Number 29 of 1930.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT, 1930.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PRELIMINARY.
Section | |
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION COMMITTEES.
Temporary Chairman at first meetings and triennial meetings. | |
Payment of travelling expenses to members of certain committees. | |
Application of certain provisions of the Act of 1925 as amended. | |
CONTINUATION EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
Registration of certain persons attending continuation schools and courses. | |
Deficiency in supply of continuation education or technical education. | |
41. | Fees to be charged by committees. |
FINANCE OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION COMMITTEES.
ENFORCEMENT OF CONTINUATION EDUCATION.
Courses of instruction provided by vocational education committees. | |
Information to be furnished by Juvenile Advisory Committees. | |
Duty to enforce attendance of young persons for instruction. | |
ENFORCEMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
Technical education in districts to which this Part of this Act applies. | |
Transitory Provisions in Relation to Committees of Technical Instruction.
Transfer of functions etc. to vocational education committees. | |
Transfer of debts and liabilities to vocational education committees. | |
AMALGAMATION OF URBAN DISTRICT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AREAS WITH COUNTY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AREAS.
Amalgamation of urban district and county vocational education areas. | |
GENERAL POWERS OF THE MINISTER.
Continuation education and technical education in the Gaeltacht. | |
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Scheduled Urban Districts.
Rules for Payments of Travelling Expenses.
Maximum Annual Liabilities in Respect of Annual Local Contributions.
County or other Boroughs referred to in Parts V and VI of this Act.
Enactments Repealed.
Acts Referred to | |
No. 5 of 1925 | |
No. 9 of 1923 | |
Local Government (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 1924 | No. 13 of 1924 |
No. 3 of 1927 | |
No. 39 of 1926 | |
No. 17 of 1926 | |
No. 27 of 1930 | |
No. 1 of 1929 | |
Number 29 of 1930.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT, 1930.
PART I.
Preliminary.
Short title.
1.—This Act may be cited as the Vocational Education Act, 1930.
Definitions.
2.—In this Act—
the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Education;
the word “inspector” means a person authorised in writing (either generally or for a special purpose) by the Minister to exercise all or any of the powers and perform all or any of the duties conferred or imposed on an inspector by this Act;
the word “county” means an administrative county but does not include a county borough;
the expression “local authority” means and includes the council of a county, the council of a county borough, and the council of an urban district;
the expression “the Act of 1889” means the Technical Instruction Act, 1889;
the expression “the Act of 1891” means the Technical Instruction Act, 1891;
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 “local financial year” means a period of twelve months ending on any 31st day of March;
the expression “rateable value” means the annual rateable value under the Valuation Acts;
the expression “principal teacher” includes any deputy principal or other teacher for the time being acting as or for a principal teacher;
the word “sickness” includes any physical or mental malady or, injury;
the word “trade”includes any industry, trade, craft or business;
the expression “scheduled urban district” means an urban district mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act;
the expression “election year” means the year 1931 or any ensuing third successive year;
the expression “young person” means a person who has attained the age of fourteen years and has not attained the age of sixteen years;
the word “parent” in relation to a young person means the individual having the legal custody of such young person and, where owing to the absence of such individual or for any other reason such young person is not living with or is not in the actual custody of such individual, includes the individual with whom such young person is living or in whose actual custody such young person is;
the word “employment” in relation to a young person means employment and occupation in any labour exercised by way of trade or for the purpose of gain to such young person or to any other person;
the expression “offence under this Part of this Act” includes an offence under any section or sub-section contained in the Part of this Act in which such expression occurs;
the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.
Continuation education.
3.—For the purposes of this Act the expression “continuation education” means education to continue and supplement education provided in elementary schools and includes general and practical training in preparation for employment in trades, manufactures, agriculture, commerce, and other industrial pursuits, and also general and practical training for improvement of young persons in the early stages of such employment.
Technical education.
4.—(1) For the purposes of this Act the expression “technical education” means education pertaining to trades, manufactures, commerce, and other industrial pursuits (including the occupations of girls and women connected with the household) and in subjects bearing thereon or relating thereto and includes education in science and art (including, in the county boroughs of Dublin and Cork, music) and also includes physical training.
(2) The Minister may from time to time by order declare that the expression “technical education” shall for the purposes of this Act include instruction in such subjects connected with such pursuits, employments and occupations (other than agriculture) as may be specified in such order and whenever any such order is made the meaning of the said expression shall for the purposes of this Act be extended in conformity with the provisions of such order.
(3) The Minister may from time to time, after consultation with the Minister for Agriculture, by order declare that the expression “technical education” shall for the purposes of this Act also include instruction in such subjects bearing on or relating to agriculture as may be specified in such order and whenever any such order is made the meaning of the said expression shall for the purposes of this Act be extended in conformity with the provisions of such order.
Date of attainment of any particular age.
5.—For the purposes of this Act a person shall be deemed to attain any particular age on whichever of the following days, that is to say, the 31st day of March, the 30th day of June, the 30th day of September or the 31st day of December first occurs after the anniversary of his birth on which he actually attains such age.
PART II.
Vocational Education Committees.
Vocational education areas.
6.—(1) Every county borough shall be a borough vocational education area for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Every scheduled urban district shall be an urban district vocational education area for the purposes of this Act.
(3) Every county (excluding so much, if any, thereof as is for the time being included in a scheduled urban district) shall be a county vocational education area for the purposes of this Act.
(4) In this Act the expression “vocational education area” includes a borough vocational education area, an urban district vocational education area, and a county vocational education area.
Establishment of vocational education committees.
7.—(1) There shall be a committee (in this Act referred to as a vocational education committee) in and for every vocational education area to fulfil in respect of such area the duties assigned to vocational education committees by this Act.
(2) Every vocational education committee shall be styled and known by such style or name as the Minister shall appoint, but unless and until the Minister appoints the style and name of any particular committee, such committee shall be styled and known—
(a) in the case of the committee for a borough vocational education area, by the style or name “The City of (name of the county borough) Vocational Education Committee”; and
(b) in the case of the committee for an urban district vocational education area, by the style or name “The Town of (name of the urban district) Vocational Education Committee”; and
(c) in the case of the committee for a county vocational education area, by the style or name “The County (name of the county) Vocational Education Committee.”
(3) Every vocational education committee shall be a body corporate by its said style or name, and shall have perpetual succession and an official seal (which shall be judicially noticed), with power to acquire and hold land for the purpose of its powers and duties.
Constitution of vocational education committees.
8.—(1) The vocational education committee for a borough vocational education area shall consist of fourteen members elected by the council of the county borough which is such borough vocational education area, of whom not less than five nor more than eight shall be persons who are members of such council.
(2) The vocational education committee for an urban district vocational education area shall consist of fourteen members elected by the council of the urban district which is such urban district vocational education area, of whom not less than five nor more than eight shall be persons who are members of such council.
(3) The vocational education committee for a county vocational education area shall consist of—
(a) fourteen members elected by the council of the county which is or includes such county vocational education area, of whom not less than five nor more than eight shall be persons who are members of such council; and
(b) where such vocational education area contains one or more urban districts which are not scheduled urban districts—
(i) if the number of such urban districts does not exceed four, two members elected by the council of each of such urban districts, each of whom may at the discretion of such council be a person who is or a person who is not a member of such council, or
(ii) if the number of such urban districts exceeds four, one member elected by the council of each such urban district who in every case may at the discretion of such council be a person who is or a person who is not a member of such council.
(4) A local authority electing under this section persons to be members of a vocational education committee shall have regard to the interest and experience in education of the person proposed to be so elected and to any recommendations made by bodies (including associations or bodies of employers or of employees) interested in manufactures or trades in the area of such committee and shall, where it appears desirable and circumstances permit, so make such election as to provide for the representation of such bodies on such committee.
Elections of members of committees.
9.—(1) The first election by local authorities of members of vocational education committees shall take place on such day as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, shall appoint for the purpose, and different days may be so appointed in respect of different local authorities.
(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the elections by local authorities of members of vocational education committees (other than the first such elections and elections to fill casual vacancies), that is to say:—
(a) every council of a county or an urban district which is not a borough shall in every election year elect at the annual meeting of such council held in that year such number of members of such vocational education committee as such council is entitled under this Act so to elect, and such election shall be included in the business to be transacted at every such annual meeting of such council; and
(b) every council of a county or other borough shall in every election year elect at the quarterly meeting of such council held between the 23rd day of June and the 15th day of July in that year such number of members of such vocational education committee as such council is entitled under this Act so to elect, and such election shall be included in the business to be transacted at every such quarterly meeting of such council.
(3) In this section the expressions “annual meeting” and “quarterly meeting” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898.
Term of office of members of committees.
10.—(1) The term of office of every member of a vocational education committee elected at the first election of members of such committee shall commence at the commencement of the first meeting of such committee.
(2) The term of office of every member of a vocational education committee (other than a member elected at the first election of members of such committee or a member elected to fill a casual vacancy) shall commence at the termination of the meeting of the local authority at which he was elected.
(3) Every member of a vocational education committee (other than a member elected to fill a casual vacancy) shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified, hold office until the next meeting of the local authority by whom he was elected at which such authority is required by this Act to elect (otherwise than to fill a casual vacancy) members or a member of such committee.
Resignation and disqualification of members of committees.
11.—(1) A member of a vocational education committee may at any time resign his office as such member by letter addressed and sent to the chief executive officer of such committee and every such resignation shall take effect at the commencement of the meeting of such committee commencing next after the receipt of such resignation by such officer.
(2) Whenever a member of a vocational education committee who was, at the time of his election as such member, a member of the local authority by which he was so elected, ceases to be a member of such local authority he shall be disqualified for continuing to be and shall forthwith cease to be a member of such committee but shall, if not otherwise disqualified, be eligible for re-election.
(3) If a member of a vocational education committee is absent from all meetings of such committee for a period of six consecutive months he shall, unless his 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 be disqualified for one year from such expiration for being a member of such committee.
(4) A member of a vocational education committee shall, if not otherwise disqualified, be eligible for election as a member of such committee at or in contemplation of the expiration by effluxion of time of his term of office as such member.
Filling of casual vacancies in committees.
12.—(1) Whenever a vacancy (in this Act referred to as a casual vacancy) occurs in the membership of a vocational education committee by reason of the death, resignation, or disqualification of a member thereof, the local authority by whom such member was elected shall, as soon as conveniently may be, elect a person to fill such vacancy.
(2) In electing a person to fill a casual vacancy in the membership of a vocational education committee, the local authority electing such person shall have regard to the provisions of this Act in relation to the number of members of such committee who are required to be members of such authority.
(3) A person elected to fill a casual vacancy in the membership of a vocational education committee 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.
Meetings of vocational education committees.
13.—(1) Every vocational education committee shall hold its first meeting on such day, at such time and in such place as the Minister shall appoint.
(2) Every vocational education committee shall, in every local financial year and before the 1st day of December in such year, hold a meeting in this Act referred to as the annual meeting.
(3) Every vocational education committee shall hold at least one meeting in every month other than the months of July, August and September.
(4) Every vocational education committee shall hold at least one meeting during the period commencing on the 1st day of July and ending on the 30th day of September in every year.
(5) Subject to the provisions of this section and the next following section, every vocational education committee shall hold such and so many meetings, at such times, and in such places as it thinks proper.
Triennial meetings of vocational education committees.
14.—(1) Every vocational education committee shall in every election year hold a meeting (in this Act referred to as a triennial meeting) on the day appointed under this section in respect of such year for the holding of such meeting by such committee.
(2) Every vocational education committee shall on or before the 31st day of May in every election year appoint a day (not being earlier than three days nor later than ten days after the completion of the elections in such year of the members of such committee) for the holding of the triennial meeting in such year by such committee.
(3) Where in any election year no day has been appointed under the foregoing sub-section for the holding of a triennial meeting of a vocational education committee in that year, the day for the holding of such meeting in such year shall be the seventh day after the completion of the elections in such year of the members of such committee.
(4) Where a triennial meeting of a vocational education committee is for any reason (including a quorum not being present) not held on the day appointed under this section for the holding of such meeting the chief executive officer of such committee shall as soon as may be summon a meeting of such committee for a convenient hour on the day which appears to him to be the earliest convenient date for the purpose and the meeting held in pursuance of such summons shall be for all purposes a triennial meeting held on a date appointed under this section.
(5) Where the members of a vocational education committee are required by this Act to be elected by two or more local authorities and in any election year such local authorities do not all hold such elections on the same day, the date of the completion of the election of such members shall for the purposes of this section be the last day on which any of such elections is held.
Chairman of vocational education committees.
15.—(1) Every vocational education committee shall, at its first meeting and also at every triennial meeting, elect one of its members to be the chairman of such committee.
(2) Whenever the office of chairman of a vocational education committee becomes vacant through the death, resignation, or disqualification of the chairman, such committee shall, at its next meeting after the occurrence of such vacancy, elect one of its members to be the chairman of such committee.
(3) Every person elected to be the chairman of a vocational education committee shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified, hold office as such chairman until the commencement of the next triennial meeting of such committee after the meeting at which he is so elected.
(4) The chairman of a vocational education committee may at any time resign his office as such chairman by letter addressed to the chief executive officer of such committee and every such resignation shall take effect at the commencement of the meeting of such committee commencing next after the receipt of such resignation by such officer.
(5) Whenever the chairman of a vocational education committee ceases during his term of office as such chairman to be a member of such committee he shall be disqualified for being and shall forthwith cease to be such chairman.
(6) Whenever, at an election of the chairman of a vocational education committee, there is an equality of votes for two or more persons, one of those persons shall be elected by lot.
Vice-chairman of vocational education Committees.
16.—(1) A vocational education committee may at any time, if it so thinks fit, elect one of its members to be the vice-chairman of such committee.
(2) Whenever a vice-chairman is elected by a vocational education committee, the provisions of this Act in relation to the term of office, resignation, and disqualification of the chairman of such committee shall apply in respect of such vice-chairman in like manner as they apply in respect of such chairman.
Temporary Chairman at first meetings and triennial meetings.
17.—(1) At the first meeting of a vocational education committee the chief executive officer of such committee or, if there is no such officer, the person acting at such first meeting as secretary to such committee shall, until the chairman of such committee has been elected, act as chairman of such meeting.
(2) At every triennial meeting of a vocational education committee the chief executive officer of such committee shall, until the chairman of such committee has been elected, act as chairman of such meeting.
(3) A person acting in pursuance of this section as chairman of a meeting of a vocational education committee shall not be entitled to vote on any question which is to be decided by a vote of the members of such committee.
Procedure at meetings of committees.
18.—(1) The quorum for a meeting of a vocational education committee shall be one-fourth of the whole number of the members of such committee.
(2) At a meeting of a vocational education committee—
(a) the chairman of such committee shall, if he is present, be the chairman of the meeting;
(b) if the chairman of such committee is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the vice-chairman (if any) of such committee shall, if he is present, be the chairman of the meeting;
(c) if the chairman of such committee is not present or the office of chairman is vacant and there is no vice-chairman of such committee or the vice-chairman is not present, the members of the committee who are present shall (subject to the provisions of this Act in relation to the first meeting and to triennial meetings) choose one of their number to be the chairman of the meeting.
(3) Every question at a meeting of a vocational education committee shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question, and in the case of an equal division of votes the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote save where the question is the election of the chairman of the committee.
(4) A vocational education committee may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies amongst its members.
(5) An inspector shall be entitled to be present at any meeting of a vocational education committee or of a sub-committee of any such committee and to address such meeting, but shall not be entitled to vote on any matter to be decided at such meeting.
(6) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Minister may by regulations made by him under this Act prescribe the procedure to be observed at meetings of vocational education committees.
(7) Subject to the provisions of this Act and of regulations made thereunder, every vocational education committee 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.
19.—Whenever a meeting of a vocational education committee 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 the provisions of this Act relating to the payment of travelling expenses of members of certain 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.
Minutes, registers, and records to be kept by committees.
20.—(1) Every vocational education committee shall keep, in a book to be provided by it for the purpose, minutes of the proceedings at every meeting of such committee, and all such minutes shall be signed either at the meeting to which they relate by the chairman of that meeting or at the next meeting by the chairman of such last-mentioned meeting and when so signed shall be admitted in evidence.
(2) Every vocational education committee shall keep all such registers and records as shall be prescribed, and all such registers and records shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by an inspector.
(3) Every vocational education committee shall make to the Minister such reports and returns and furnish to the Minister such information as he may from time to time require.
Sub-committees of vocational education committees.
21.—(1) A vocational education committee may from time to time appoint such and so many sub-committees as it thinks proper for the exercise or performance of any of its powers, duties, and functions which in its opinion can be better or more conveniently exercised or performed by a sub-committee.
(2) The Minister may from time to time by order require a vocational education committee to appoint a sub-committee to exercise and perform in relation to any part of the vocational education area of such committee such specified powers, duties and functions of such committee as in the opinion of the Minister can be better or more conveniently exercised or performed by a sub-committee and whenever any such order is made and in force it shall be the duty of such committee to comply with the requirements thereof.
(3) The Minister may, as and when he thinks fit, revoke an order made by him under the foregoing sub-section and thereupon such order shall cease to be in force.
(4) A sub-committee appointed by a vocational education committee shall consist of not more than twelve members, and may, at the discretion of such committee, consist exclusively of persons who are members of such committee or partly of persons who are and partly of persons who are not members of such committee.
(5) The acts of every sub-committee of a vocational education committee shall be subject to confirmation by such committee save where such committee with the sanction of the Minister dispenses with the necessity for such confirmation.
Payment of travelling expenses to members of certain committees.
22.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, every vocational education committee for a county vocational education area shall, as soon as may be after the 30th day of June in each year, pay to every member of such committee or of any sub-committee thereof such contribution (if any) as is authorised by the rules contained in the Second Schedule to this Act towards the expenses incurred during such preceding twelve months by such member in attending the meetings of such committee (if he is a member thereof) or of any sub-committee thereof of which he is a member.
(2) No contribution shall be payable under this section in respect of any period of twelve months ending on the 30th day of June in any year to a member of a vocational education committee in respect of his attendance at meetings of such committee held during such period unless he has attended at least five such meetings.
(3) No contribution shall be payable under this section in respect of any period of twelve months ending on the 30th day of June in any year to a member of a sub-committee appointed by a vocational education committee in respect of his attendances at meetings of such sub-committee held during such period unless the Minister, on the application of such committee, authorises contributions to be paid under this section to members of such sub-committee.
(4) For the purposes of this section the period commencing on the day appointed under this Act for the holding of the first meeting of a vocational education committee and ending on the 30th day of June, 1931, shall be deemed to be a period of twelve months.
(5) 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.
(6) Any person who is convicted of an offence under this section shall thereafter be disqualified from being elected or being a member of any vocational education committee or a sub-committee thereof, 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 vocational education committee or any such council, body, or committees as aforesaid.
Officers of vocational education committees.
23.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, every vocational education committee shall appoint a chief executive officer and such other 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) Every vocational education committee shall take from its chief executive officer and any other of its officers who receives or pays money on its behalf such security as may be directed by the Minister.
(4) A vocational education committee may dismiss any servant of such committee and, with the approval of the Minister, remove any officer of such committee.
(5) A vocational education committee 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 vocational education committee mean the Minister for Education.
First chief executive officers of certain committees.
24.—(1) Where the functional area of a committee appointed under sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Act of 1889 or sub-section (1) of section 14 of the Act of 1899 or of a joint committee tee appointed under sub-section (2) of the said section 14 is coterminous with a vocational education area, the person who on the day before the first meeting of the vocational education committee for such vocational education area is the chief executive officer of such committee or joint committee shall on the day of such meeting become the chief executive officer of such vocational education committee.
(2) In the case of a vocational education committee for a county vocational education area to which no person by virtue of the foregoing provisions becomes the chief executive officer, the secretary of the council of the county which is or includes such vocational education area shall at the first meeting of such committee act as secretary to such committee.
Application of Part IV. of the Act of 1925.
25.—(1) Every vocational education committee 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 vocational education committees and their officers accordingly, subject to the modifications hereinafter mentioned.
(2) Section 50 of the Act of 1925 shall not apply in respect of vocational education committees 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 vocational education committee shall be paid by the local authority which under this Act pays the annual local contribution to the expenses of such committee and shall be raised by means of the same rate and be paid out of the same fund and be charged on the same area as such annual local contribution 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) There shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas to a local authority paying any allowance or gratuity in pursuance of the foregoing sub-section, in aid of the rate or fund out of which such allowance or gratuity is so paid, one half of every payment made by such local authority in respect of such allowance or gratuity.
(4) Section 47 of the Act of 1925 as amended by section 9 of the Act of 1927 shall not apply in respect of vocational education committees 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 local authority (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 vocational education committee 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 one-half 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.
26.—(1) Every vocational education committee 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 vocational education committees 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 Education, and in the said section 71 the expression “the Minister for Education” 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 vocational education committee 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 a county council, an urban district council, or a borough council, or a joint committee of any two or more of such councils.
Removal of officers and servants by the Minister.
27.—(1) The Minister may by order, either upon or without any suggestion or complaint from a vocational education committee, remove from his office or employment any paid officer or servant of a vocational education committee (whether appointed by or transferred by this Act to such committee) 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) The Minister shall not remove under this section from his office an officer or servant of a vocational education committee unless and until he has caused a local inquiry to be held under this Act in relation to the performance by such officer or servant of his duties as such officer or servant and considered the report of the person who held such local inquiry.
Acquisition of lands by vocational education committees.
28.—(1) A vocational education committee may, with the approval of the Minister and subject to regulations made by him under this Act, purchase or take on lease any land for the purposes of any of their powers or duties under this Act.
(2) For the purposes of the acquisition of land by a vocational education committee, sections 203, 214, and 215 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, as amended by section 8 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1896, and section 68 of the Act of 1925, shall apply as if herein re-enacted and made applicable to vocational education committees with the modification that the advertisements mentioned in sub-section (2) of section 203 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, may be published in any month, and that the notices mentioned in the said sub-section shall be served in the next succeeding month.
(3) In this section the expression “land” includes any easement in, to, or over land.
Acceptance of educational endowments by committees.
29.—(1) A vocational education committee may, with the approval of the Minister, be constituted trustees of any educational endowment or charity established (whether before or after the passing of this Act) for purposes connected with continuation or technical or both continuation and technical education.
(2) A vocational education committee shall have power to accept any real or personal property given to it as an educational endowment generally or upon trust for any purposes connected with continuation or technical or both continuation and technical education.
(3) Nothing in this section shall enable a vocational education committee to be trustees for or to accept any educational endowment, charity, or trust the purposes of which are inconsistent with this Act or with the principles on which such committee is required by or under this Act to provide continuation education and technical education.
PART III.
Continuation Education and Technical Education.
Duties generally of vocational education committees.
30.—It shall be the duty of every vocational education committee—
(a) to establish and maintain in accordance with this Act a suitable system of continuation education in its area and to provide for the progressive development of such system; and
(b) to supply or aid the supply in accordance with this Act of technical education in its area.
General schemes.
31.—(1) Every vocational education committee may, and if so required by the Minister shall, from time to time prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme setting forth the general policy of such committee in relation to continuation education and technical education respectively and showing the mode in which it proposes, in pursuance of such policy, to exercise and perform its powers and duties under this Act.
(2) In preparing a scheme under this section a vocational education committee shall consider all such representations as shall be made to it in relation to such scheme by persons resident in its area having interest and experience in educational matters, and by persons concerned in local manufactures, trades and industries, and by persons qualified to represent the views of employers and employees in matters of educational interest relating to such area.
General powers in relation to continuation education.
32.—In performance of the duties in relation to continuation education imposed on vocational education committees by this Act every such committee may do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) establish and maintain continuation schools in its area;
(b) establish and maintain in its area courses of instruction in the nature of continuation education;
(c) assist in maintaining schools in its area in which continuation education is provided.
Registration of certain persons attending continuation schools and courses.
33.—Where a continuation school or a course of instruction maintained or provided by a vocational education committee is attended by young persons who have the prospect of employment in a particular trade, business, or occupation, it shall be the duty of such vocational education committee to register and classify such young persons and to provide in the curriculum of such school or in the instruction given in such course (as the case may be) for the educational requirements of such young persons having regard to the nature of the said employment.
General powers in relation to technical education.
34.—In performance of the duties in relation to technical education imposed on vocational education committees by this Act, every such committee may do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) establish and maintain or assist in maintaining technical schools within its area;
(b) establish and maintain or assist in establishing and maintaining in its area courses of instruction in the nature of technical education;
(c) contribute to the expenses incurred by persons resident in its area in obtaining technical education at schools or courses within or outside such area;
(d) with the special sanction of the Minister, aid persons resident in its area in obtaining further education at technical colleges or central technical institutions or technical training colleges or other centres of advanced technical education within or outside such area.
Existing supply of technical education.
35.—A vocational education committee, when exercising the powers in relation to technical education conferred on it by this Act, shall have regard to any existing supply of technical education in its area.
Determination of subject matter of powers.
36.—Where a vocational education committee exercises or proposes to exercise its powers under this Act for a particular purpose which is a purpose authorised by this Act, and a question arises as to whether such purpose is a purpose relating to continuation education or is a purpose relating to technical education, such question shall be referred by such committee to the Minister and the decision of the Minister thereon shall be final and conclusive.
Deficiency in supply of continuation education or technical education.
37.—(1) Whenever, in the opinion of the Minister, a vocational education committee is not making adequate and suitable provision for the supply of continuation education in its area, the Minister may require such committee to make such particular provision for the supply of such education as he may, having regard to the moneys available for such committee, think fit to specify and require, and thereupon it shall become and be the duty of such committee to comply in all respects with such requisition.
(2) Whenever, in the opinion of the Minister, a vocational education committee is not making adequate and suitable provision for the supply of technical education in its area, the Minister may require such committee to make such particular provision for the supply of such education as he may, having regard to the moneys available for such committee, think fit to specify and require, and thereupon it shall become and be the duty of such committee to comply in all respects with such requisition.
(3) A requisition made by the Minister under this section may require a vocational education committee to provide continuation education or technical education (as the case may be) by making with another vocational education committee an arrangement of such character and containing such terms as are specified in such requisition whereby continuation education or technical education (as the case may be) provided by such last-mentioned committee is made available for persons resident in the area of such first-mentioned committee, and where any such requisition is so made it shall be the duty of both such committees to enter into and give effect to such arrangement.
Higher technical education.
38.—(1) A vocational education committee for a borough vocational education area may, subject to compliance with the next following sub-section of this section, establish and maintain in its area a school (in this section referred to as a day technical college) having for its main object the provision of education, in the general principles of science, commerce, or art suited to the requirements of persons employed in positions of control or responsibility in trade or industry.
(2) The following provisions shall apply to and be complied with in every day technical college, that is to say:—
(a) such college shall not provide for the training in the technique of any trade or craft save to such extent as the same may be ancillary to its main object and be approved of by the Minister; and
(b) admission to such college shall be confined to students who at the beginning of the school year are not less than sixteen years in age; and
(c) students enrolled at such college shall be charged such fees as may be approved of by the Minister; and
(d) no student shall be admitted to such college who does not possess such qualifications as may be prescribed by the Minister.
(3) Persons selected or accepted by the Minister for training as teachers shall be afforded such facilities at a day technical college on such terms and in such manner as the Minister considers reasonable.
Establishment of scholarships.
39.—A vocational education committee may, with the approval of the Minister, establish or assist in establishing scholarships tenable within or outside its area and fix the amounts and tenure of such scholarships and the conditions on which they may be awarded and held.
Co-operation between committees.
40.—Any two or more vocational education committees 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.
Fees to be charged by committees.
41.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a vocational education committee may, in accordance with a scale prepared by it and approved by the Minister, fix and charge fees for attendance at all or any schools and courses of instruction maintained or provided by it under this Act.
(2) No fees shall be charged by a vocational education committee for the admission to a compulsory course of instruction provided by it under Part V. of this Act of persons who attend such course in pursuance of an obligation imposed on them by the said Part V.
(3) No fees shall be charged by a vocational education committee for the admission to a course of instruction provided by it under Part VI. of this Act of persons who attend such course in pursuance of an obligation imposed on them by the said Part VI.
(4) A vocational education committee may, with the approval of the Minister, remit either in whole or in part any fees which it is entitled to charge under this section.
PART IV.
Finance of Vocational Education Committees.
Rating authorities and areas of charge.
42.—(1) For the purposes of this Part of this Act—
(a) the council of a county borough shall be the rating authority for the borough vocational education area which is co-terminous with such county borough; and
(b) the council of a scheduled urban district shall be the rating authority for the urban district vocational education area which is co-terminous with such scheduled urban district; and
(c) the council of a county shall be the rating authority for the county vocational education area which is co-terminous with or is included in such county.
(2) In this Part of this Act the expression “area of charge” when used in relation to a rating authority means the vocational education area for which such rating authority is the rating authority.
Annual local contributions to vocational education committees.
43.—(1) There shall be paid, in every local financial year commencing after the passing of this Act by the rating authority for a vocational education area to the vocational education committee for such area, such sum (in this Act referred to as the annual local contribution) as may be demanded by such committee under this Part of this Act in respect of such year.
(2) The amount of the annual local contribution payable to a vocational education committee in respect of any particular local financial year—
(a) shall not be less than a sum (in this Part of this Act referred to as the minimum annual liability) equal, where the rating authority is the council of a county borough or of a scheduled urban district, to the amount of a rate of three pence in the pound on the rateable value of the area of charge at the commencement of such year or, where the rating authority is the council of a county, other than the county of Cork, to the amount of a rate of one penny three farthings in the pound on the rateable value of the area of charge at the commencement of such year or, where the rating authority is the council of the county of Cork, to the amount of a rate of two pence in the pound on the rateable value of the area of charge at the commencement of such year; and
(b) shall not exceed a sum (in this Part of this Act referred to as the maximum annual liability) equal, where the rating authority is the council of a county borough or of a scheduled urban district, to the amount of a rate of the number of pence in the pound specified for such year in Part I. of the Third Schedule to this Act on the rateable value of the area of charge at the commencement of such year or, where the rating authority is the council of a county, to the amount of a rate of the number of pence in the pound specified for such year in Part II. of the Third Schedule to this Act on the rateable value of the area of charge at the commencement of such year.
(3) Every annual local contribution shall, where the rating authority is the council of a county borough or of a scheduled urban district, be raised by means of or out of any rate or fund applicable for the purposes of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and in the case of a rate, assessed in the manner provided by that Act, and, where the rating authority is the council of a county, be raised equally over the whole of the area of charge by means of the poor rate.
Preparation of annual schemes by committees.
44.—(1) Every vocational education committee shall, on or before the 1st day of December in every local financial year, prepare and submit to the Minister an estimate (in this Act referred to as an annual scheme) in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars of—
(a) the moneys required to meet the expenses of such committee in the exercise of its powers and performance of its duties during or in respect of the then next ensuing local financial year;
(b) the receipts of such committee during or in respect of the then next ensuing local financial year, having regard (amongst other matters) to the minimum annual liability and the maximum annual liability of the rating authority in respect of such year; and
(c) the amount (in no case less than the minimum annual liability nor more than the maximum annual liability of the rating authority in respect of the then next ensuing local financial year) of the annual local contribution in respect of such next ensuing local financial year which will be required for the purposes of such scheme.
(2) The Minister may, in respect of every annual scheme submitted to him under this section, either approve of such scheme without modification or approve of such scheme with such modifications as he shall think fit to make therein or refuse to approve of such scheme.
(3) Whenever the Minister refuses to approve of an annual scheme, the committee by which such scheme was prepared shall forthwith prepare and submit to the Minister a new annual scheme, and this section shall apply to such new scheme in like manner as it applies to the original scheme.
(4) When an annual scheme has been approved by the Minister, whether with or without modification, it shall be the duty of the committee by which such scheme was prepared to carry into effect such scheme as so approved.
Consideration of annual scheme by estimates sub-committee.
45.—(1) For the purpose of this section the members of a vocational education committee who—
(a) in the case of a vocational education committee for a borough vocational education area or an urban district vocational education area, are members of the council of the county borough or the urban district which is such borough vocational education area or urban district vocational education area (as the case may be), and
(b) in the case of a vocational education committee for a county vocational education area, are members of the council of the county which is or includes such county vocational education area and are elected by such council,
shall together constitute a special sub-committee (in this section referred to as the estimates sub-committee) of such vocational education committee.
(2) Where the annual scheme prepared by a vocational education committee in respect of any local financial year (other than the local financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931) provides for an annual local contribution in respect of such local financial year of an amount greater than the annual local contribution demanded by such committee in respect of the preceding local financial, year, such scheme shall, before being submitted to the Minister under the foregoing section, be first submitted to the estimates sub-committee of such committee and in such case it shall be the duty of the chief executive officer of such committee to summon a meeting of such estimates sub-committee for a convenient day and hour (not being more than seven days after the date of the meeting at which such scheme was prepared) for the consideration of such scheme.
(3) If at a meeting of an estimates sub-committee of a vocational education committee held in pursuance of the foregoing sub-section such sub-committee by resolution, passed by a majority of the members thereof present and voting, request such vocational educational committee to reduce the amount of the annual local contribution mentioned in the scheme submitted to it to a specified amount not lower than the annual local contribution demanded in respect of the then current local financial year, such committee shall amend such scheme in accordance with such request and make such other amendments therein as may appear to them to be necessary.
Demand by committee for annual local contribution.
46.—(1) When the Minister has considered an annual scheme he shall issue to the vocational education committee by which such scheme was prepared a certificate in the prescribed form authorising such committee to demand from the rating authority for the vocational education area of such committee an annual local contribution in respect of the local financial year to which such annual scheme relates of such amount as the Minister shall think proper to specify in such certificate having regard to the estimates of expenses and receipts contained in such scheme, but not less than the minimum annual liability of such rating authority in respect of such year nor more than whichever of the two following amounts is the greater, that is to say, the amount of the annual local contribution mentioned in such scheme and the amount of the annual local contribution (if any) in respect of the preceding local financial year.
(2) Every vocational education committee shall, upon receiving from the Minister a certificate under this section, forthwith send to the rating authority for the vocational education area of such committee a demand in the prescribed form for an annual local contribution of the amount specified in such certificate for or in respect of the local financial year to which such certificate relates.
(3) Every rating authority to which a demand is made under this section by the vocational education committee for the vocational education area for which such authority is the rating authority shall pay to such committee at the prescribed time or times and in the prescribed manner the amount of such demand without any deduction whatsoever.
Treasurer of vocational education committees.
47.—(1) Every vocational education committee shall at its first meeting appoint a banking company to act as treasurer of such committee.
(2) A vocational education committee may from time to time accept the resignation or revoke the appointment of a banking company as treasurer and appoint another such company as treasurer.
(3) A vocational education committee may take from its treasurer such security as may be approved by the Minister.
(4) When appointing a treasurer, a vocational education committee shall fix with such treasurer the amount of interest to be allowed for money from time to time lying to the credit of such committee with such treasurer.
Vocational education fund.
48.—(1) Every vocational education committee shall establish and maintain in the hands of the treasurer of such committee a fund to be known and in this Act referred to as the vocational education fund of such committee.
(2) All sums received by a vocational education committee under this Act from any source shall be paid to the treasurer of such committee and, save as is hereinafter otherwise provided, the receipt alone of such treasurer shall be a good discharge to the person paying the same, and all such sums shall be paid by such treasurer into the vocational education fund of such committee.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-section of this section, the receipt of an officer of a vocational education committee duly authorised by such committee to receive payments of a particular class shall be a good discharge to a person making a payment of such class to such officer, but it shall be the duty of such officer forthwith to pay the amount of such payment to the treasurer of such committee.
(4) No payments shall be made out of the vocational education fund of a vocational education committee except by the treasurer of such committee on the direction in writing of such committee, and every payment so directed shall be made out of such fund by such treasurer and every such direction by such committee to such treasurer shall be a sufficient authority to such treasurer to make the payments thereby directed to be made to the person or persons mentioned therein.
(5) A vocational education committee may authorise payments out of the vocational education fund maintained by it to be made 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 annual scheme prepared by it and approved by the Minister; or
(b) to defray administrative and incidental expenses incurred for the purposes of this Act by such committee with the previous consent, either general or special, of the Minister; or
(c) to defray any other expenditure required or authorised by this Act to be incurred by such committee.
(6) The Minister may from time to time authorise a vocational education committee to incur, in any local financial year, administrative and incidental expenses up to but not exceeding an amount specified by the Minister in such authority, and every such authority shall for the purposes of this section operate as a general previous consent to all administrative and incidental expenses incurred by such committee in such year up to the amount so specified.
Powers of borrowing.
49.—A vocational education committee may, with the consent of the Minister, borrow by means of bank overdraft or otherwise money for the purposes of the vocational education fund maintained by it.
Borrowing by vocational education committee for permanent works.
50.—(1) Where a vocational education committee proposes to incur expenditure under this Act on works the cost of which ought, in the opinion of the Minister, by reason of their permanent character to be spread over a term of years, such committee may, with the consent of the Minister, spread the defrayal of such expenditure over such term of years as the Minister may approve, and may for that purpose borrow money on the security of the vocational education fund maintained by it and charge that fund with payment of the principal moneys so borrowed and the interest thereon.
(2) The powers of a vocational education committee under this section shall be exercised in accordance with regulations made by the Minister.
(3) A vocational education committee borrowing money under this section may, where it so thinks proper, borrow such money from the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, and those Commissioners may, if they think fit, lend such money to such committee under the Public Works (Ireland) Acts, 1831 to 1886 and notwithstanding anything in those Acts such loan may be made for such term as the Commissioners think fit.
Grants by rating authorities.
51.—(1) Where a vocational education committee, with the consent of the Minister, proposes to incur or has incurred expense under this Act on works of a permanent character, the rating authority for the vocational education area of such committee may, with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, make a grant to such committee of the whole or part of such expense (whether the same has or has not then been actually incurred) or of any undischarged balance owing by such committee in respect of such works or of moneys borrowed to meet the expense thereof.
(2) Where a vocational education committee is, by virtue of this Act, under a liability in respect of a loan contracted before the passing of this Act and expended on works of a permanent character, the rating authority for the vocational education area of such committee may, with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, at any time make a grant to such committee for or towards the discharge of the amount of such liability then outstanding.
(3) A grant made by a rating authority to a vocational education committee under this section shall be applied by such committee for the purpose for which such grant was made and for no other purpose.
(4) A rating authority may borrow for the purposes of making a grant under this section—
(a) in the case of the council of a county, as if those purposes were purposes for which it is 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 grant shall not be reckoned as part of the total debt of such council for the purposes of the said Article; and
(b) in the case of the council of a county borough or a scheduled urban district, as if those purposes were purposes for which it is authorised to borrow under the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and money borrowed under this section by such council for the purposes of any such grant shall not be reckoned as part of the total debt of such council for the purposes of any limitation on its borrowing powers.
(5) A rating authority borrowing money for the purposes of making a grant under this section may where it so thinks proper borrow such money from the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland and those Commissioners may, if they think fit, lend such money to such rating authority under the Public Works (Ireland) Acts, 1831 to 1886, and notwithstanding anything in those Acts such loan may be made for such term as the Commissioners think fit.
(6) Whenever a rating authority which has borrowed money for the purpose of making a grant under this section pays any sum in repayment of the money so borrowed or in payment of the interest thereon, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, make to such rating authority in aid of the rate or fund out of which such sum was so paid by such rating authority a payment of such amount as the Minister with the consent aforesaid shall think proper but not exceeding one-half of the said sum so paid by such rating authority.
Application of certain moneys.
52.—Any moneys (including any moneys representing the produce of a rate) standing to the credit of or due and payable to a vocational education committee on the 31st day of March, 1931, may, notwithstanding that such moneys are required by any enactment repealed by this Act to be applied for a particular purpose, be applied by such committee for any purpose for which it is authorised to expend moneys under this Act.
Application of parliamentary grants.
53.—(1) The Minister may, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, make grants to vocational education committees in aid of expenditure under annual schemes in accordance with regulations made by the Minister with the approval of the Minister for Finance.
(2) In making such regulations regard may be had to (amongst other things) the following matters:—
(a) the annual local contribution payable to each vocational education committee,
(b) the amount of the rate required to raise such annual local contribution, and
(c) the population of the vocational education area of such committee.
Expenses of delegates to certain conferences.
54.—A vocational education committee may, in accordance with regulations made by the Minister, defray the expenses of members of such committee appointed by it to attend meetings or conferences held for the purpose of discussing matters relating to continuation education and technical education or either of them.
Subscription to certain agencies and associations.
55.—(1) A vocational education committee may, with the consent of the Minister, subscribe to any institution, agency, or organisation which includes amongst its functions the collection and communication of information with respect to employments open to persons under the age of eighteen years.
(2) A vocational education committee may, with the consent of the Minister, subscribe to any association or institution concerned in questions of continuation education and technical education or either of them.
Travelling expenses and maintenance of teachers attending certain classes.
56.—Where a teacher in the employment of a vocational education committee is attending classes for the training and certification of teachers, or is attending special courses provided in a central technical school or in a university college or at any other centre approved by the Minister, and such attendance involves the absence of such teacher from his home, such committee may, with the consent of the Minister, make grants to such teacher in aid of the expenses incurred by him in attending such courses or classes.
Non-application of section 51 (7) of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898.
57.—Sub-section (7) of section 51 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898 shall not apply in respect of any debt, claim, or demand payable by a vocational education committee.
Audit of accounts of vocational education committees.
58.—(1) The accounts of every vocational education committee 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 vocational education committee should be charged in respect of such audit, and the amount of such proportion of such salary shall be paid by such vocational education committee to the said Minister.
PART V.
Enforcement of Continuation Education.
Interpretation of this Part of this Act.
59.—(1) In this Part of this Act the expression “young person” does not include a person who attains the age of fifteen years on or before the day on which the district in which he resides commences to be a district to which this Part of this Act applies, and accordingly so much of this Part of this Act as relates to young persons shall not apply to a person so excluded from the said expression.
(2) References in this Part of this Act to the vocational education committee for a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall be construed as references to the vocational education committee whose vocational education area is co-terminous with or includes such district.
(3) In this Part of this Act the expression “committee of agriculture” means any committee set up (whether before or after the passing of this Act) by statute under that name to exercise functions in relation to the purposes of agriculture and other rural industries.
District to which this Part of this Act applies.
60.—(1) The Minister may, either on the application of the vocational education committee or on his own motion, make an order declaring that a vocational education area or any particular part of a vocational education area shall, as on and from the day specified in that behalf in such order, be a district to which this Part of this Act applies, and thereupon such vocational education area or such particular part thereof shall, as on and from such day, and so long as such order remains in force, be a district to which this Part of this Act applies.
(2) Whenever the Minister makes an order under the foregoing sub-section declaring a particular area to be a district to which this Part of this Act applies and such area is neither co-terminous with nor included in a county or other borough mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, he shall, after consultation with the Minister for Justice, by the same order prescribe the rank and station of the officer of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na who is to be the enforcing authority for such district for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(3) The Minister may at any time by order revoke or amend an order previously made by him under sub-section (1) of this section, but he shall not revoke or amend an order made after consultation with the Minister for Justice without consulting such Minister in relation to such revocation or amendment.
(4) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat annulling such order, such order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order.
Courses of instruction provided by vocational education committees.
61.—(1) In every district to which this Part of this Act applies, the vocational education committee for such district shall, in every local financial year, provide such and so many courses of instruction (in this Act distinguished as compulsory courses) in the nature of continuation education as such committee shall consider necessary having regard to the requirements of the young persons resident in such district.
(2) The vocational education committee for a district to which this Part of this Act applies may, if and when it thinks fit so to do and without prejudice to its obligation to provide compulsory courses, provide in such district in any local financial year such courses of instruction (in this Act distinguished as voluntary courses) in the nature of continuation education as such committee shall consider desirable having regard to the circumstances of such district and of the young persons resident therein.
(3) Every course of instruction provided under this section shall consist, in the case of a compulsory course, of one hundred and eighty hours of instruction in each local financial year or, in the case of a voluntary course, of not less than one hundred and eighty hours of instruction in each local financial year and, in every case, shall be distributed, as regards times and seasons, in such manner as may best suit the circumstances of the district but, in the case of a district which contains the whole or any part of the functional area of a committee of agriculture, not without previous consultation with such committee.
(4) The instruction to be given at a course of instruction provided under this section shall be such as the vocational education committee providing such course shall, with the approval of the Minister, direct.
(5) Every vocational education committee providing courses of instruction under this section shall make public by advertisement or otherwise the dates for the commencement and termination of such courses and the times and places at which the instruction comprised in such courses will be given.
Approved courses and approved schools.
62.—(1) Whenever the Minister is satisfied that a course of instruction provided by any person other than a vocational education committee affords efficient instruction in the nature of continuation education of a not lower standard than the courses of instruction which vocational education committees are required by this Part of this Act to provide, the Minister may grant in respect of such course of instruction a certificate in the prescribed form that such course of instruction is an approved course for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(2) Whenever the Minister is satisfied that a school (other than a school which is for the time being recognised by the Minister as a secondary school and other than a national school) affords efficient continuation education, the Minister may grant in respect of such school a certificate in the prescribed form that such school is an approved school for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(3) Whenever the Minister is satisfied that a course of instruction or a school in respect of which he has granted a certificate under this section has ceased to be qualified to receive such certificate, the Minister may revoke such certificate, and thereupon such certificate shall be delivered up to the Minister.
(4) The Minister may make or cause to be made such reasonable inquiries and inspections as he shall think proper for the purpose of satisfying himself whether any particular course of instruction or school is or is not or does or does not continue to be qualified to receive a certificate under this section, and for the purpose of such inquiries and inspections an inspector may at all reasonable times enter any premises where a course of instruction in respect of which such certificate has been applied for or granted is held, or any school in respect of which such certificate has been applied for or granted, and inquire into and inspect any such course of instruction or school.
Obligation to attend for instruction.
63.—(1) Every parent of a young person resident in a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall, unless there is a reasonable excuse for not so doing, cause such young person to attend for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Part of this Act, any one of the following, and only one of the following, attendances by a young person shall be attendance for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act, that is to say:—
(a) attendance at a compulsory course of instruction provided under this Part of this Act by the vocational education committee for the district in which the young person resides;
(b) attendance at a voluntary course of instruction provided under this Part of this Act by the vocational education committee for the district in which the young person resides;
(c) attendance at a course of instruction in respect of which a certificate that it is an approved course of instruction for the purposes of this Part of this Act has been granted by the Minister and has not been revoked;
(d) full-time attendance at a school which is for the time being recognised by the Minister as a secondary school;
(e) full-time attendance at a national school;
(f) full-time attendance at a school in respect of which a certificate that it is an approved school for the purposes of this Part of this Act has been granted by the Minister and has not been revoked.
Reasonable excuses for failure to attend for instruction.
64.—The following shall be reasonable excuses for failure to attend for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act, that is to say:—
(a) that the young person has been prevented from so attending by sickness;
(b) that the young person is receiving instruction suitable to his age and circumstances otherwise than by attendance for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act;
(c) that no compulsory course of instruction is provided by the vocational education committee for the district in which the young person resides at any place within a distance of three miles from the residence of the young person measured according to the shortest way lawfully and conveniently available for him;
(d) that the young person has been prevented from so attending by some other sufficient cause.
The enforcing authority.
65.—(1) For the purposes of this Part of this Act the enforcing authority for a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall be—
(a) in every such district which is co-terminous with or included in a county or other borough mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, the vocational education committee for that district; and
(b) in every such district which is neither co-terminous with nor included in any of the said county or other boroughs, the officer of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na for the time holding the rank and occupying the station prescribed in that behalf by the order made by the Minister under this Part of this Act declaring such district to be a district to which this Part of this Act applies.
(2) It shall be the duty of every enforcing authority to keep the prescribed registers and records for the purposes of this Part of this Act and to permit such registers and records to be inspected at all reasonable times by an inspector.
(3) Every officer of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na who is an enforcing authority under this Part of this Act may exercise all or any of his functions as such enforcing authority by or through any one or more of the members of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na under his command and every member of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na by or through whom such functions are so exercised shall for the purposes of this Part of this Act be an attendance officer of such enforcing authority.
Parents to furnish particulars of their children.
66.—(1) Every person resident in a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall, if required so to do by notice in writing in the prescribed form served on or left for him at his residence by the enforcing authority for such district, furnish to such authority, within the time and in the manner specified in such notice, the names and ages and the mode of education and other particulars specified in such notice of all young persons or any specified young person of whom he is the parent within the meaning of this Act.
(2) Every person, resident in a district to which this Part of this Act applies, who fails to furnish in accordance with this section all or any particulars which he is duly required under this section so to furnish, or who so furnishes any such particulars which are to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, shall be guilty of an offence under this section and on summary conviction thereof shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings.
Employers to furnish particulars.
67.—(1) Every person carrying on business in a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall, if required so to do by notice in writing in the prescribed form served on or left for him at his place of business by the enforcing authority for such district, furnish to such authority, within the time and in the manner specified in such notice, the particulars specified in such notice of all young persons or any specified young person employed by him.
(2) Every person carrying on business in a district to which this Part of this Act applies who fails to furnish in accordance with this section all or any particulars which he is duly required under this section so to furnish or who so furnishes any such particulars which are to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, shall be guilty of an offence under this section and on summary conviction thereof shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings.
Information to be furnished by Juvenile Advisory Committees.
68.—The Secretary of the Juvenile Advisory Committee for an area which is or includes a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall, at the beginning of every quarter commencing on the 1st day of January, the 1st day of April, the 1st day of July, or the 1st day of October, furnish to the enforcing authority for such district copies of all particulars furnished to him in pursuance of sub-section (4) of section 15 of the School Attendance Act, 1926 (No. 17 of 1926) of the names and addresses of all persons resident in such district who will attain the age of fourteen years during such quarter.
Facilities for attending courses of instruction.
69.—(1) It shall be the duty of every employer of a young person who is required by this Part of this Act to attend for instruction and is in fact attending or desirous of attending a compulsory course of instruction provided under this Part of this Act to afford, so far as the same may be necessary, such young person time and liberty to attend such course of instruction without any deduction from wages or any addition to the hours of employment or reckoning such time as lost.
(2) If any employer fails or neglects to comply with the requirements of this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
Returns by principal teachers.
70.—(1) The principal teacher at every course of instruction or school, attendance at which is attendance for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act and at which any young person resident in a district to which this Part of this Act applies is enrolled or attending, shall communicate at the prescribed times and in the prescribed manner to the enforcing authority of such district the prescribed particulars of every such young person who is absent from such course or school and the prescribed particulars of such absences.
(2) The principal teacher at every such course of instruction or school as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-section shall on demand supply in the prescribed form to any enforcing authority for a district to which this Part of this Act applies the respective ages as stated in the registers of such course or school of all or any of the young persons attending such course or school who reside in such district and the prescribed particulars of the attendances at and absences from such course of instruction or school of all or any of those young persons.
(3) When a young person who resides in a district to which this Part of this Act applies is removed from any such course of instruction or school as is hereinbefore mentioned the principal teacher at such course of instruction or school shall on demand give to the parent of such young person a certificate in the prescribed form stating the period during which such young person was attending such course of instruction or school, the number of attendances and absences of such young person at or from such course of instruction or school during the prescribed portion of such period, and the number of attendance hours made in each subject, and the parent of such young person shall exhibit such certificate to the principal teacher at any other such course of instruction or school to which he applies for the admission of such young person.
Duty to enforce attendance of young persons for instruction.
71.—It shall be the duty of every enforcing authority of a district to which this Part of this Act applies to take all such steps and institute all such proceedings as may be necessary for the enforcement of the attendance for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act of all young persons who reside in such district.
Parent to notify cause of absence.
72.—Whenever a young person who resides in a district to which this Part of this Act applies is for the time being attending for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act at any course of instruction or school but is absent from such instruction or school on any day or days on which he should under this Part of this Act attend thereat, his parent shall as soon as possible and in any event not later than one week after the day or the first of the days (as the case may be) of such absence communicate in writing or in person to the principal teacher at such course of instruction or school the cause of such absence.
Failure to comply with this Part of this Act.
73.—(1) Whenever a young person who resides in a district to which this Part of this Act applies fails or neglects to attend for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act and so far as is known to the enforcing authority for such district there is no reasonable excuse for such failure or neglect, such authority shall serve on the parent of such young person a warning in the prescribed form—
(a) requiring him within one week after such service to cause such young person to attend for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act, or to give to the authority a reasonable excuse for not so doing; and
(b) informing him that in the event of his failure to comply with the terms of the foregoing paragraph proceedings will be instituted against him under this Act; and
(c) informing him that if, within three months after such proceedings, he again fails to comply with this Part of this Act further proceedings may be instituted against him without previous warning.
(2) If a parent does not comply with a warning duly served on him under this section, he shall, unless he satisfies the Court that he has used all reasonable efforts to cause the young person to whom such warning relates to attend for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act, be guilty of an offence under this section and be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence (whether in relation to the same or another young person), to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
(3) Whenever a parent within three months after being convicted of an offence under the foregoing sub-section fails without reasonable excuse to cause the young person in respect of whom he was so convicted to attend for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act, such parent shall, unless such young person has ceased to be a young person, be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
Attendance officers.
74.—(1) Every vocational education committee which is an enforcing authority for the purposes of this Part of this Act shall by order appoint such officers as it thinks fit to be attendance officers for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(2) Every attendance officer appointed under this section shall, when exercising any authority or power under this Part of this Act as such officer, produce on demand and show the order appointing him such officer to any person in relation to whom he is exercising such authority or power.
(3) A document produced by a person claiming to be an attendance officer and represented by him to be an order appointing him such officer and purporting on its face to be such order shall, until the contrary is proved, be evidence that such person is an attendance officer.
Authentication of warnings, notices, etc.
75.—All warnings, notices, and other documents issued or served under this Part of this Act by an enforcing authority shall be sufficiently authenticated by the signature thereon of an attendance officer of such authority.
Prosecutions at suit of attendance officer.
76.—A prosecution for an offence under this Part of this Act may be instituted and prosecuted at the suit of any attendance officer of an enforcing authority as prosecutor.
Miscellaneous provisions as to prosecutions.
77.—(1) In a prosecution for an offence under this Part of this Act, the court before whom the prosecution is brought may, on the application of the prosecutor or the person prosecuted or on its own motion, order the parent or employer of the young person to whom the prosecution relates to produce such young person before the court at a specified time and place, and in the event of such parent or employer failing without reasonable excuse so to produce such young person the court may inflict on such parent or employer a fine not exceeding twenty shillings.
(2) In any prosecution for an offence under this Part of this Act the burden of proof of any of the following matters in relation to the young person to whom the prosecution relates shall lie on the person prosecuted, that is to say:—
(a) the age of the young person;
(b) that there was a reasonable excuse for the non-attendance of the young person for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act on any particular day or during any particular period;
(c) that the young person is receiving education suitable to a young person otherwise than by attending for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act.
(3) In any prosecution under this Part of this Act, a certificate purporting to be signed by the principal teacher at a course of instruction or school, attendance at which is attendance for instruction in accordance with this Part of this Act, stating that the young person to whom the prosecution relates is or is not attending that course of instruction or school or stating that such young person did or did not attend that course of instruction or school on particular days shall, until the contrary is proved be evidence of such of the matters aforesaid as are stated in such certificate.
(4) In any prosecution for an offence under this Part of this Act a certificate purporting to be signed by a duly qualified medical practitioner that the young person to whom the prosecution relates is or was at any specified time suffering from a specified physical or mental malady or injury and that such malady or injury was of such a nature as to render the young person unfit to attend at a course of instruction or a school or that some person residing in the house in which such young person resides is or was suffering from a specified physical malady or injury shall, until the contrary is proved, be evidence of such of the facts aforesaid as are stated in such certificate.
(5) In any prosecution for an offence under this Part of this Act, the court may order the costs incurred in relation to such prosecution by the prosecutor or the person prosecuted to be paid by the person prosecuted or the prosecutor (as the case may require) and may fix the amount of such costs.
Expenses.
78.—All expenses incurred by a vocational education committee in carrying this part of this Act into effect shall be paid out of the vocational education fund of such committee.
PART VI.
Enforcement of Technical Education.
Persons to whom this Part of this Act applies.
79.—This Part of this Act applies to persons who have attained the age of sixteen years and have not attained the age of eighteen years and the expression “person to whom this Part of this Act applies” shall be construed and have effect accordingly.
Interpretation of this Part of this Act.
80.—(1) References in this Part of this Act to the vocational education committee for a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall be construed as references to the vocational education committee whose vocational education area is co-terminus with or includes such district.
(2) In this Part of this Act the expression “apprenticeship committee” means any committee hereafter set up by statute under that name to exercise functions in relation to apprenticeship either generally or in reference to particular trades.
District to which this Part of this Act applies.
81.—(1) The Minister may, if and when he thinks proper so to do, by order declare that any vocational education area or any particular part of a vocational education area shall as from a date to be named in such order be a district to which this Part of this Act applies, and thereupon such vocational education area or such particular part thereof shall, as from such date and so long as such order remains in force, be a district to which this Part of this Act applies.
(2) Whenever the Minister makes an order under the foregoing sub-section declaring a particular area to be a district to which this Part of this Act applies and such area is neither co-terminous with nor included in a county or other borough mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, he shall, after consultation with the Minister for Justice, by the same order prescribe the rank and station of the officer of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na who is to be the enforcing authority for such district for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(3) The Minister may at any time by order revoke or amend an order previously made by him under sub-section (1) of this section but he shall not revoke or amend an order made after consultation with the Minister for Justice without consulting with such Minister in relation to such revocation or amendment.
(4) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat annulling such order, such order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order.
Designated trades.
82.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, whenever the Minister makes an order under this Part of this Act declaring a particular area to be a district to which this Part of this Act applies, he shall, by another order, specify the trades which are to be designated trades for the purposes of this Part of this Act in such district, and may from time to time by subsequent orders amend in such manner as he thinks proper the list of trades so specified, and every trade which is for the time being so specified by such first-mentioned order or by such order as so amended shall, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, be a designated trade in such district.
(2) The Minister shall, before making an order under this section specifying a particular trade to be a designated trade for the purposes of this Part of this Act in a district to which this Part of this Act applies or before amending such an order consult, where there is for the time being an apprenticeship committee for such trade whose functional area is co-terminous with or includes such district, such apprenticeship committee or, where there is for the time being no such apprenticeship committee, representatives of employers and employees in such district in such trade.
Technical education in districts to which this Part of this Act applies.
83.—(1) In every district to which this Part of this Act applies, the vocational education committee for such district shall, in every local financial year, provide such and so many courses of instruction in the nature of technical education as such committee shall consider necessary having regard to the number and nature of the designated trades in such district.
(2) Every course of instruction provided under this section by the vocational education committee for a district to which this Part of this Act applies in respect of a designated trade in such district shall consist of such number (not exceeding one hundred and eighty) of hours of instruction in each local financial year as the Minister shall, after consultation with, where there is for the time being an apprenticeship committee for such trade whose functional area is co-terminous with or includes such district, such aprenticeship committee or, where there is for the time being no such apprenticeship committee, representatives of employers and employees in such district in such trade, approve.
(3) Every course of instruction provided under this section shall be distributed as regards times and seasons in such manner as may best suit the designated trades in respect of which it is provided.
(4) The instruction to be given at a course of instruction provided under this section shall be such as the vocational education committee providing such course shall, with the approval of the Minister, direct.
(5) Every vocational education committee providing courses of instruction under this section shall make public by advertisement or otherwise the dates for the commencement and termination of such courses and the times and places at which the instruction comprised in such courses will be given.
Obligation to attend courses in technical education.
84.—(1) Every person to whom this Part of this Act applies and who is employed in a district to which this Part of this Act applies at a trade which is a designated trade in such district shall attend the course of instruction provided for the purposes of such trade under this Part of this Act in such district by the vocational education committee.
(2) If any person to whom this Part of this Act applies and who is employed in a district to which this Part of this Act applies at a trade which is a designated trade in such district fails to attend the course of instruction which he is required by this section to attend, he shall, unless he satisfies the court that such failure was due to sickness or any other unavoidable cause, be guilty of an offence under this section and be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
(3) If the parent of a person to whom this Part of this Act applies and who is employed in a district to which this Part of this Act applies at a trade which is a designated trade in such district has conduced to or connived at the failure of such person to attend the course of instruction which he is required by this section to attend, such parent shall, unless he satisfies the court that such failure was due to sickness or other unavoidable cause not occasioned by such parent, be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
The enforcing authority.
85.—(1) For the purposes of this Part of this Act the enforcing authority for a district to which this Part of this Act applies shall be—
(a) in every such district which is co-terminous with or included in a county or other borough mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, the vocational education committee for that district; and
(b) in every such district which is neither co-terminous with nor included in any of the said county or other boroughs, the officer of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na for the time being holding the rank and occupying the station prescribed in that behalf by the order made by the Minister under this Part of this Act declaring such district to be a district to which this Part of this Act applies.
(2) It shall be the duty of every enforcing authority to keep the prescribed registers and records for the purposes of this Part of this Act and to permit such registers and records to be inspected at all reasonable times by an inspector.
(3) Every officer of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na who is an enforcing authority under this Part of this Act may exercise all or any of his functions as such enforcing authority by or through any one or more of the members of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na under his command, and every member of the G[html]rda Síoch[html]na by or through whom such functions are so exercised shall for the purposes of this Part of this Act be an attendance officer of such enforcing authority.
Employers to furnish particulars.
86.—(1) Every person carrying on in a district to which this Part of this Act applies a trade which is a designated trade in such district shall, if required so to do by notice in writing in the prescribed form served on or left for him at his place of business by the enforcing authority for such district, furnish to such authority within the time and in the manner specified in such notice the particulars specified in such notice of any persons employed by him who are persons to whom this Part of this Act applies.
(2) Every person carrying on in a district to which this Part of this Act applies a trade which is a designated trade in such district who fails to furnish in accordance with this section all or any particulars which he is duly required under this section so to furnish, or who so furnishes any such particulars which are to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, shall be guilty of an offence under this section and be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings.
Facilities for attending courses of instruction.
87.—(1) It shall be the duty of every employer of a person to whom this Part of this Act applies and who is attending or desires to attend, in pursuance of this Part of this Act, a course of instruction provided under this Part of this Act to afford, so far as the same may be necessary, such person time and liberty to attend such course of instruction without any deduction from, wages or any addition to the hours of employment or reckoning such time as lost.
(2) If any employer fails or neglects to comply with the requirements of this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty shillings, and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
Duty of enforcing authority.
88.—It shall be the duty of the enforcing authority for a district to which this Part of this Act applies to take such steps and institute all such proceedings as may be necessary for the enforcement of this Part of this Act in such district.
Attendance officers.
89.—(1) Every vocational education committee which is an enforcing authority for the purposes of this Part of this Act shall by order appoint such officers as it thinks fit to be attendance officers for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(2) Every attendance officer appointed under this section shall when exercising any authority or power under this Part of this Act as such officer produce on demand and show the order appointing him such officer to any person in relation to whom he is exercising such authority or power.
(3) A document produced by a person claiming to be an attendance officer and represented by him to be an order appointing him such officer and purporting on its face to be such order shall, until the contrary is proved, be evidence that such person is an attendance officer.
Authentication of notices, etc.
90.—All notices and other documents issued or served under this Part of this Act by an enforcing authority shall be sufficiently authenticated by the signature thereon of an attendance officer of such authority.
Prosecution at suit of attendance officer.
91.—A prosecution for an offence under this Part of this Act may be instituted and prosecuted at the suit of any attendance officer of an enforcing authority as prosecutor.
Provisions in relation to prosecutions.
92.—(1) In any prosecution under this Part of this Act, a certificate purporting to be signed by a qualified medical practitioner that the person to whom the prosecution relates is or was at any specified time suffering from a specified physical or mental malady or injury and that such malady or injury was of such a nature as to render such person unfit to attend a course of instruction or that some person residing in the house in which such first-mentioned person resides is or was suffering from a specified physical or mental malady or injury shall, until the contrary is proved, be evidence of such of the facts aforesaid as are stated in such certificate.
(2) In any prosecution for an offence under this Part of this Act, the Court may order the costs incurred in relation to such prosecution by the prosecutor or the person prosecuted to be paid by the person prosecuted or the prosecutor (as the case may require) and may fix the amount of such costs.
Expenses.
93.—All expenses incurred by a vocational education committee in carrying this Part of this Act into effect shall be paid out of the vocational education fund of such committee.
PART VII.
Transitory Provisions in Relation to Committees of Technical Instruction.
The appointed day.
94.—In this Part of this Act the expression “the appointed day” means the day appointed under Part II. of this Act for the first meeting of vocational education committees or, if different days are so appointed in respect of different such committees, means in relation to each such committee the day so appointed for the first meeting of such committee.
Transfer of functions etc. to vocational education committees.
95.—(1) In every vocational education area, all the functions, powers, and duties under the Act of 1889, the Act of 1891 and the Act of 1899 or any of those Acts in relation to technical instruction in such area or any particular part thereof which, immediately before the appointed day, are vested in or imposed on the local authority for such area or such particular part thereof and are exercised and performed by such local authority through or by means of a committee appointed or partly appointed by it shall, on the appointed day, become and be transferred to and vested in or imposed on the vocational education committee for such area.
(2) As on and from the appointed day, sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Act of 1889 and section 14 of the Act of 1899 shall cease to have effect so far as they respectively relate to functions, powers, or duties transferred by this section to a vocational education committee.
(3) Nothing in this section shall operate to transfer to a vocational education committee any powers of rating or of borrowing vested in a local authority.
Transfer of property to vocational education committees.
96.—(1) Upon the appointed day, all property, whether real or personal (including choses-in-action) which, immediately before the appointed day, is vested in a local authority or a committee appointed under the Act of 1889 and the Act of 1899 or either of those Acts by a local authority or two or more local authorities jointly and is so vested in relation to or for the purposes of functions, powers, and duties transferred by this Part of this Act or upon or under a trust relating to technical instruction shall, on the appointed day 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 vocational education committee to which such functions, powers, and duties are so transferred.
(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 vocational education committee 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 vocational education committee 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 a local authority 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 a committee appointed or partly appointed by such local authority to exercise and perform functions, powers and duties transferred by this Part of this Act to a vocational education committee and would have been applicable by such first-mentioned committee to the purposes of such functions, powers and duties, shall (so far as such moneys are not paid to such committee before the appointed day) be paid by such local authority to the said vocational education committee.
Transfer of debts and liabilities to vocational education committees.
97.—(1) Upon the appointed day, every debt and other liability (including unliquidated liabilities arising from torts or breaches of contract) which, immediately before the appointed day, is owing and unpaid or has been incurred and is undischarged by a local authority or a committee appointed under the Act of 1889 and the Act of 1899 or either of those Acts by a local authority or two or more local authorities jointly and is so owing or has been so incurred in relation to or for the purposes of functions, powers, and duties transferred by this Part of this Act shall, save as is hereinafter otherwise provided, become and be the debt or liability of the vocational education committee to which such functions, powers, and duties are so transferred and shall be paid or discharged by and may be recovered from 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 appointed day, is or has become payable by a local authority or two or more local authorities jointly to a person on account of his having been an officer of such local authority or authorities or of a committee appointed under the Act of 1889 and the Act of 1899 or either of those Acts by such local authority or local authorities and having been employed by such authority, authorities, or committee wholly or partly in relation to functions, powers, or duties transferred by this Part of this Act shall, on and after the appointed day, be raised and paid by the same local authority or authorities and in the same manner as the same would have been required to be raised and paid if this Act had not been passed.
Continuance of pending transactions.
98.—Every act, matter, or thing which was commenced before the appointed day by or against a local authority or a committee appointed under the Act of 1889 and the Act of 1899 or either of those Acts by a local authority or two or more local authorities jointly and remains pending or uncompleted on the appointed day and was so commenced in exercise or performance or in relation to the exercise or performance of functions, powers, or duties transferred by this Part of this Act, may, on and after the appointed day, be continued and completed by or against the vocational education committee to which such functions, duties, and powers are so transferred, and for that purpose—
(a) in all legal proceedings to which any such local authority or any committee appointed as aforesaid is a party and which relate to the exercise or performance of such functions, powers, or duties and are pending on the appointed day, such vocational education committee may be added as a party in lieu of such local authority or committee; and
(b) all contracts and agreements to which any such local authority or any committee appointed as aforesaid is a party and which relate to such functions, powers, and duties and are on the appointed day not fully executed or completed shall have effect on and after the appointed day as if such vocational education committee had been named as a party thereto in place of such local authority or such committee.
Transfer of officers to vocational education committees.
99.—(1) Every person who, on the day before the appointed day, is an officer of a local authority or of a committee appointed under the Act of 1889 and the Act of 1899 or either of those Acts by a local authority or two or more local authorities jointly and is employed by such authority or committee on duties relating wholly or partly to functions, powers, and duties transferred from such authority or committee by this Part of this Act shall, on the appointed day and subject to the provisions of this section, be transferred to and become and be an officer of the vocational education committee to which such functions, powers, and duties are so transferred.
(2) Every officer transferred by this section shall, subject to the provisions of this section, perform in the service of the vocational education committee 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 vocational education committee 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 vocational education committee may, with the approval of the Minister, re-distribute or re-arrange 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 re-distribution or re-arrangement, and no such re-distribution or re-arrangement 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 vocational education committee 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.
(6) When an officer transferred by this section is, immediately before the appointed day, employed by a committee whose functions, powers, and duties are transferred by this Part of this Act, and is at the same time employed by a committee whose functions, powers, and duties are not so transferred, the transfer of such officer by this section shall apply and have effect in relation only to his employment by such first-mentioned committee.
(7) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to every officer transferred by this section who, immediately before the appointed day, is employed by the local authority or committee from whose service he is so transferred on duties relating in part to functions, powers, or duties transferred by this Part of this Act and in part to other functions, powers, or duties, that is to say:—
(a) the transfer of such officer by this section shall extend and apply only to such of his duties (in this section referred to as transferred duties) as relate to functions, powers, and duties transferred by this Part of this Act, and he shall as respects all his other duties continue to be an officer of the local authority or committee of which he was an officer on the day before the appointed day;
(b) for the purposes of the provisions of this section relating to the duties to be performed by him after such transfer, his duties before such transfer shall be deemed to have been his transferred duties only;
(c) his remuneration immediately before such transfer shall be apportioned as between his transferred duties and his other duties and, for the purposes of the provisions of this section relating to his remuneration after such transfer and to the abolition of his office, his remuneration before such transfer shall be deemed to have been so much only of such remuneration as is on such apportionment appropriated to his transferred duties;
(d) every question or dispute arising in the application of the provisions of this sub-section to the case of any particular officer shall be settled by agreement between such officer, the local authority or committee from which he is transferred, and the vocational education committee to which he is transferred, and in default of such agreement shall be decided by the Minister and the Minister for Agriculture jointly, and the decision of those Ministers shall be final.
PART VIII.
Amalgamation of Urban District Vocational Education Areas with County Vocational Education Areas.
Amalgamation of urban district and county vocational education areas.
100.—(1) The council of a scheduled urban district may, before the 1st day of September in any local financial year after the local financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931, apply to the Minister for the amalgamation of the vocational education area consisting of such scheduled urban district with the county vocational education area which is included in the county containing such urban district.
(2) The Minister may at any time, either on the application under the foregoing sub-section of the council of the urban district concerned and with the consent of the council of the county concerned or on his own motion without any such application or consent, by order (in this Act referred to as an amalgamation order) amalgamate an urban district vocational education area with the county vocational education area which is included in the county containing such urban district vocational education area.
(3) Every amalgamation order shall come into operation on and have effect as on and from the 1st day of April (in this Part of this Act referred to as the commencement of such order) next after the day on which such order is made.
(4) Every amalgamation order shall be published in the Iris Oifigi[html]il as soon as may be after it is made.
Effect of amalgamation order.
101.—Whenever an amalgamation order is made by the Minister under this Part of this Act the urban district to which such order relates shall, on the commencement of such order, cease to be a scheduled urban district within the meaning of this Act, and thenceforth this Act shall have effect in such urban district and in the county containing such urban district as if such urban district were not mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act, and for that purpose the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) on the commencement of such order the urban district vocational education area (in this section referred to as the urban area) which was co-terminous with the said urban district shall become and be amalgamated with and added to the county vocational education area (in this section referred to as the county area) which was theretofore included in the county containing such urban district;
(b) the vocational education committee for the urban area shall, on the commencement of such order, be dissolved;
(c) the council of the said urban district shall, before the commencement of such order, elect two persons or, where the county area contains at the time of such election four or more urban districts, one person to be members or a member of the vocational education committee for the county area;
(d) a member of the vocational education committee for the county area elected under the foregoing paragraph shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified, hold office as such member until the commencement of the next following triennial meeting of such committee;
(e) where before the commencement of such order the county area contains four urban districts, one of the two members of the vocational education committee for such area elected by the respective councils of such urban districts shall on the commencement of such order cease to be a member of such committee and each such council shall before the commencement of such order determine which of the two members of such committee elected by it shall so cease to be a member of such committee and on the failure of any such council to make such determination such determination shall be made by the Minister as soon as may be after the commencement of such order;
(f) the vocational education committee for the county area shall, when preparing its annual scheme for the year commencing at the commencement of such order, consult with the vocational education committee for the urban area.
Ancillary provisions in amalgamation orders.
102.—(1) Whenever the Minister makes an amalgamation order under this Part of this Act he shall by such order make such provision as he shall think proper, subject to the provisions of this section, for the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) the transfer of the property of the vocational education committee for the urban district vocational education area to which such order relates (in this section referred to as the urban committee) from that committee to the vocational education committee for the county vocational education area to which the order relates (in this section referred to as the county committee);
(b) the payment or discharge by the county committee of the debts and liabilities of the urban committee;
(c) the transfer from the service of the urban committee to the service of the county committee of such of the officers of the urban committee as the Minister shall think proper so to transfer, and the remuneration, conditions of service, and duties of such officers after such transfer;
(d) the removal from office of such of the officers of the urban committee as are not transferred to the service of the county committee;
(e) the continuation or completion by or against the county committee of pending legal proceedings, contracts, agreements, and other matters and things in which the urban committee is concerned.
(2) The Minister may at any time by order amend so much of an amalgamation order as relates to matters provided for thereby in pursuance of this section.
(3) An officer who is transferred by an amalgamation order from the service of the urban committee to the service of the county committee shall not, in the service of the county committee, receive less remuneration or be subject to less beneficial conditions of service than the remuneration to which he was entitled and the conditions of service to which he was subject in the service of the urban committee immediately before such transfer.
(4) For the purpose of the enactments relating to superannuation and compensation for loss of office an officer who is removed from office by an amalgamation order shall be deemed to have been so removed after the commencement of such order by the county committee for a cause other than misconduct or incapacity.
PART IX.
General Powers of the Minister.
Continuation education and technical education in the Gaeltacht.
103.—(1) Where a vocational education area or part of a vocational education area is included in the Gaeltacht and the Minister is of opinion that, having regard to the conditions in such area or such part, it is essential that special provision should be made in relation to continuation education or technical education in such area or such part, he may make an order requiring the vocational education committee for such area to make such special provision in relation to continuation education or technical education in such area or such part as may be specified in such order and it shall be the duty of such committee to comply with the terms of such order.
(2) Where the Minister makes an order under the foregoing sub-section in relation to a vocational education committee, he may with the consent of the Minister for Finance, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, make special grants to such committee.
(3) The Minister may at any time by order revoke or vary any order made by him under the first sub-section or this sub-section of this section.
(4) The Minister may, by order made under this sub-section, declare that any particular portion or portions of Saorst[html]t Eireann specified in such order shall form part of the Gaeltacht, and whenever any such order is made the portion or portions of Saorst[html]t Eireann to which such order relates shall be deemed for the purposes of this section but no further or otherwise to form part of the Gaeltacht.
(5) Every order made by the Minister under the foregoing sub-section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such order is laid before it annulling such order, such order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order.
Consultative councils.
104.—(1) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he so thinks fit, establish by order a consultative council for giving advice and assistance to him in relation to such matters (being matters relating to the carrying into execution of the provisions of this 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 shall from time to time nominate to be members 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.
(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.
Local inquiries by the Minister.
105.—(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 a vocational education committee of its duties under this Act or in relation to the performance by an officer or a servant of a vocational education committee of his duties as such officer or servant (as the case may be) 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, if he so thinks fit, make an order directing the costs incurred in relation to such inquiry to be paid by the vocational education committee 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) Any moneys due by a vocational education committee to the Minister under this section shall be paid by such committee out of its vocational education fund.
(4) 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.
106.—(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.
Administration of oaths at local inquiries.
107.—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.
Dissolution of vocational education committees.
108.—(1) If and whenever—
(a) the Minister is satisfied after the holding of a local inquiry that the duties of a vocational education committee are not being duly and effectively discharged by such committee; or
(b) a vocational education committee wilfully neglects to comply with any lawful order, direction, or regulation of the Minister; or
(c) a vocational education committee fails to comply with any judgment, order, or decree of any court in Saorst[html]t Eireann; or
(d) a vocational education committee refuses after due notice to allow its accounts to be audited by an auditor appointed for the purpose under this Act;
the Minister may by order dissolve such committee and, as he may think fit, either order (under the power hereinafter conferred on him) a new election of members of such committee or transfer the property and the several powers and duties of such committee to any body or person or persons.
(2) Whenever the Minister makes an order under this section dissolving a vocational education committee, he may appoint such and so many persons as he shall think fit to perform the duties of such committee, and may from time to time remove all or any such persons and appoint others in their place, and may fix the tenure of office, duties and remuneration of all such persons.
(3) The remuneration of all persons appointed under the foregoing sub-section shall be paid out of the vocational education fund of the dissolved committee.
(4) In either the first or the second election year after a vocational education committee has been dissolved under this section, the Minister shall by order cause a new election of members of such committee to be made, and upon the completion of such new election all the properties, powers, and duties of the dissolved committee shall vest in the committee so elected, notwithstanding that the same may have been transferred by the Minister under this section to any other body, persons or person.
(5) The Minister may from time to time by order do all such things and make all such regulations as in his opinion shall be necessary for giving full effect to any order made by him under this section.
Grants to certain schools.
109.—The Minister may, in accordance with regulations made by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, make grants in respect of continuation education or technical education to schools providing continuation education or technical education which are not schools established and maintained by a vocational education committee.
Grants by the Minister.
110.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, provide for or make grants for the training of teachers for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, make provision for scholarships.
Scales of salaries for teachers.
111.—(1) The Minister may by regulations made under this Act prescribe scales of salaries for the various classes of teachers employed by vocational education committees.
(2) A vocational education committee shall not pay to any teacher employed by it a salary which is less than the salary to which such teacher is entitled in accordance with the scale prescribed by the said regulations in respect of the class of teachers lo which such teacher belongs.
Travelling expenses for officers.
112.—The Minister may by regulations made under this Act prescribe the minimum rates of travelling and maintenance expenses payable to teachers and officers of vocational education committees who have to travel in the performance of their duties.
Training and certification of teachers.
113.—(1) The Minister may make regulations in relation to the training and certification of teachers for schools and courses provided by a vocational education committee under this Act.
(2) Where a student accepted by the Minister for training as a teacher enters, in pursuance of regulations made under this section, into an undertaking with the Minister that he will, in consideration of any grant made by the Minister in respect of his maintenance and training, complete the course of training specified in the undertaking and will subsequently follow the profession of teacher in the manner and for the period specified in the undertaking and in the event of failure so to do will repay to the Minister such proportion of the grant made by the Minister as is specified in the undertaking, the undertaking shall be binding on him notwithstanding that he was an infant at the time when the undertaking was given and any sums repayable in accordance with the undertaking shall be recoverable by the Minister as a civil debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.
Inspection of schools.
114.—(1) An inspector shall be entitled at all reasonable times to enter and inspect any school in respect of which any grant is made by the Minister under this Act and any school or course which is maintained or assisted by a vocational education committee.
(2) Every person who obstructs or impedes any inspector in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Records to be kept by schools in receipt of grants.
115.—It shall be the duty of the principal teacher of every school in respect of which any grant is made by the Minister under this Act (not being a school maintained by a vocational education committee) to keep such registers and records as may be prescribed, and to permit such registers and records to be inspected at all reasonable times by an inspector.
Facilities to teachers.
116.—Whenever the Minister accepts for further training any teacher employed by a vocational education committee such committee shall afford to such teacher, in such manner and on such terms as the Minister considers proper, such facilities as will enable such teacher to avail himself of such further training.
PART X.
Miscellaneous.
Special provision in relation to Dublin and Cork.
117.—(1) In this section—
the expression “the Dublin Act” means the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 (No. 27 of 1930);
the expression “the City Corporation” means the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of Dublin;
the expression “the Borough Corporation” means the Corporation of Dun Laoghaire;
the expression “the City vocational education area” means the vocational education area which is co-terminous with the county borough of Dublin;
the expression “the City vocational education committee” means the vocational education committee for the City vocational education area;
the expression “the Borough vocational education area” means the vocational education area which is co-terminous with the Borough of Dun Laoghaire;
the expression “the Borough vocational education committee” means the vocational education committee for the Borough vocational education area;
the expression “the County vocational education area” means the vocational education area which is co-terminous with the County of Dublin exclusive of the Borough of Dun Laoghaire;
the expression “the County vocational education committee” means the vocational education committee for the County vocational education area;
the expression “the added rural area” has the meaning given to it by section 1 of the Dublin Act.
(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the application of this Act in the county borough of Dublin, that is to say:—
(a) the areas which, at the passing of this Act, are respectively the urban district of Pembroke and the urban district of Rathmines and Rathgar shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be included in and to form part of the county borough of Dublin as from the passing of this Act;
(b) the added rural area shall, in accordance with the Dublin Act, become included in and form part of the county borough of Dublin on and from the 1st day of April, 1931;
(c) in the construction of references in this Act (including this section) to the county borough of Dublin, whether specifically or as included in a reference to county boroughs generally, regard shall be had to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this sub-section and also to the provisions of the Dublin Act whereby the added rural area becomes included in and forms part of the county borough of Dublin on and from the 1st day of April, 1931;
(d) in the preparation, consideration and approval of the annual scheme for the City vocational education area for the local financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931, regard shall be had to the fact that the added rural area will be included in the county borough of Dublin in that year;
(e) section 24 of the Dublin Act shall not apply to any officer of the council of the urban district of Pembroke or of the council of the urban district of Rathmines and Rathgar or of a committee of either of those councils who is transferred by that Act to the service of the City Corporation and is subsequently transferred by this Act to the service of the City vocational education committee and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that every such officer shall, while he is in the service of the City Corporation by virtue of his said transfer thereto, perform the same duties and be entitled to the same salary and emoluments and the same conditions of service as he performed and was entitled to in the service of the said council or committee immediately before his said transfer therefrom;
(f) during the period between the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of the Dublin Act and the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of Part VII of this Act, the City Corporation shall itself administer without the intervention of any committee the services which will become transferred on the last-mentioned appointed day to the City vocational education committee by virtue of this Act;
(g) sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 40 of the Dublin Act shall not apply in relation to the election of the members of the City vocational education committee;
(h) at the first meeting of the City vocational education committee the Dublin City Manager and Town Clerk shall act as secretary to such committee.
(3) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the application of this Act in the Borough of Dun Laoghaire, that is to say:—
(a) for the purposes of this Act the Borough of Dun Laoghaire shall be deemed to come into existence on the passing of this Act;
(b) section 24 of the Dublin Act shall not apply to any officer of the council of the urban district of Blackrock, the council of the urban district of Dun Laoghaire or the council of the urban district of Dalkey or of any committee of any of those councils who is transferred by that Act to the service of the Borough Corporation and is subsequently transferred by this Act to the service of the Borough vocational education committee and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that every such officer shall, while he is in the service of the Borough Corporation by virtue of his said transfer thereto, perform the same duties and be entitled to the same salary and emoluments and the same conditions of service as he performed and was entitled to in the service of the said council or committee immediately before his said transfer therefrom;
(c) during the period between the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of the Dublin Act and the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of Part VII of this Act, the Borough Corporation shall itself administer without the intervention of any committee the services in the Borough of Dun Laoghaire (other than the area which is at the passing of this Act the urban district of Killiney and Ballybrack) which will become transferred on the last-mentioned appointed day to the Borough vocational education committee by virtue of this Act;
(d) section 48 of the Dublin Act shall not apply in relation to the election of the members of the Borough vocational education committee;
(e) at the first meeting of the Borough vocational education committee the Dun Laoghaire Borough Manager and Town Clerk shall act as secretary to such committee.
(4) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the application of this Act in the county of Dublin, that is to say:—
(a) section 20 of the Dublin Act shall not apply in respect of any officer of the council of the county of Dublin or of any joint committee of such council and the council of an urban district who is transferred by this Act to the service of the County vocational education committee;
(b) in the construction of references in this Act (including this section) to the county of Dublin whether specifically or as included in a reference to counties generally, regard shall be had to the provisions of the Dublin Act whereby the added rural area is transferred from the county of Dublin to the county borough of Dublin on and from the 1st day of April, 1931;
(c) in the preparation, consideration and approval of the annual scheme for the County vocational education area for the local financial year commencing on the 1st day of April, 1931, regard shall be had to the fact that the added rural area will not be included in the county of Dublin in that year.
(5) The City vocational education committee shall have the same powers of granting compensation in respect of loss of employment to such of its employees (other than officers) as were, immediately before the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of Part VII of this Act, employees of the City Corporation as the City Corporation would have had if such employees had remained in its employment, and for that purpose the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) every such employee shall be entitled to reckon his employment by the City Corporation and also his employment (if any) by the council of the urban district of Pembroke or the council of the urban district of Rathmines and Rathgar as employment by the City vocational education committee; and
(b) section 53 of the Act of 1925 shall, in relation to such employees only, apply to the City vocational education committee as if that committee was a local body such as is mentioned in that section but with the modification that references in that section to section 50 of that Act shall be construed as references to the provisions of this Act which are enacted in substitution for the said section 50.
(6) Sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 18 of the Cork City Management Act, 1929 (No. 1 of 1929) shall not apply in relation to the election of the members of the vocational education committee for the vocational education area which is co-terminous with the county borough of Cork.
Special provisions in relation to Bray Urban District.
118.—(1) In this section the expression “the Bray Council” means the council of the urban district of Bray;
the expression “the Bray vocational education committee” means the vocational education committee for the vocational education area which is co-terminous with the urban district of Bray;
the expression “the North Wicklow committee” means the joint committee appointed for the purposes of technical instruction under the Act of 1899 by the council of the County of Wicklow and the Bray Council.
(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the application of Part VII of this Act to the North Wicklow committee that is to say:—
(a) the functions, powers and duties which, immediately before the appointed day, are exercised and performed through or by the North Wicklow committee shall, in so far as they relate to the urban district of Bray, be transferred by section 95 of this Act to the Bray vocational education committee and shall, in so far as they relate to any other part of the functional area of the North Wicklow committee, be transferred by the said section 95 to the Wicklow county vocational education committee;
(b) for the purposes of the said Part VII (except section 95), the Bray vocational education committee shall be deemed to be the vocational education committee to which the functions, powers and duties exercised and performed through or by the North Wicklow committee are transferred by the said section 95 and the said Part VII (except section 95) shall have effect accordingly;
(c) during the period commencing on the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of the said Part VII and ending on the 31st day of March, 1931, the Bray vocational education committee shall provide throughout the functional area of the North Wicklow committee the services which the last-mentioned committee would have been liable to provide in that area if this Act had not been passed;
(d) at the first meeting of the Bray vocational education committee the town clerk of the Bray Council shall act as secretary to such Committee.
(3) The following provisions shall have effect while and for so long as the Bray Council continues to be dissolved under an Order made by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health before the passing of this Act, that is to say:—
(a) the functions of the Bray Council in relation to the election of members of the Bray vocational education committee shall be performed by the person who is for the time being performing in consequence of the said order the duties of the Bray Council;
(b) so much of section 8 of this Act as would require any members of the Bray vocational education committee to be members of the Bray Council shall not have effect;
(c) the functions of the estimates sub-committee (within the meaning of section 45 of this Act) of the Bray vocational education committee shall be performed by the said person who is for the time being performing in consequence of the said order the duties of the Bray Council.
Service of notices.
119.—Any notices or other documents required by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be served or sent may be served or sent by post.
Inspection and copies of registers of births and deaths.
120.—(1) Every superintendent registrar or registrar of births or deaths or other person having the custody of the register books kept in accordance with the Births and Deaths Registration Acts (Ireland), 1863 to 1880, shall at all reasonable times permit any attendance officer under Part V of this Act or Part VI of this Act to inspect, without fee or other payment, the register books in the custody of such superintendent registrar, registrar or other person and to take such copies or notes of entries in such books as he shall deem necessary for the purpose of the execution of his duties, as such attendance officer.
(2) Whenever—
(a) any person requires to ascertain or prove for any purpose arising under Part V of this Act the age of a young person who resides in a district to which that Part applies; or
(b) any person requires to ascertain or prove for any purpose arising under Part VI of this Act the age of a person to whom that Part applies and who is employed in a district to which that Part applies;
such person shall be entitled to obtain from the enforcing authority for such district a requisition in the prescribed form for a certified copy of the entry of the birth of such young person or such person to whom Part VI. of this Act applies (as the case may be) and shall, on presenting such requisition duly filled up and signed together with a fee of sixpence at the office of the superintendent registrar or the appropriate registrar of births and deaths, be entitled to be supplied by such superintendent registrar or registrar with a copy duly certified under the Births and Deaths Registration Acts (Ireland), 1863 to 1880, of the entry in the register books kept under those Acts of the birth of such young person or persons.
(3) Every superintendent registrar or registrar of births and deaths shall, as and when so required by an enforcing authority under Part V of this Act, furnish to such authority a return in the prescribed form (if any) of such of the particulars as shall be specified by such authority of the births and deaths of young persons registered by such registrar.
(4) Every superintendent registrar or registrar of births and deaths shall, as and when so required by an enforcing authority under Part VI of this Act, furnish to such authority a return in the prescribed form (if any) of such of the particulars as shall be specified by such authority of the births and deaths of persons to whom Part VI of this Act applies registered by such registrar.
Offences in relation to certificates.
121.—(1) Every person who forges or counterfeits any certificate or any signature to a certificate which if genuine would be a certificate given or made under or for the purpose of Part V of this Act or Part VI of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on conviction thereof to suffer imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.
(2) Every person who signs, gives, or makes any certificate purporting to be a certificate under or for the purpose of Part V of this Act or Part VI of this Act which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material particular, or who makes use of any certificate purporting to be a certificate under or for the purpose of Part V of this Act or Part VI of this Act which is to his knowledge forged or counterfeited or is false and misleading in any material particular or any signature which is to his knowledge forged or counterfeited, 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 for any term not exceeding six months.
Exemption from certain disqualifications.
122.—Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph (e) of sub-article (4) of Article 12 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, a person shall not, if otherwise qualified, be disqualified from being elected or chosen or being a member of any vocational education committee or of any sub-committee thereof or of any council, body, or committee which is a local authority within the meaning of the Act of 1925 by reason of his having by himself or his partner received or contracted to receive any benefit or advantage offered to the public in the nature of continuation education and technical education by a vocational education committee.
Saving for industrial or reformatory schools.
123.—Nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to interfere with or affect any certified industrial school or certified reformatory school.
Expenses of this Act.
124.—All expenses incurred by a Minister head of a Department of State 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.
Regulations.
125.—(1) The Minister may by order do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) make regulations prescribing any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed or any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed by regulations made under this Act;
(b) make regulations in respect of the accounts of vocational education committees and the audit of such accounts;
(c) make regulations respecting the procedure of vocational education committees 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 anything referred to in section 120 (which relates to inspection and copies of registers of births and deaths) of this Act as prescribed or to the accounts or the auditing of the accounts of vocational education committees, be made only after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.
(3) 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.
Repeals.
126.—The enactments mentioned in the Fifth Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in the third column of the said Schedule as on and from the 1st day of April, 1931.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
The Scheduled Urban Districts.
The Urban District of Bray.
The Borough of Drogheda.
The Borough of Dun Laoghaire.
The Urban District of Galway.
The Borough of Sligo.
The Urban District of Tralee.
The Borough of Wexford.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Rules for Payments of Travelling Expenses.
1. In these rules—
the word “committee” means a vocational education committee which is authorised or required by this Act to pay a contribution towards the expenses incurred by members attending the meetings of such committee or a sub-committee thereof;
the word “sub-committee” means a sub-committee of a committee;
the word “contribution” means a contribution payable under this Act to a member of a committee or of a sub-committee towards the expenses incurred by him in attending the meetings of such committee or sub-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. Every member of a sub-committee who is not a member of the committee by which he is appointed shall, on being appointed a member of such sub-committee, 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 address of such member.
4. The contribution to be paid to a member of a committee or a sub-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 or subcommittee and the mode of transport used for such journey.
5. Where the journey from the official residence of a member to the place of meeting of the committee or sub-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.
6. 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 or sub-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.
7. 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.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
Maximum Annual Liabilities in Respect of Annual Local Contributions.
Part I.
In County Boroughs and Urban Districts.
Local Financial Year. | Number of Pence in the Pound. |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1931 | 3d. in the pound. |
Year commencing on 1st April 1932 | 3½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1933 | 3½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1934 | 4d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1935 | 4½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1936 | 4½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1937 | 4½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1938 | 5d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1939 | 5½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1940 | 5½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1941 | 5½d. ” |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1942, and every subsequent year. | 6d. ” |
Part II.
In Counties.
Local Financial Year. | Number of Pence in the Pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1931. | In County Cork, 2d. in the pound. | |
In every other county, 1¾d in the pound. | ||
Year commencing on 1st April, 1932. | 2d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1933. | 2¼d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1934. | 2½d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1935. | 2¾d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1936. | 3d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1937. | 3¼d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1938. | 3½d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1939. | 3¾d. in the pound. | |
Year commencing on 1st April, 1940, and every subsequent year. | 4d. in the pound. |
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
County or other Boroughs referred to in Parts V and VI of this Act.
The County Borough of Cork.
The County Borough of Dublin.
The County Borough of Limerick.
The County Borough of Waterford.
The Borough of Dun Laoghaire.
FIFTH SCHEDULE.
Enactments Repealed.
Session and chapter or number and year. | Short Title. | Extent of Repeal. |
52 & 53 Vic. c. 76. | Technical Instruction Act, 1889. | The whole Act. |
54 & 55 Vic. c. 4. | Technical Instruction Act, 1891. | The whole Act. |
61 & 62 Vic. c. 37. | Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898. | Section 7 and sub-section (2) of section 74. |
62 & 63 Vic. c. 50. | Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899. | The whole Act so far as relates to technical instruction. |
2 Edw. VII. c. 3 | Agricultural and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1902. | The whole Act so far as relates to technical instruction. |
2 Ed. VII. c. 20 | Public Libraries (Ireland) Act, 1902. | Section 6. |
No. 9 of 1923. | ||
No. 13 of 1924. | Local Government (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 1924. |