Control of Prices (No. 2) Act 1937

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title and commencement.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Control of Prices Act, 1937.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as may be fixed therefor by order of the Minister.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

the expression “dutiable article” means any article which, if imported, would on importation be liable to a customs duty;

the expression “restricted article” means any article the importation of which is prohibited or restricted by law;

the expression “set of conditions” includes a single condition;

the word “inspector” means a person authorised in writing by the Minister to exercise the powers conferred by this Act on an inspector;

the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.

3 Articles acquired on hire-purchase system.

3.—Where any article is hired by a person under an agreement whereby it is provided that, upon payment by him of a specified number of instalments, the ownership of such article shall pass to him, such article shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been sold to him by the person from whom such article was hired, and such sale shall, for the said purpose, be deemed to have taken place on the date on which such agreement is entered into.

4 Offences.

4.—(1) Save as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, any offence under any section of this Act may be prosecuted by or at the suit of the Minister as prosecutor.

(2) Where an offence under any section of this Act was committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of such body corporate, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of such offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

5 General regulations.

5.—The Minister may make regulations in relation to any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

6 Laying of orders and regulations before Dáil Eireann.

6.—Every order and regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before Dáil Eireann as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such order or regulation is passed by Dáil Eireann within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which Dáil Eireann has sat after such order or regulation is laid before it, such order or regulation (as the case may be) shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything done previously under such order or regulation.

7 Repeal of the Control of Prices Act, 1932.

7.—The Control of Prices Act, 1932 (No. 33 of 1932), is hereby repealed.

8 Expenses.

8.—All expenses of 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.

PART II. Prices Commission and Controller of Prices.

9 Establishment of Prices Commission.

9.—(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the commencement of this Act, there shall be established a Commission (in this Act referred to as the Commission), which shall be known as and styled the Prices Commission, to fulfil the functions assigned to the Commission by this Act.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Commission shall consist of three members (in this Act called ordinary members) who shall be nominated from time to time as occasion requires by the Minister.

(3) Every ordinary member shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns or becomes disqualified, hold office for such period, not exceeding five years, as the Minister shall fix at the time of his nomination, but shall be eligible for renomination.

(4) If and whenever an ordinary member is adjudged bankrupt, or makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors, or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to suffer imprisonment or penal servitude, or ceases to be ordinarily resident in Saorstát Eireann or absents himself from all sittings of the Commission for a period of three months without the permission of the Minister, he shall be disqualified from holding the office of an ordinary member.

(5) Whenever it appears to the Minister that on account of illness or for other sufficient reason an ordinary member of the Commission is temporarily unable to discharge his duties as such member, the Minister may appoint a person to act as an ordinary member for such period (not exceeding the duration of such inability) as he shall think proper, and every person so appointed to act as an ordinary member of the Commission shall during the period for which he is so appointed be an ordinary member of the Commission in the place of such first-mentioned ordinary member.

10 Additional members of the Commission.

10.—(1) The Minister may from time to time for the purposes of any particular investigation by the Commission appoint such and so many persons (not being ordinary members) to act as additional members of the Commission as he thinks fit.

(2) Every additional member so appointed shall for the purposes of the investigation for which he is appointed be a member of the Commission.

11 Chairman of the Commission.

11.—(1) The Minister shall appoint one of the ordinary members to be Chairman of the Commission and the ordinary member so appointed shall hold office as such Chairman during the pleasure of the Minister.

(2) Where at any sitting of the Commission the Chairman of the Commission is absent, the members of the Commission present at such sitting shall appoint one of such members to act as Chairman at such sitting.

12 Remuneration of members of the Commission.

12.—Any member of the Commission may be paid such remuneration and allowances as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

13 Restriction on interested person acting as member.

13.—Whenever an investigation is being held under this Act by the Commission into the price of a particular commodity, and any member of the Commission is personally interested in any business selling such commodity, such member shall inform the Minister of the nature and extent of his interest and shall not, unless authorised by the Minister so to do, act as a member of the Commission for the purposes of such investigation.

14 Validity of proceedings of the Commission.

14.—The proceedings of the Commission shall not be invalidated by reason of the existence of any vacancy amongst the members or any defect in the appointment of any member.

15 Controller of Prices.

15.—(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the commencement of this Act, the Minister shall appoint a person (in this Act referred to as the Controller) to be known as and styled the Controller of Prices.

(2) The Controller shall hold office upon such terms and be remunerated at such rates and in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

(3) Whenever the Controller is temporarily absent from duty for any cause, the Commission may nominate an officer of the Commission to perform during such absence the duties of the Controller, and the officer so appointed shall, during such absence, have all the powers of the Controller and be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be the Controller.

16 Regulations for proceedings of the Commission.

16.—(1) The Commission may from time to time make regulations for the governance of their proceedings and may by such regulations make provision for all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) the quorum at any sitting of the Commission;

(b) the times and places of the sittings of the Commission;

(c) the persons to whom notice of the sittings of the Commission shall be given;

(d) the form and manner in which submissions shall be made and evidence given to the Commission, and in particular, whether such submissions and evidence shall be given viva voce or in writing;

(e) the attendance for viva voce or cross-examination of persons who have made submissions or given evidence in writing;

(f) the admission or exclusion of any person to or from the sittings of the Commission;

(g) such matters as appear to the Commission to be necessary or expedient for the proper conduct of their business.

(2) Regulations made under this section shall not have any force or effect unless and until they have been approved by the Minister.

(3) Any regulations made under section 17 of the Control of Prices Act, 1932 (No. 33 of 1932), and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to have been made under this section and may be revoked or amended accordingly and until so revoked and subject to any such amendment shall continue in force.

17 Powers of Commission.

17.—(1) The Commission shall have all such powers, rights, and privileges for enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath (which any member of the Commission is hereby authorised to administer) or otherwise, and for compelling the production of documents as are vested in the High Court, or a judge thereof in respect of the trial of an action, and a summons signed by any one or more members of the Commission shall be equivalent to and have the like effect as a formal process issued by the High Court for enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production of documents.

(2) If any person—

(a) on being duly summoned as a witness before the Commission makes default in attending, or

(b) being in attendance as a witness refuses to take an oath legally required by the Commission to be taken, or to produce any document in his power and control legally required by the Commission to be produced by him, or to answer any question to which the Commission may legally require an answer, or

(c) does any other thing which would, if the Commission were a court of justice, having power to commit for contempt of court, be contempt of such court,

the Commission may certify the offence of that person under their hands to the High Court and that court may, after such inquiry as it thinks proper to make, punish or take steps for the punishment of that person in like manner as if he had been guilty of contempt of the said court.

(3) A witness before the Commission shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.

18 Notice of investigations by the Commission and submissions by interested persons.

18.—(1) Whenever the Commission hold an investigation under Part III of this Act, the Commission shall cause notice of the holding of such investigation to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil and in such other manner as the Commission think suitable.

(2) On the publication of a notice under the immediately preceding sub-section any person either on his own behalf or in a representative capacity may make a submission to the Commission in relation to the subject matter of the investigation to which such notice relates.

19 Private sittings of the Commission.

19.—The Commission may, in their absolute discretion, hold any sitting or part of a sitting in private and the reference in the next following section to a private sitting of the Commission shall be construed as a reference to a sitting or part of a sitting of the Commission held in private.

20 Prohibition on disclosure of information.

20.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section it shall not be lawful for any person who is a member or an officer of the Commission to disclose any information, available to him only by virtue of the powers of obtaining information conferred upon the Commission or upon an inspector by this Act, to any person other than a member or officer of the Commission concerned with such information in the course of his duties.

(2) It shall not be lawful for any person (other than a member or officer of the Commission) who attends a private sitting of the Commission to disclose to any person any information acquired through being present at such sitting and which is available only by virtue of the powers of obtaining information conferred upon the Commission or an inspector by this Act.

(3) If any person acts in contravention of this section he 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 imprisonment for a period of six months or at the discretion of the Court to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(4) Nothing in sub-section (1) of this section shall apply to the disclosure of any information—

(a) to the Minister in a report (not being an annual report) or other communication from the Commission, or

(b) for the purposes of legal proceedings taken or proposed to be taken under this Act.

21 Annual Reports by the Commission.

21.—The Commission shall, as soon as may be after the close of every year, make to the Minister a general report of the proceedings of the Commission under this Act, and the Minister shall cause every such general report received by him to be laid forthwith before Dáil Eireann.

22 Continuance of certain existing inquiries.

22.—Where—

(a) (i) the Minister, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 23 of the Control of Prices Act, 1932 (No. 33 of 1932), appointed the Commission (in this section referred to as the former Prices Commission) established under section 9 of the said Act to hold a public inquiry for the purposes of section 17 of the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1932 (No. 19 of 1932), and

(ii) such public inquiry is pending at the commencement of this Act, or

(b) an investigation under either section 24 or section 41 of the said Control of Prices Act, 1932, is pending at the commencement of this Act,

such public inquiry or investigation (as the case may be) shall be continued by the Commission and shall be deemed to be a price investigation under Part III of this Act by the Commission, and any acts or things done by the former Prices Commission shall be deemed to have been done by the Commission under this Act.

PART III. Price Investigations and Orders.

23 Investigations into prices of commodities.

23.—(1) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit, request the Commission to enquire into the prices charged for a commodity.

(2) The Commission may, whenever and so often as they think fit, but subject to their giving previous notice of their intention to the Minister, resolve to inquire into the prices charged for a commodity.

(3) Where the Minister requests the Commission to inquire into the prices charged for a commodity or the Commission resolve to inquire into the prices charged for a commodity, the Commission shall hold an investigation (in this Act referred to as a price investigation) into the prices charged for such kind or kinds (defined in such manner and by reference to such things as the Commission think proper) of the said commodity as the Commission determine when sold, under such set or sets of conditions (defined in such manner and by reference to such things as the Commission think proper) as the Commission determine in such area or areas as the Commission determine

(4) In defining or determining under the immediately preceding sub-section any matter or thing for the purposes of a price investigation, the Commission shall comply with any directions as regards the nature and scope of such investigation given by the Minister, whether before or during such investigation.

(5) The Commission may, in the course of a price investigation into the prices charged for any kind of a commodity, extend such price investigation to any other commodity, the whole or any part of which is, in the opinion of the Commission, the principal or only constituent of such first-mentioned commodity.

(6) Where, in the course of an investigation into the prices charged for any kind of a commodity, it appears to the Commission that the prices, received by producers in Saorstát Eireann for any other commodity (being an agricultural product or raw material) the whole or any part of which is, in the opinion of the Commission, the principal or only constituent of such first-mentioned commodity are, having regard to the cost of production of such other commodity, unduly low, the Commission may make a special report to the Minister in relation to the matter and make therein such recommendations as they think fit.

(7) The Minister may, during a price investigation, request the Commission not to proceed further with such investigation, and the Commission shall comply with any such request.

24 Reports by the Commission where prices not unreasonably high.

24.—Where a price investigation is or includes an investigation into the prices charged for a particular kind of a commodity when sold under a particular set of conditions, and the Commission are of opinion that such prices are not unreasonably high, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the Commission shall make a report to the Minister setting out their said opinion;

(b) in case such kind of such commodity is a dutiable article or a restricted article and the said set of conditions relates to sales by persons who are manufacturers or producers thereof in Saorstát Eireann such report shall also set out the movements of the said prices over a specified period.

25 Reports by the Commission where prices unreasonably high.

25.—(1) Where a price investigation is or includes an investigation into the prices charged for a particular kind of a commodity when sold under a particular set of conditions, and the Commission are of opinion that such prices are unreasonably high, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the Commission shall make a report to the Minister setting out—

(i) their said opinion and the reasons therefor;

(ii) their opinion as to whether such prices are influenced by any agreement or combination for interference with trade competition;

(iii) their opinion as to the price to which the said prices should be reduced and their reasons therefor;

(iv) their recommendations as to the best method of enforcing such reduction;

(v) such other matters (if any) as the Commission may think proper, or may have been requested by the Minister, to report upon;

(b) if the Commission recommend the Minister to make, in relation to such kind of such commodity, a price order their report shall also include—

(i) a draft of the proposed order, and