that county and the provisions contained in the Second Schedule to this Act shall apply to and regulate the appointment and membership of every such committee.
Procedure at meetings of committees of agriculture.
16.—(1) Four members personally present shall form a quorum at a meeting of a committee of agriculture.
(2) A committee of agriculture may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership and notwithstanding that by reason of such vacancy or vacancies such committee has ceased to be constituted in accordance with this Act.
(3) At any meeting of a committee the person appointed to act as chairman thereof may, in the event of an equality of votes, exercise a casting vote.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act and of regulations made thereunder, every committee of agriculture shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise the procedure to be observed and the business to be transacted at its meetings.
Meetings abandoned for want of quorum.
17.—Whenever a meeting of a committee of agriculture is abandoned owing to failure to obtain a quorum, the names of the members attending at the time and place appointed for such meeting shall be recorded forthwith and, for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to disqualification of members by absence from meetings and of the provisions of this Act relating to the payment of travelling expenses to members of committees a meeting of such committee shall be deemed to have been held at such time and place and the members whose names are so recorded shall be deemed to have attended such meeting.
Payment of travelling expenses to members of committees.
18.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, every committee of agriculture shall, as soon as may be after the 31st day of December and the 30th day of June in each year, pay to every member of such committee such contribution (if any) as is authorised by the rules contained in the Third Schedule to this Act towards the expenses incurred during the preceding six months by such member in attending the meetings of such committee.
(2) No contribution shall be payable under this section in respect of any period of six months ending on the 31st day of December in any year or on the 30th day of June in any year to a member of a committee of agriculture in respect of his attendance at meetings of such committee held during such period unless he has attended at least half of such meetings.
(3) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the period commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931, and ending on the 30th day of June, 1931, that is to say:—
(a) the said period shall for the purposes of this section be deemed a period of six months; and
(b) the foregoing sub-section shall not apply in respect of the said period.
(4) Any person who knowingly makes or allows to be made a false statement for the purpose of obtaining the payment to himself or another of a sum under or in pursuance of this section, shall be guilty of an offence under this section, and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding one year.
(5) Any person who is convicted of an offence under this section shall thereafter be disqualified from being elected or being a member of any committee of agriculture or of any vocational education committee, or of any council, body, or committee which is a local authority within the meaning of the Act of 1925, and shall also be disqualified from holding any office or employment under any committee of agriculture or any vocational education committee or any such council, body, or committee as aforesaid.
Application of Part IV. of the Act of 1925.
19.—(1) Every committee of agriculture shall be deemed to be a local body within the meaning of Part IV. of the Act of 1925, and that Part of that Act shall apply to committees of agriculture and their officers accordingly, subject to the modifications hereinafter mentioned.
(2) Section 50 of the Act of 1925 shall not apply in respect of committees of agriculture and their officers, and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that every sum payable under the said Part IV. of the Act of 1925 as applied by this section in respect of an allowance or gratuity granted thereunder to a person who was previously an officer of a committee of agriculture for a county shall be paid by the council of such county and shall be raised by means of the same rate and be paid out of the same funds and be charged on the same area as the agricultural rate to be raised by such council is raised by means of, paid out of and charged upon, but no such sum shall be reckoned for the purposes of any enactment (including this Act) limiting the amount of such rate.
(3) Section 47 of the Act of 1925 as amended by section 9 of the Act of 1927 shall not apply in respect of committees of agriculture and their officers, and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that—
(a) whenever an allowance or a gratuity is payable in pursuance of sub-section (2) of this section by a council of a county (in this sub-section called the paying body) to any person under Part IV. of the Act of 1925 as applied by this section in respect of his ceasing to hold office under a committee of agriculture and in ascertaining the service of such officer at the date of such cesser any service under another local authority (in this section called the contributing body) has been aggregated and reckoned, the contributing body shall refund to the paying body a part of such allowance or gratuity reckoned according to the service and pay of such officer under the contributing body and to the circumstances under which he ceased to hold office under the paying body, and such part shall be settled by agreement between the two bodies, or in default of agreement by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, and
(b) for the purposes of the foregoing paragraph an officer's service under a committee of a contributing body shall be deemed to have been service under such contributing body and an officer's service under a joint committee of two or more contributing bodies shall be deemed to have been service under every such contributing body.
Application of certain provisions of the Act of 1925 as amended.
20.—(1) Every committee of agriculture shall be deemed to be a local authority within the meaning of section 60 of the Act of 1925 as amended by section 13 of the Act of 1927 and of sections 61, 62, 70 and 71 of the Act of 1925, and the said sections 60 (as so amended), 61, 62, 70 and 71 shall apply to committees of agriculture and their members and officers accordingly subject to the following modifications, that is to say, in the said section 60 as so amended the expression “the Minister” shall mean the Minister for Agriculture and in the said section 71 the expression “the Minister for Agriculture” shall be substituted for the expression “the Minister for Local Government and Public Health” wherever the latter expression occurs.
(2) Save as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, no committee of agriculture shall be deemed for the purposes of any enactment (including the Act of 1925 as amended by the Act of 1927) to be a local authority within the meaning of the said Act of 1925 as so amended or to be a committee of the council of a county.
Application of Local Authorities (Mutual Assurance) Acts, 1926 and 1928.
21.—Every committee of agriculture for a county shall for the purposes of the Local Authorities (Mutual Assurance) Acts, 1926 and 1928, be deemed to be a committee of the council of such county and the said Acts shall apply to committees of agriculture accordingly.
Officers of committees of agriculture.
22.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, every committee of agriculture shall appoint such officers and servants as it shall from time to time think necessary for the due performance of its powers and duties under this Act.
(2) The numbers, qualifications, salaries or remuneration, and appointment of all officers shall be subject to the approval of the Minister.
(3) A committee of agriculture for a county shall not create any pensionable office within the meaning of section 42 of the Act of 1925, unless the approval of the council of such county has been previously obtained to the creation of such office and to the scale of remuneration to be attached thereto.
(4) A committee of agriculture may dismiss any servant of such committee and, with the approval of the Minister, remove any officer of such committee.
(5) A committee of agriculture shall be deemed to be a local authority within the meaning of the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 (No. 39 of 1926), and for that purpose the expression “the Minister” in that Act shall in relation to a committee of agriculture mean the Minister for Agriculture.
Removal of officers and servants by the Minister.
23.—(1) The Minister may by order, either upon or without any suggestion or complaint from a committee of agriculture, remove from his office or employment any paid officer or servant of a committee of agriculture whom he considers unfit or incompetent to perform his duties, or who at any time refuses or wilfully neglects to perform his duties or any of them, and may direct that a fit and proper person be appointed in his place in accordance with the law relating to appointments to such office or employment.
(2) Before removing under this section from his office or employment an officer or servant of a committee of agriculture, the Minister shall give to such committee and also to such officer or servant at least one fortnight's notice in writing of his intention to so remove such officer or servant, and if such committee or such officer or servant before the expiration of such notice request in writing the Minister to hold a local inquiry under this Act in relation to the performance by such officer or servant of his duties as such officer or servant, the Minister shall not so remove such officer or servant unless and until he has caused such local inquiry to be held and considered the report of the person who held such local inquiry.
(3) A notice of the Minister's intention to remove from his office or employment an officer or servant of a committee of agriculture under this section may be served on such committee by sending it by post to the chief executive officer of such committee and on such officer or servant by delivering it to him, or by sending it by post to him at his last known place of abode.
Local inquiries by the Minister.
24.—(1) The Minister may at any time cause an inquiry (in this Act referred to as a local inquiry) to be held in relation to the performance by an officer or a servant of a committee of agriculture of his duties as such officer or servant and for that purpose may appoint an officer of the Minister to hold such local inquiry.
(2) Where the Minister causes a local inquiry to be held he may make an order directing the costs incurred in relation to such inquiry to be paid by the committee of agriculture concerned, and any such order shall certify the amount of such costs and the amount so certified shall be a debt due by such committee to the Minister and shall be recoverable by the Minister from such committee as a civil debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3) For the purposes of this section the costs of any local inquiry shall be deemed to include such reasonable expenses of witnesses attending such inquiry as the Minister shall allow.
Attendance of witnesses at local inquiries.
25.—(1) An officer appointed by the Minister to hold a local inquiry may by summons in the prescribed form signed by him require any person to attend at the time and place (not being a place more than thirty miles from the residence of such person) named in such summons and there and then to give evidence or produce any document in his power, possession, or procurement relating to any matter in question at such inquiry or do both such things.
(2) A summons issued under this section shall be served by delivering it to the person to whom it is addressed or by leaving it for him with a person of the age of sixteen years or more at the usual place of abode of such first mentioned person.
(3) If any person—
(a) on being duly served with a summons under this section makes default in attending in accordance with such summons; or
(b) being in attendance at a local inquiry as a witness refuses to take an oath legally required by the officer holding such inquiry to be taken by him or to produce any document in his possession, power or control legally required by such officer to be produced by him or to answer any question to which such officer may legally require an answer;
such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(4) A witness before an officer holding a local inquiry shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.
(5) In this section the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this section.
Administration of oaths at local inquiries.
26.—An officer appointed by the Minister to hold a local inquiry shall have power to take evidence on oath and for that purpose may administer oaths to persons attending before him as witnesses.
Scales of salaries for officers.
27.—(1) The Minister may by regulations made under this section prescribe the scales of salaries for the various classes of officers employed by committees of agriculture.
(2) A committee of agriculture shall not pay to any officer employed by it a salary which is less than the salary to which such officer is entitled in accordance with the scale prescribed by the said regulations in respect of the class of officers to which such officer belongs.
Travelling expenses for officers.
28.—The Minister may by regulations made under this section prescribe the cases in which travelling and maintenance expenses shall be allowed to officers of committees of agriculture who have to travel in the performance of their duties and the rates of such travelling and maintenance expenses.
Co-operation between committees.
29.—Any two or more committees of agriculture may, subject to the approval of the Minister, enter into an arrangement for the joint exercise of any of their powers under this part of this Act on such terms and conditions as may be agreed between them, and if any question arises between such committees in relation to such arrangement the matter in question shall be referred to the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final.
Contracts by committees of agriculture.
30.—(1) A committee of agriculture may make contracts with persons for the execution of works authorised by or under this Act to be executed by a committee of agriculture or for the supply of goods or materials or for any other purpose necessarily or properly arising in the execution by such committee of their functions under this Part of this Act, and every such contract made by a committee of agriculture in accordance with this section shall be as valid and effectual in all respects and for all purposes as if such committee had been, at all material times, a body corporate.
(2) The following provisions shall apply to every contract made by a committee of agriculture, that is to say:—
(a) every contract made by a committee of agriculture for the execution of any work shall be in writing and shall specify the work to be done, the materials (if any) to be supplied, the prices to be paid by the committee for such work and materials respectively, the time within which the contract is to be performed, and the penalties for failure or delay in the performance thereof;
(b) every contract by a committee of agriculture which is made in writing shall be expressed to be made by the council by whom such committee is appointed with the addition (after the name of such council) of the words “acting by the committee of agriculture” and shall be sufficiently executed on behalf of such council and such committee if signed by not less than two members of such committee acting by direction of such committee and countersigned by an officer of such committee;
(c) any contract by a committee of agriculture which is not required by this section or otherwise by law to be made in writing may be made by parole by not less than two members of such committee acting by direction of such committee;
(d) any contract by a committee of agriculture may be varied or discharged by such committee in the like manner and form as is required by this section in respect of such contract;
(e) before a contract involving the payment by a committee of agriculture of the sum of one hundred pounds or any greater sum is made by such committee, such committee shall cause not less than ten days' public notice by advertisement or otherwise to be given stating the nature and purpose of such contract and inviting tenders for the execution thereof;
(f) on the making of a contract involving the payment by a committee of agriculture of the sum of one hundred pounds or any greater sum, such committee shall require and take from the person by whom such contract is to be performed sufficient security for the due performance thereof;
(g) a committee of agriculture may compound in such manner as they think proper with any person in respect of any penalty or other liability incurred by such person to such committee by reason of failure or delay in the performance of a contract made by such committee whether such penalty or liability arises under such contract or under a bond or guarantee collateral to such contract or by way of damage or otherwise.
Audit of accounts of committees of agriculture.
31.—(1) The accounts of every committee of agriculture shall be audited by an auditor appointed by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health and the following enactments, that is to say, sections 11 to 15 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1871, sub-section (2) of section 63 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, and sections 20 and 21 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1902, as amended or adapted by or under any subsequent enactment shall apply to the audit and auditor of the accounts of such committees in the same manner as such enactments as so amended or adapted apply to the audit and auditor of the accounts of the public bodies specified therein.
(2) The Minister for Local Government and Public Health shall from time to time as occasion requires ascertain and determine what proportion of the salary paid to the auditor appointed to audit the accounts of a committee of agriculture should be charged in respect of such audit and the amount of such proportion of such salary shall be paid by such committee to the said Minister.
Legal proceedings.
32.—Legal proceedings had or taken by a committee of agriculture shall be had or taken in the name of the council by whom such committee is appointed with the addition (after the name of such council) of the words “acting by the committee of agriculture,” and legal proceedings had or taken against a committee of agriculture shall be had or taken against the council by whom such committee is appointed with the addition (after the name of such council) of the words “acting by the committee of agriculture.”
Agricultural schemes.
33.—(1) Every committee of agriculture shall in every year prepare a scheme (in this Act referred to as an agricultural scheme) for giving assistance and instruction for the purposes of agriculture and other rural industries in its county.
(2) Every agricultural scheme shall be subject to the approval of the Minister and, if and so far as so approved of, shall be given effect to and carried into execution by the committee of agriculture by which the same was prepared.
Application of Article 12 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898.
34.—Every committee of agriculture for a county shall for the purposes of Article 12 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, be deemed to be a committee of the council of such county and the said Article shall apply to committees of agriculture and their members accordingly subject to the modification that notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph (e) of sub-article (4) of the said Article 12, a person shall not, if otherwise qualified, be disqualified from being elected or chosen or being a member of any committee (other than a committee of agriculture) or joint committee wholly or partly appointed by the council of a county or by a board of health by reason of his having by himself or his partner received or contracted to receive any benefit or advantage offered to the public for the purposes of agriculture and other rural industries by a committee of agriculture in pursuance of an agricultural scheme administered by such committee.
Forestry schemes.
35.—(1) Where the Minister, on the joint representation of the council of a county and the committee of agriculture for such county, considers it desirable that steps should be taken to preserve existing woods standing in such county, the Minister may by order (in this Act referred to as a forestry scheme order) declare that such county is a county in which it is desirable that a forestry scheme under this section should be put into effect.
(2) Where the Minister makes a forestry scheme order in respect of a county, the committee of agriculture for such county shall in every local financial year after the date of such order prepare a scheme (in this Act referred to as a forestry scheme) for the preservation of woods in such county and (subject to the approval of the Minister) carry such scheme into effect.
Agricultural and forestry rates.
36.—(1) Every council of a county shall in every local financial year (including the local financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931) raise equally over the whole of their county (excluding any urban districts comprised therein) by means of the poor rate a sum equal to not less than a rate of two pence in the pound on the rateable value of such county at the beginning of such year, and may, if they so think fit, in any local financial year (including the local financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931) raise by the same means and in the same manner an additional sum equal to not more than a rate of one penny in the pound on the rateable value of such county at the beginning of such year, and all sums raised by virtue of this sub-section are in this Act referred to as the agricultural rate.
(2) Where the Minister has made a forestry scheme order in respect of a county, the council of such county shall in every local financial year after the date of such order if so required by the Minister during the preceding local financial year, but not otherwise raise equally over the whole of their county (excluding any urban districts comprised therein) by means of the poor rate a sum (in this Act referred to as the forestry rate) equal to not more than a rate of one halfpenny in the pound on the rateable value of such county at the beginning of such year.
(3) All acts, and things done before the commencement of this Act by the council of a county in relation to the making of a poor rate for the local financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931, shall (where the amount to be raised by means of such poor rate includes the amount of the agricultural rate) be as valid and effectual as if sub-section (1) of this section were in force at the time such acts or things were done.
Borrowing by county councils.
37.—(1) The council of a county may borrow for the purposes of an agricultural scheme or a forestry scheme as if those purposes were purposes for which they are authorised to borrow under Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, and money borrowed under this section by the council of a county for the purposes of any such scheme shall not be reckoned as part of the total debt of such council for the purposes of the said Article.
(2) Moneys borrowed under this section by the council of a county for the purposes of an agricultural scheme shall be recouped to such council by the committee of agriculture for such county at such times, and in such manner, and with such interest as shall be appointed by regulations made by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.
(3) Moneys borrowed under this section by the council of a county for the purposes of a forestry scheme shall be recouped to such council by the committee of agriculture for such county at such times, and in such manner, and with such interest as shall be appointed by regulations made by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.
Application of moneys raised under this Act.
38.—(1) The moneys raised by the council of a county by means of the agricultural rate shall be paid without any deduction to the committee of agriculture for such county and shall be applied by such committee for all or any of the following purposes and for no other purpose whatsoever, that is to say:—
(a) to defray expenditure incurred by such committee under and in accordance with an agricultural scheme approved by the Minister;
(b) to defray administrative and incidental expenses incurred by such committee with the approval of the Minister;
(c) to recoup in accordance with this Act and regulations made thereunder to such council any moneys raised by such council by borrowing under this Act for the purposes of an agricultural scheme and placed at the disposal of such committee;
(d) to defray any payments required to be made by such committee under the provisions of this Act relating to the payment of travelling expenses to members of committees;
(e) to defray any debt due by such committee to the Minister in relation to the holding of a local inquiry by the Minister;
(f) to defray any payment required by this Act to be made by such committee to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health in relation to the audit of the accounts of such committee.
(2) The moneys raised by the council of a county by means of the forestry rate shall be paid without any deduction to the committee of agriculture for such county and shall be applied by such committee for all or any of the following purposes and for no other purpose whatsoever, that is to say:—
(a) to defray expenditure incurred by such committee under and in accordance with a forestry scheme approved by the Minister;
(b) to defray administrative and incidental expenses incurred by such committee with the approval of the Minister;
(c) to recoup in accordance with this Act and regulations made thereunder to such council any moneys raised by such council by borrowing under this Act for the purposes of a forestry scheme and placed at the disposal of such committee.
(3) Moneys raised by the council of a county by borrowing under this Act for the purposes of an agricultural scheme or for the purposes of a forestry scheme shall be placed at the disposal of the committee of agriculture for such county and shall be expended by such committee in accordance with such agricultural scheme or such forestry scheme (as the case may be) and not otherwise.
Application of parliamentary grants.
39.—There shall be placed at the disposal of the Minister and applied by him for the purposes of agricultural schemes or forestry schemes such moneys as may from time to time be provided by the Oireachtas for those purposes.
Regulations.
40.—(1) The Minister may by order do both or either of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) make regulations in respect of the accounts of committees of agriculture and the audit of such accounts;
(b) make regulations respecting the procedure of committees of agriculture in connection with the business imposed on or transferred to them by this Act.
(2) Regulations made by the Minister under this section shall, if and so far as they relate to the accounts or the auditing of the accounts of committees of agriculture, be made only after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.
PART III.
Transitory Provisions.
Transfer of property to committees of agriculture.
41.—(1) Upon the commencement of this Act all property, whether real or personal (including choses-in-action) which immediately before the commencement of this Act, is vested in a committee appointed under the Act of 1899 by the council of a county or in such council in relation to or for the purposes of functions, powers, and duties performed by such council through such committee shall, on the commencement of this Act and without any conveyance or assignment but subject where necessary to transfer in the books of any bank, corporation or company, become and be vested in the committee of agriculture for such county.
(2) Where any property transferred by this section consists of moneys, stocks, shares or securities standing in the books of a bank, corporation or company, such moneys, stocks, shares and securities shall, upon the request of the committee of agriculture to which the same are transferred by this section, be transferred by such bank, corporation, or company into the name of such committee.
(3) Every chose-in-action transferred by this section may be sued upon, recovered, or enforced by the committee of agriculture to which such chose-in-action is so transferred in its own name and it shall not be necessary for such committee to give notice to the person bound by such chose-in-action of the transfer effected by this section.
(4) All moneys raised by a rate struck by the council of a county for the service of the year beginning on the 1st day of April, 1930 and which but for this Act would have been paid to the committee appointed under the Act of 1899 by such council and would have been applicable by such committee in relation to or for the functions, powers, and duties performed by such council through such committee shall (so far as such moneys are not paid to such committee before the commencement of this Act) be paid by such council to the committee of agriculture for such county and when so paid applied by such committee of agriculture as if such moneys were moneys raised by such council by means of the agricultural rate.
Transfer of debts and liabilities to committees of agriculture.
42.—(1) Upon the commencement of this Act every debt and other liability (including unliquidated liabilities arising from torts or breaches of contract) which immediately before the commencement of this Act is owing and unpaid and has been incurred and is undischarged by the committee appointed under the Act of 1899 by the council of a county or by such council in relation to or for the purposes of functions, powers and duties performed by such council through such committee shall, on the commencement of this Act, save as is hereinafter otherwise provided, become and be the debt or liability of the committee of agriculture for such county and shall be paid or discharged by and may be recovered or enforced against such committee accordingly.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-section, every pension, superannuation allowance, or gratuity which immediately before the commencement of this Act, is or has become payable by the council of a county to a person on account of his having been an officer of a committee appointed under the Act of 1899 by such council or of such council in relation to or for the purposes of functions, powers and duties performed by such council through such committee shall on and after the commencement of this Act be raised and paid by such council and in the same manner as the same would have been required to be raised and paid as if this Act had not been passed and come into operation.
Transfer of officers to committees of agriculture.
43.—(1) Every person who, on the day before the commencement of this Act, is an officer of a committee appointed under the Act of 1899 by the council of a county or of such council in relation to or for the purposes of functions, powers and duties performed by such council through such committee shall, on the commencement of this Act, be transferred to and become and be an officer of the committee of agriculture for such county.
(2) Every officer transferred by this section shall, subject to the provisions of this section, perform in the service of the committee of agriculture to which he is so transferred the like duties as he performed in the service from which he is so transferred.
(3) Every officer transferred by this section shall not, in the service of the committee of agriculture to which he is so transferred, receive less remuneration, or subject to the provisions of this section, 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 is so transferred.
(4) A committee of agriculture may, with the approval of the Minister, redistribute or rearrange the duties to be performed by officers transferred to it by this section and every such officer shall be bound to perform the duties allotted to him on any such redistribution or rearrangement, and no such redistribution or rearrangement shall be deemed to be a removal from or abolition of office for the purposes of the enactments relating to superannuation and compensation for loss of office.
(5) A committee of agriculture may, with the sanction of the Minister, and shall, when so directed by the Minister, abolish the office of any officer transferred to it by this section and every such officer whose office is so abolished shall, for the purpose of the enactments relating to superannuation and compensation for loss of office, be deemed to have been removed from office by such committee for a cause other than misconduct or incapacity.
PART IV.
Miscellaneous.
Verification of certain claims and applications.
44.—The Minister may from time to time make regulations in relation to both or either of the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) requiring any claim for payment of any moneys alleged to be due by him or a committee of agriculture to be verified by statutory declaration;
(b) requiring any application made to him under any enactment and not required by or under such enactment to be verified in a particular manner to be verified by statutory declaration;
and whenever any such regulations are made in relation to any such claim or application, such claim or application shall not be entertained unless and until it is verified by statutory declaration.
Transfer of land from the Forestry Commissioners.
45.—All land in Saorstát Eireann which was on the 5th day of December, 1922, by any means vested in the Forestry Commissioners established by the Forestry Act, 1919, and had not before the commencement of this Act been conveyed or transferred by statute, order, deed, or otherwise from the said Forestry Commissioners to any Minister, board, authority, or person shall immediately upon the commencement of this Act and without any conveyance, become and be vested in the Minister for all the estate, term, and interest for which the same was so vested in the Forestry Commissioners.
Reports of the Minister.
46.—(1) The Minister shall, as soon as possible after the expiration of every financial year, prepare and present to each House of the Oireachtas a report of his proceedings under this Act during such year.
(2) A report under the foregoing sub-section shall, in so far as the same relates to proceedings under the Diseases of Animals Acts, 1894 to 1914, be a return stating the proceedings and expenditure under those Acts of the Minister, and, so far as reasonably may be, of all local authorities in the year to which such report relates, and shall show the number of foreign animals landed in Saorstát Eireann and found diseased in that year, and shall specify separately the different kinds of disease and the ports of exportation and landing, and the mode of disposal of such animals, and shall contain such other information respecting the operation of the said Acts as the Minister thinks fit.
The Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925.
47.—The Mussels, Periwinkles and Cockles (Ireland) Act, 1898, shall hereafter be included in the group of Acts which may be cited as the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925.
Laying of regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas.
48.—Every regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if either such House shall, within twenty-one days on which such House has sat after such regulation is laid before it, pass a resolution annulling such regulation, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
Expenses.
49.—All expenses incurred by the Minister or the Minister for Industry and Commerce in carrying this Act into execution shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
Repeals.
50.—The several Acts specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in the third column of that Schedule.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
Enactments, the Powers and Duties under which are Transferred by this Act.
1. The Diseases of Animals (Ireland) Acts, 1894 to 1914.
2. The Destructive Insects and Pests Acts, 1877 to 1929.
3. Section 9 of the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Act, 1887, and section 2 and sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Act, 1891.
4. The Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1906.
5. The Charitable Loan Societies (Ireland) Acts, 1843 to 1906.
6. Section 2 of the Dogs Act, 1906.
7. The Bee Pest Prevention (Ireland) Act, 1908.
8. The Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907.
9. The Merchandise Marks (Ireland) Act, 1909.
10. The Weeds and Agricultural Seeds (Ireland) Act, 1909.
11. Sections 18 and 47 of the Irish Land Act, 1909
12. The Horse Breeding Act, 1918.
13. Schedule B to the Income Tax Act, 1918.
14. The Animal (Anæsthetics) Act, 1919.
15. The Industrial Courts Act, 1919.
16. The Seeds Act, 1920.
17. The Creamery Act, 1928 (No. 26 of 1928).
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Appointment and Membership of Committees of Agriculture.
1. In this Schedule—
the expressions “the council” and “the county” in their relation to a committee of agriculture mean respectively the county council by whom and the county for which such committee is appointed;
the expression “election year” means in relation to the appointment of members of the committee of agriculture for the county of Dublin (other than members appointed to fill casual vacancies), the year 1931, or the year 1933, or any ensuing third successive year after the year 1933 and, in relation to the appointment of members of any other committee of agriculture (other than members appointed to fill casual vacancies), the year 1931 or any ensuing third successive year.
2. Every committee of agriculture shall be composed at the discretion of the council either wholly of persons who are members of the council or partly of persons who are and partly of persons who are not members of the council.
3. The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the constitution of every committee of agriculture for a county, that is to say:—
(a) the number of members of such committee to be appointed in an election year at the annual meeting of the council held in that year shall not be less than three times nor more than four times the number of county electoral areas in the county at the date of such annual meeting;
(b) subject to the provisions of the foregoing sub-paragraph, the number of members of such committee to be appointed in an election year at the annual meeting of the council held in that year shall be such number as the council think fit, and such committee shall, notwithstanding any change in the number of electoral areas in such county in the meantime, until the annual meeting of the council held in the next following election year, consist of such last mentioned number of members.
4. The members of a committee of agriculture shall include in respect of each county electoral area in the county at least one person who is resident in such county electoral area.
5. No person shall be appointed to be a member of a committee of agriculture unless he either has a practical, commercial or technical knowledge of land or has an estate or interest in some agricultural land in the county or has special local knowledge of agricultural matters.
6. The members of the committee of agriculture (other than a member appointed to fill a casual vacancy) shall be appointed in every election year at the annual meeting of the council held in that year and the appointment of such members of such committee shall be part of the first business to be transacted at every such annual meeting.
7. The term of office of every member of a committee of agriculture (other than a member elected to fill a casual vacancy) shall commence at the termination of the annual meeting of the council at which he was appointed, and every such member shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified, hold office until the next annual meeting of the council at which the council is required by this Act to appoint (other than to fill a casual vacancy) members of such committee.
8. A person who ceases by effluxion of time to be a member of a committee of agriculture shall be eligible for re-appointment.
9. (1) Whenever a vacancy (in this Schedule referred to as a casual vacancy), occurs in the membershihp of a committee of agriculture by reason of the death, resignation, or disqualification of a member thereof, the council shall as soon as conveniently may be, appoint a person to fill such vacancy.
(2) A person appointed to fill a casual vacancy in the membership of a committee of agriculture shall unless he sooner dies, resigns or becomes disqualified hold office as a member of such committee for the residue of the term for which the member whose death, resignation or disqualification occasioned the vacancy would have held office as such member if he had not died, resigned or become disqualified.
10. Where a member of a committee of agriculture who is also a member of the council ceases to be a member of the council he shall forthwith cease to be a member of such committee but shall, if not otherwise disqualified, be eligible for re-appointment subject to the provisions of Rule 2.
11. If a member of a committee of agriculture is absent from all meetings of such committee for a period of six consecutive months he shall, unless such absence was due to illness or was approved of by the Committee, be disqualified at the expiration of such period from continuing to be a member of such committee and shall also for one year from such expiration be disqualified for being a member of such committee.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
Rules for Payments of Travelling Expenses.
1. In these rules—
the word “committee” means a committee of agriculture;
the word “contribution” means a contribution payable under this Act to a member of a committee towards the expenses incurred by him in attending the meetings of such committee.
2. Every member of a committee shall, at the commencement of his term of office as such member, communicate in writing to the chief executive officer of such committee the address at which he ordinarily resides, which address is referred to in these rules as the official residence of such member.
3. The contribution to be paid to a member of a committee in respect of his attendance at any meeting shall be calculated on the length of the journey from the official residence of such member to the place of meeting of the committee and the mode of transport used for such journey.
4. Where the journey from the official residence of a member to the place of meeting of the committee could be made by more than one route or by different modes of transport, the journey shall, for the purposes of these rules, be deemed to have been made by the route and the mode of transport in respect of which the payment under these rules would be the least.
5. There shall be paid to every member to whom a contribution is payable under this Act, a sum calculated in the manner prescribed in the next rule in respect of each meeting of the committee attended by him subject to the limitation that no contribution shall be paid to any such member in respect of a meeting held at a place situate less than five miles by any route from his official residence.
6. The sum payable under the preceding rule in respect of each meeting shall be calculated as follows, that is to say, four pence for each mile of the journey from the member's official residence to the place of meeting travelled by railway, and five pence for each mile of such journey travelled otherwise than by railway.
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
Enactments Repealed.
Session and Chapter. | Short title. | Extent of Repeal. |
57 & 58 Vic. c. 57. | Diseases of Animals Act, 1894. | Section 50. |
62 & 63 Vic. c. 50. | Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899. | The whole Act save in so far as it relates to technical instruction. |
2 Edw. VII. c. 3. | Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1902. | The whole Act save in so far as it relates to technical instruction. |
2 Edw. VII. c. 33. | Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) (No. 2.) Act, 1902. | The whole Act. |