BEET SUGAR (SUBSIDY) ACT, 1925

AN ACT TO MAKE PROVISION FOR THE PAYMENT OF SUBSIDIES TO PERSONS MANUFACTURING IN SAORSTÁT EIREANN DURING A CERTAIN PERIOD SUGAR FROM SUGAR BEET GROWN IN SAORSTÁT EIREANN. [15th July, 1925.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Subsidies on certain home-manufactured sugar.

1.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the regulations to be made thereunder, the Minister may, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, pay subsidies in respect of sugar manufactured in Saorstát Eireann during the period of ten years beginning on the 1st day of October, 1926, from sugar beet grown in Saorstát Eireann at the following rates, that is to say:—

• (a) in respect of such sugar manufactured in the first factory established in Saorstát Eireann and licensed for the manufacture of sugar from sugar beet grown in Saorstát Eireann, subsidies at the rates specified in the First Schedule to this Act, and

• (b) in respect of such sugar manufactured in any other such factory, subsidies at such rates as shall from time to time be prescribed by regulations made under this Act but not exceeding in any case the respective rates specified in the First Schedule to this Act.

• (2) No subsidy shall be payable under this Act in respect of any sugar manufactured from sugar beet grown in any of the years 1926, 1927, and 1928 unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that the price paid or to be paid by the manufacturer of such sugar for the beet from which the same was manufactured is not less than the price specified in that behalf in the Second Schedule to this Act.

• (3) Every subsidy paid under this Act in respect of any sugar shall be paid to the person by whom the sugar was manufactured or the personal representative or (in the case of a company) the liquidator of such person, and in any case shall be so paid at such times and calculated in such manner and on such quantities of sugar as shall be prescribed by regulations made under this Act.

• (4) All claims for payment of a subsidy under this Act shall be made to and determined by the Minister and the decision of the Minister on any such claim shall be final and conclusive, but may be revoked or amended at any time by the Minister on the ground of fraud, misrepresentation, or mistake.

2 Amendment of Finance (No. 2) Act, 1915.

2.—Part III. of the First Schedule to the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1915, as amended by sub-section (2) of section 6 of the Finance Act, 1922, shall be construed and have effect as if the following paragraph were inserted therein in lieu of the paragraph 3 now contained therein, that is to say:—

“3. The Revenue Commissioners may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make regulations prohibiting the manufacture of sugar from home-grown beet except by persons holding a licence and having made entry for the purpose, fixing the duration and date of expiration of such licences, and regulating, with a view to verifying claims for subsidies under this Act, the manufacture of sugar and the warehousing and removal from the factory of sugar.”

3 Obligations of companies receiving subsidies.

3.—(1) Every person to whom a subsidy is paid under this Act in respect of sugar manufactured in any accounting year shall within ninety days after the end of such accounting year furnish to the Minister a balance sheet for such accounting year duly audited by a qualified auditor and also a profit and loss account for the same accounting year similarly audited.

• (2) The balance sheet and profit and loss account to be furnished as aforesaid shall be drawn up in such manner as shall be prescribed by regulations made under this Act, and such balance sheet shall contain (in addition to any other matter required by such regulations) in the case of a company governed by the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1924, a summary of the company's capital, assets, and liabilities, and in the case of any other person a summary of the capital, assets, and liabilities employed in the business of manufacturing sugar, together with, in every case, such particulars as will disclose the nature of such assets and liabilities and the manner in which the value of the fixed assets was arrived at.

• (3) Every such person as aforesaid shall on demand furnish to the Minister such explanations as the Minister shall think proper to require in respect of any balance sheet or profit and loss account furnished by such person pursuant to this section.

• (4) A copy of every balance sheet and profit and loss account furnished to the Minister pursuant to this section shall be laid by him before each House of the Oireachtas within one month after such balance sheet and profit and loss account are so furnished to him.

• (5) If any person makes default in complying with any of the provisions of this section such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the default continues.

• (6) In this section the expression “qualified auditor” means an auditor possessing such qualifications as shall be prescribed by regulations made under this Act and the expression “accounting year” means and includes any period in respect of which the annual accounts of the company are made up.

4 Payment of fair wages.

4.—The wages paid by a person claiming a subsidy under this Act to the persons employed by him in or in connection with the manufacture of the sugar in respect of which the subsidy is claimed shall not be less than would be payable if such manufacture were carried on under a contract between the Minister and such person containing a fair wage clause which complied with the requirements of any resolution of Dáil Eireann for the time being in force in relation to contracts made by Ministers and Government Departments.

5 Minister may make regulations.

5.—The Minister may by order make regulations for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—

• (a) prescribing any matter or thing which is in this Act referred to as prescribed or to be prescribed by regulations made under this Act;

• (b) prescribing the requirements, agreements, and evidence to be complied with, entered into, or given by persons claiming or intending to claim subsidies under this Act for the purposes of proving their right to and the amount of such subsidies.

6 Recovery of overpayments.

6.—(1) If it is found at any time that any person has obtained any payment by way of subsidy under this Act to which or to part of which he was not lawfully entitled, the amount of that payment or of that part of the payment may, irrespective of the amount thereof and without prejudice to any criminal liability in respect thereof, be recovered by civil proceedings at the suit of the Attorney-General of Saorstát Eireann in either the High Court, the Circuit Court, or the District Court.

• (2) In any proceedings under this section a certificate in writing signed by the Minister stating that a person has obtained a payment of specified amount by way of subsidy under this Act and that such person was not lawfully entitled to such payment or to a specified part thereof shall be conclusive evidence of those matters as stated in such certificate.

7 Offences and penalties.

7.—(1) Every person who contravenes or commits any breach (whether of commission or omission) of any regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be guilty of an offence under this section and be punishable accordingly.

• (2) If any person for the purposes of obtaining a subsidy under this Act for himself or any other person makes any statement or representation in writing which is false or misleading in any material particular, such person and, in the case of a company or other incorporated body, every director, manager, and secretary thereof shall be guilty of an offence under this section and be punishable accordingly unless he proves he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained that the statement was false or misleading as aforesaid or, in the case of a director, manager, or secretary of an incorporated body making such statement or representation, that the statement or representation was made without his knowledge or without his consent.

• (3) Every person convicted by a court of summary jurisdiction of an offence under this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

• (4) Where a prosecution for an offence under this section is brought by or at the suit of the Revenue Commissioners any fine imposed under this section on the person prosecuted shall be an excise penalty and be recoverable accordingly.

8 The Minister.

8.—In this Act the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Finance.

9 Short title.

9.—This Act may be cited as the Beet Sugar (Subsidy) Act, 1925.

FIRST SCHEDULE. Maximum Rates of Subsidy.

Note: (1) If at the time of manufacture of the sugar a customs duty is chargeable on the importation of sugar of the same degree of polarisation, the subsidy as specified in the foregoing table shall be reduced by the amount of such duty on one hundredweight.

• (2) Whenever an excise duty is chargeable and is paid on the sugar, the subsidy as specified in the foregoing table shall be increased by the amount of such duty on one hundredweight:

• (3) Where the amount of the sugar is more or is less than one hundredweight the subsidy as specified in the foregoing table and paragraphs shall be increased or decreased (as the case may require) proportionately.

SECOND SCHEDULE. Price of Beet.

For the purposes of this Schedule—

• (1) The price means the price payable as in respect of beets properly topped and washed, delivered to the factory and having a sugar content of fifteen and one-half per cent.

• (2) Where the sugar content of any beets is greater or less than fifteen and one-half per cent. there shall be made an addition to or deduction from the price at the rate of threepence in respect of each 0.1 per cent. above or below fifteen and one-half as the case may be.

• (3) The sugar content of beets shall be ascertained by means of the cold water digestion method.