VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT, 1930

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 Gárda Síochána 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.

61 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.

62 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.

63 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.

64 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.

65 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 Gárda Síochána 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 Gárda Síochána 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 Gárda Síochána under his command and every member of the Gárda Síochána 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.

66 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.

67 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.

68 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.

69 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.

70 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.

71 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.

72 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.

73 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.

74 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.

75 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.

76 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.

77 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.

78 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.

79 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.

80 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.

81 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 Gárda Síochána 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.

82 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.

83 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.

84 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.

85 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 Gárda Síochána 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 Gárda Síochána 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 Gárda Síochána under his command, and every member of the Gárda Síochána 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.

86 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.

87 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.

88 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.

89 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.

90 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.

91 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.

92 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.

93 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.

94 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.

95 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.

96 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.

97 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.

98 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.

99 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.

100 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 Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.

101 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.

102 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.

103 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 Saorstát Eireann specified in such order shall form part of the Gaeltacht, and whenever any such order is made the portion or portions of Saorstát 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.

104 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.

105 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.

106 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.

107 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.

108 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 Saorstát 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.

109 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.

110 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.

111 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.

112 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.

113 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.

114 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.

115 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.

116 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.

117 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;