Air-Raid Precautions Act , 1939

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.This Act may be cited as the Air-raid Precautions Act, 1939.

2 Definitions generally.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Defence;

the expression “air-raid shelter” means protection, otherwise than by war-like means or by any article of apparel, from attack from the air;

the expression “an air-raid shelter” means any premises, structure, or excavation used or intended to be used to provide air-raid shelter;

the expression “air-raid precautions equipment” means any equipment, appliances or material constructed or designed for the purposes of affording protection to persons or property in the event of attack from the air or any parts of such equipment, appliances or material;

the expression “factory inspector” means a person who is for the time being an inspector for the purposes of the Factory and Workshops Acts, 1901 to 1920;

the expression “mines inspector” means a person who is for the time being an inspector for the purposes of the Coal Mines Act, 1911;

the word “occupier” means—

(a) in relation to any occupied land, the person entitled to occupy such land,

(b) in relation to any land which is a small dwelling within the meaning of the Local Government (Rates on Small Dwellings) Act, 1928 (No. 4 of 1928), the person who would but for that Act be rated as occupier of such land,

(c) in relation to any other land, the person who is rated as occupier of such land;

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

3 “Local authorities”.

3.—Each of the following persons and bodies shall be a local authority for the purposes of this Act, that is to say:—

(a) the council of a county, county borough, borough or urban district, and

(b) a board of health, and

(c) a port sanitary authority,

and the expression “local authority” when used in this Act without qualification shall be construed accordingly.

4 “Essential undertakers”.

4.—(1) Each of the following persons shall be an essential undertaker for the purposes of this Act, that is to say:—

(a) a person (other than a Minister of State, the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland or the Irish Land Commission) authorised, by a British Statute, a Saorstát Eireann Statute, an Act of the Oireachtas or an order having statutory force, to construct, work or carry on a railway, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour, tramway, water, gas, electricity, or other public undertaking;

(b) any person declared by an order made under sub-section (2) of this section to be an essential undertaker for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Minister may, with the concurrence of the Minister for Industry and Commerce, by order under this sub-section declare any person who carries on any undertaking to be an essential undertaker for the purposes of this Act.

(3) In this Act the expression “the undertaking” when used in relation to an essential undertaker means the undertaking carried on by such essential undertaker.

5 Offences by bodies corporate.

5.—Where an offence under any section or sub-section of this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of any person who is a director or officer (including secretary or manager) of such body corporate or who, if such body corporate is a local authority, is a member or officer of such local authority, such person shall also be deemed to be guilty of such offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

6 Prosecution of offences.

6.—An offence under any section of this Act may be prosecuted by the Minister or a member of the Gárda Síochána.

7 Service of documents.

7.—Any document which is required or authorised by or under this Act to be given to or served on any person may be given or served either—

(a) by delivering it to that person; or

(b) by leaving it, or sending it in a prepaid letter addressed to him, at his last known residence or his last known place of business; or

(c) in the case of a document to be given to or served on the occupier of any premises, by addressing it to the person concerned by the description of “occupier” of the premises to which it relates and delivering it to some person on the premises or, if there is no person on the premises to whom it can be delivered, by affixing it or a copy of it to some conspicuous part of the premises.

For the purposes of this sub-section, a company registered within the State under the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1924, shall be deemed to carry on business at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to carry on business at its principal office or place of business within the State.

8 Laying of regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas.

8.—Every regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which such House has sat after such regulation is laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.

9 Expenses of the Minister.

9.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II. Powers and Duties of Local Authorities.

10 “Scheduled urban areas.”

10.—(1) Each of the following areas shall be a scheduled urban area for the purposes of this Part of this Act, that is to say:—

(a) subject to the operation of an order made by the Minister under sub-section (2) of this section, any area specified in the Schedule to this Act,

(b) any borough or urban district declared by an order made by the Minister under sub-section (3) of this section and for the time being in force to be a scheduled urban area for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

(2) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit, by order under this sub-section declare that any area specified in the Schedule to this Act shall cease to be a scheduled urban area for the purposes of this Part of this Act and upon the coming into operation of such order such area shall shall cease to be a scheduled urban area for the said purposes.

(3) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit, by order under this sub-section declare that any borough or urban district shall be a scheduled urban area for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

(4) The Minister may by order under this sub-section revoke any order made by him under the immediately preceding sub-section.

(5) Whenever the Minister makes an order under this section in relation to any borough or urban district he may by such order provide for all such matters (including the transfer to or from the council of such borough or urban district from or to the council of the county of which such borough or urban district forms part of any land or other property acquired for the purposes of their functions under this Part of this Act by the council of such county or the council of such borough or urban district, and the making of provision for financial adjustments between such councils) as he thinks necessary or expedient for giving full effect to such order.

(6) 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 annulling such order is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which such House has sat after such order is laid before it, such order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order.

11 Scheme-making local authorities, and their functional areas.

11.—(1) Each of the following shall be a scheme-making local authority for the purposes of this Part of this Act, that is to say:—

(a) the council of a county, and

(b) the council of a county borough, and

(c) the council of a scheduled urban area.

(2) In this Part of this Act the expression “functional area” means—

(a) in relation to the council of a county, such county exclusive of any scheduled urban area therein,

(b) in relation to the council of a county borough, such county borough,

(c) in relation to the council of a scheduled urban area, such scheduled urban area.

Air-raid Precautions Schemes.

12 Duty of scheme-making local authorities to prepare air-raid precautions schemes.

12.—(1) It shall be the duty of each scheme-making local authority to prepare and submit to the Minister as regards its functional area a scheme (in this Part of this Act referred to as an air-raid precautions scheme) in respect of the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) the protection (otherwise than in its capacity as an employer or as an owner of property) of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of attack from the air and for the minimising of such injury or damage;

(b) the extinguishment of fires likely to result from such attack;

(c) the designation of the authorities (including local authorities whose functional areas are wholly or partly within the functional area of such scheme-making local authority) and persons by whom the arrangements contained in such scheme are to be carried out

(2) Air-raid precautions schemes shall in particular contain provisions in respect of such matters as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Part of this Act but the Minister may, as regards any particular scheme-making local, authority, exempt such authority from the duty to include in an air-raid precautions scheme prepared by it any matter so prescribed, and thereupon such authority shall not be required to include in such scheme provisions in respect of that matter.

(3) An air-raid precautions scheme shall, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, be submitted by each scheme-making local authority in respect of all matters in respect of which it is required by the preceding provisions of this section to submit an air-raid precautions scheme for its functional area, and any scheme-making local authority may and shall, if so required by the Minister, prepare and submit separate air-raid precautions schemes in respect of any such matters.

13 Approval, effect, revocation and amendment of air-raid precautions schemes.

13.—(1) When an air-raid precautions scheme is submitted to the Minister under this Act, the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, may, with or without modifications, approve thereof, and such scheme shall, upon being so approved come into force on such date as may be specified in such scheme as so approved, and different dates may be so specified for different provisions of such scheme.

(2) Where an air-raid precautions scheme is submitted by a scheme-making local authority to the Minister under this Part of this Act, the Minister may, in lieu of approving of such scheme, require such authority to prepare, in accordance with any directions given by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, a new air-raid precautions scheme and submit it to him.

(3) The Minister may at any time revoke an air-raid precautions scheme which is in force.

(4) Any air-raid precautions scheme in force may be amended by a subsequent air-raid precautions scheme submitted and approved in the same manner as the original scheme.

(5) Where an air-raid precautions scheme is in force the scheme-making local authority by whom such scheme was submitted shall, if so required by the Minister, prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme for the amendment thereof in accordance with any directions given by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

14 Duty of local authorities and their officers to assist scheme-making local authorities in the preparation of air-raid precautions schemes.

14.—It shall be the duty of every local authority, whose functional area is situate wholly or partly within the functional area of a scheme-making local authority and the officers and servants of such first-mentioned local authority to give to such scheme-making local authority such information and assistance as such scheme-making local authority may reasonably require for the purpose of preparing any air-raid precautions scheme.

15 Duty of local authorities and their officers and servants to carry out Act and air-raid precautions schemes.

15.—(1) It shall be the duty of every local authority to discharge such functions as may be imposed on them by or under this Part of this Act or any air-raid precautions scheme in force and to ensure that officers and servants of such local authority fulfil such functions as may be assigned to them by or under this Part of this Act or any air-raid precautions scheme in force.

(2) It shall be the duty of officers and servants of local authorities to fulfil such functions as may be assigned to them by this Part of this Act or any air-raid precautions scheme in force.

16 Duty of local authorities to co-operate.

16.—(1) It shall be the duty of local authorities charged with functions by or under this Part of this Act or any air-raid precautions scheme in force to assist each other where possible in making provisions for the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of attack from the air, and any two or more local authorities may enter into mutual arrangements for this purpose.

(2) It shall be the duty of local authorities to assist each other where possible in the discharge of functions imposed on them by or under this Part of this Act or any air-raid precautions scheme in force.

17 Acquisition of land by local authorities for purposes of air-raid precautions schemes.

17.—(1) A local authority may, for the purposes of an air-raid precautions scheme, do, with the consent of the Minister given after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) acquire (either permanently or temporarily and either compulsorily or by agreement) any land wherever situate;

(b) acquire (either permanently or temporarily and either compulsorily or by agreement) any easement, or other right whatsoever existing over or in respect of any land or water, wherever situate.

(2) At any time after the passing of this Act and before conveyance or ascertainment of compensation a local authority may, subject to the provisions of this section, enter on and take possession of any land or exercise any right which such local authority is authorised by this section to acquire compulsorily.

(3) Before exercising any of the powers conferred on it by the immediately preceding sub-section, a local authority shall—

(a) in the case of the acquisition of any land, give at least seven days' or, if the land is an occupied dwelling house, twenty-eight days' previous notice in writing to the occupier of the land;

(b) in any other case, give at least seven days' notice in writing to the owner of the right or other property affected.

(4) Every notice under this section shall be accompanied by a plan showing fully and clearly the land or right to which the notice relates.

(5) Where a local authority under this section enters on and takes possession of any land or exercises any right (as the case may be) before payment of the compensation, such local authority shall pay to the occupier of the land or owner of the easement or other right affected (as the case may be) interest on the amount of such compensation when fixed at the rate of four pounds per cent. per annum from the date of such entry and taking possession or the exercise of such right (as the case may be) until the date of conveyance to such local authority.

(6) Where a local authority acquires permanently under this section any land which is subject, either alone or in conjunction with other land, to a purchase annuity, payment in lieu of rent, or other annual payment (not being merely a rent under a contract of tenancy) payable to the Irish Land Commission, such local authority shall become and be liable, as from the date on which it enters on and takes possession of the land so acquired, for the payment to the Irish Land Commission of such purchase annuity, payment in lieu of rent or other annual payment (not being merely a rent under a contract of tenancy) or such portion thereof as shall be apportioned by the Irish Land Commission on such land as if such land had been transferred to such local authority by the proprietor thereof on that date.

(7) Where a local authority acquires permanently under this section any land which is subject, either alone or in conjunction with other land, to a charge payable to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland such local authority shall become and be liable, as from the date on which it enters on and takes possession of the land so acquired, for the payment to the said Commissioners of such charge or such portion thereof as shall be apportioned by the said Commissioners on such land as if such land had been transferred to such local authority by the proprietor thereof on that date.

18 Payment and ascertainment of compensation for land acquired by local authorities.

18.—(1) Compensation shall be paid by a local authority for land compulsorily acquired by it under the immediately preceding section to the several persons entitled thereto or having estates or interests therein, and for or in respect of easements and other rights compulsorily acquired under the said section to the owner thereof or the several persons entitled to or having estates or interests in the land or water over or in respect of which such rights are so acquired, and such compensation shall, in default of agreement, be fixed under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919.

(2) All claims for compensation in respect of any land or right compulsorily acquired under the immediately preceding section shall be made within one year after such land is first entered on or such right is first exercised by the local authority acquiring it.

(3) Sections 69 to 83 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall apply to any compensation payable by a local authority under this section and to the conveyance to a local authority of property, corporeal or incorporeal, compulsorily acquired by it under the immediately preceding section, and for the purpose of such application a local authority shall be deemed to be the promoter of the undertaking.