Local Government Act , 1941

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title and collective citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Local Government Act, 1941.

(2) This Act and the Acts mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act may be cited together as the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1941.

2 Definitions.

2.—(1) In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;

the expression “the Act of 1923” means the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 (No. 9 of 1923);

the expression “the Act of 1925” means the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925);

the expression “the Act of 1926” means the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926, (No. 39 of 1926);

the expression “the Act of 1927” means the Local Government Act, 1927 (No. 3 of 1927);

the word “hereditament” includes a tenement;

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

(2) Each of the following bodies (whether corporate or unincorporated) shall be a local authority for the purposes of this Act and the Acts which may be collectively cited with this Act, that is to say:—

(a) a council of a county, a corporation of a county or other borough, a council of an urban district, a public assistance authority, commissioners of a town, a port sanitary authority, and

(b) a committee or joint committee or board or joint board (whether corporate or unincorporated) appointed by or under statute to perform the functions or any of the functions of any of the bodies mentioned in the immediately preceding paragraph of this sub-section, and

(c) a committee or joint committee or board or joint board (whether corporate or unincorporated), other than a vocational education committee or a committee of agriculture of or appointed by one or more of the bodies mentioned in paragraph (a) of this sub-section.

(3) No body which by any enactment in force immediately before the commencement of this section is declared to be a local authority for the purpose of any particular provision of the Acts which may be collectively cited with this Act shall cease to be a local authority for such purpose by reason only of the provisions of the immediately preceding sub-section of this section.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, every reference in this Act to a meeting, member, committee, member of a committee, or meeting of a committee of a local authority shall, where the local authority in question is a corporation of a county or other borough, be construed as a reference to a meeting, member, committee, member of a committee, or meeting of a committee (as the case may be) of the council established by law in respect of such county or other borough.

3 Commencement.

3.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by order or orders of the Minister either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

4 Regulations.

4.—The Minister may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

5 Repeals.

5.—The enactments mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

PART II. Offices and Employments Under Local Authorities.

Chapter I. General.

6 Additional local authorities for purposes of this Part of this Act.

6.—In addition to the bodies specified in sub-section (2) of section 2 of this Act, every sub-committee appointed by a local pensions committee under section 8 of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908, shall be a local authority for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

7 “Office”.

7.—In this Part of this Act the word “office”, when used without qualification, means an office under a local authority.

8 The appropriate Minister.

8.—(1) Subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section of this section, the Minister shall be the appropriate Minister for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

(2) Where, in the opinion of the Minister, the duties of a particular office or of offices of a particular class or description relate wholly or mainly to the functions of another Minister of State, the Minister may, with the consent of such other Minister, by order provide that such other Minister shall for the purposes of this Part of this Act be the appropriate Minister in relation to such office or offices and holders thereof and thereupon such other Minister shall for the said purposes be the appropriate Minister in relation to such office or offices and holders thereof.

(3) Where a Minister of State, by virtue of an order under the immediately preceding sub-section of this section, is for the purposes of this Part of this Act the appropriate Minister in relation to any office or officer, such Minister shall not exercise in relation to the remuneration of such office or officer any power conferred on the appropriate Minister by this Part of this Act save after consultation with the Minister.

(4) In this Part of this Act the expression “the appropriate Minister” means such Minister of State as is appropriate in each case having regard to the provisions of this section and the orders made thereunder.

9 “Major office.”

9.—(1) In this Part of this Act the expression “major office” means any office declared to be a major office by a declaration made or deemed to have been made under this section.

(2) The appropriate Minister may declare a specified office in relation to which he is the appropriate Minister or such of the offices in relation to which he is the appropriate Minister as belong to a specified class, description, or grade to be a major office or major offices (as the case may be).

(3) Every order in force immediately before the commencement of this section whereby an office is prescribed by the Minister to be an office to which section 15 of the Act of 1923 applies shall, upon and after such commencement, be deemed to be a declaration made by the appropriate Minister under this section declaring such office to be a major office and to be capable of being revoked or amended accordingly.

10 General provision in relation to appointments, duties, and remunerations.

10.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act—

(a) every local authority may appoint such officers and employ such servants as are necessary for the performance of the functions for the time being of such local authority;

(b) every officer appointed or servant employed by a local authority shall perform such duties and be paid such remuneration as such local authority may from time to time assign to him.

(2) Any officer of a local authority who is aggrieved by a decision of such local authority in relation to his remuneration, duties, or conditions of service may appeal against such decision to the appropriate Minister in the prescribed manner and on notice to such local authority and the appropriate Minister, after consideration of such appeal and of the representations (if any) of such local authority in relation thereto, shall either (as he thinks proper) refuse such appeal or give to such local authority such direction as the appropriate Minister considers will remedy the grievance of such officer.

(3) Any local authority to whom a direction is given under the immediately preceding sub-section of this section shall comply with such direction.

11 Directions to appoint officers.

11.—The appropriate Minister may by order direct the kind and number of the officers to be appointed by a local authority for any purpose, and thereupon it shall be the duty of such local authority from time to time to appoint for that purpose such and so many (and no other) officers as may be necessary to conform with the requirements of such order.

12 Determination of certain doubts, etc.

12.—Where any doubt, dispute, or question arises or, in the opinion of the Minister, is likely to arise as to whether any particular position under a local authority is or is not for the purposes of this Act or of any of the Acts which may be collectively cited with this Act an office or as to whether any particular person is or is not for any of the said purposes an officer, such doubt, dispute, or question shall be decided by the Minister and such decision shall be final.

13 Revocation and amendment of Orders, etc., under this Part of this Act.

13.—Every power conferred by any section of this Part of this Act to make any order, regulation, direction, or declaration, shall be construed as including a power to revoke or amend any order, regulation, direction, or declaration made under such section.

14 Continuance of certain Orders.

14.—Every order by whomsoever made which is lawfully in force immediately before the commencement of this section and which—

(a) directs the kind or number of the officers to be appointed by a local authority for any purpose, or

(b) determines the duties, conditions of service, or remuneration of any office, or

(c) regulates the continuance in office of holders of any office,

shall, from and after such commencement and in so far as it is not inconsistent with this Part of this Act, continue in force and be deemed to be made by the appropriate Minister under this Part of this Act and to be capable of being amended or revoked accordingly.

15 Preservation of necessity for sanction of Minister for Finance.

15.—Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part of this Act, where, by any enactment in force immediately before the commencement of this section, the sanction of the Minister for Finance is required in fixing or altering the remuneration of any officer, the remuneration of such officer shall not be fixed or altered after the commencement of this section without the sanction of the said Minister.

16 Application of this Part of this Act to existing officers.

16.—The fact that an officer is in office at the commencement of any section of this Part of this Act shall not be a ground for contending that such section does not apply in relation to such officer.

17 Exclusion of certain offices from this Part of this Act.

17.—For the purposes of this Part of this Act, the following offices shall be deemed not to be offices under a local authority and every holder, as such, of any of those offices shall be deemed not to be an officer of a local authority, that is to say:—

(a) the office of coroner,

(b) the office under the Courthouses (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935 (No. 18 of 1935), of caretaker of courthouse accommodation,

(c) the office under the said Act of assistant to the care-taker of courthouse accommodation,

(d) the office under the Pounds (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935 (No. 17 of 1935), of pound-keeper, and

(e) the office under the said Act of assistant to a pound-keeper.

18 Repeal of certain powers and conditions.

18.—(1) In this section the expression “power to which this section applies” means a power to do any of the following things in relation to any office other than an office of county manager under a council of a county or an office of city manager under a corporation of a county borough, that is to say:—

(a) to remove from office,

(b) to fix or sanction remuneration,

(c) to prescribe qualifications,

(d) to assign duties,

(e) to define or regulate conditions of service,

(f) to require the giving of security or fix the amount or nature of such security,

(g) to provide for the performance by deputy of duties.

(2) So much of any enactment in force immediately before the commencement of this section as confers a power to which this section applies on any Minister of State, local authority, or other person is hereby repealed.

(3) So much of any enactment in force immediately before the commencement of this section as imposes any conditions on the exercise of a power to which this section applies conferred on the appropriate Minister or a local authority by or under this Part of this Act is hereby repealed.

Chapter II. Provisions applicable to both major and other offices.

19 General Regulations in relation to offices and their holders.

19.—(1) The appropriate Minister may, for all or any of the following purposes, make regulations applying to all the offices in relation to which he is the appropriate Minister and their holders or to such of those offices as belong to a specified class, description, or grade and their holders, that is to say:—

(a) determining remuneration,

(b) regulating the payment and amount of travelling expenses,

(c) determining hours of duty,

(d) providing for records of attendance,

(e) regulating the granting of sick and other leave and the payment of remuneration during leave,

(f) requiring holders to give security for the due and proper performance of their duties and regulating the nature and amount of such security,

(g) prescribing the procedure to be followed by local authorities in making appointments otherwise than on the recommendation of the Local Appointments Commissioners and in obtaining candidates when proposing to make appointments as aforesaid,

(h) regulating continuance in and cesser of office,

(i) fixing periods, upon the expiration of which in relation to holders respectively, they shall cease to hold office unless they have theretofore satisfied or complied with specified requirements or conditions,

(j) providing, in case of holders being ill, absent, or incapacitated, for the performance by deputy of such of their duties as relate to the functions of a local authority.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of the next following sub-section of this section, every regulation under this section shall have the force of law in accordance with its terms in relation to the offices and holders of offices to which such regulation applies.

(3) The appropriate Minister may, subject to such conditions (if any) as he thinks proper, authorise a departure to be made in any particular case from any regulation under this section and thereupon it shall be lawful, subject to compliance with the said conditions (if any), to make in that particular case the departure so authorised.

20 Powers of appropriate Minister in relation to duties of office.

20.—(1) The appropriate Minister may by declaration do all or any of the following things in respect of a specified office in relation to which he is the appropriate Minister or in respect of such of the offices in relation to which he is the appropriate Minister as belong to a specified class, description or grade, that is to say:—

(a) define the duties of holders thereof,

(b) assign a particular duty to holders thereof,

(c) define the places or limits within which all or any of the duties of holders thereof are to be performed.

(2) Every declaration made under this section shall have the force of law in relation to the office or offices in respect of which it was made and to holders thereof.

21 Qualifications for offices.

21.—(1) The appropriate Minister may declare a qualification of any of the following classes or descriptions to be a qualification for a specified office in relation to which he is the appropriate Minister or for such of the offices in relation to which he is the appropriate Minister as belong to a specified class, description or grade, that is to say:—

(a) qualifications relating to character,

(b) qualifications relating to age, health, or physical characteristics,

(c) qualifications relating to education, training, or experience,

(d) qualifications relating to residence,

(e) qualifications relating to sex,

(f) the qualification that any woman holding the office in question be either unmarried or a widow.

(2) The appropriate Minister shall not declare under this section that any qualification relating to sex is a qualification for any office unless he is of opinion that the duties of such office so require.

(3) Before declaring under this section that any qualification is a qualification for any office to which the Act of 1926 applies, the appropriate Minister shall consult with the Local Appointments Commissioners.

(4) Sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 7 of the Act of 1926 shall cease to have effect in relation to every office under a local authority, and every reference in that Act to the qualifications prescribed under that Act shall be construed in relation to every office under a local authority as a reference to the qualifications (if any) for the time being declared under this section to be the qualifications for such office.

(5) For the purposes of the Act of 1926, none of the following qualifications shall be deemed to be professional or technical, that is to say:—

(a) certification as a midwife,

(b) registration as a nurse,

(c) any qualification relating to training or experience as a nurse or midwife,

(d) any qualification relating to the knowledge required by a nurse or midwife.

(6) Subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section of this section, no person shall be appointed to any office for which any qualifications are for the time being declared under this section to be the qualifications unless he possesses those qualifications.

(7) Whenever it is necessary to fill immediately any office for which any qualifications are for the time being declared under this section to be the qualifications and no suitable person possessing such qualifications is available for appointment, the appropriate Minister may, on the application of the local authority concerned, authorise an appointment, limited as to its duration to a specified period, to be made to such office without reference to such qualifications and thereupon such appointment may be so made,

(8) A person appointed to any office in pursuance of an authorisation under the immediately preceding sub-section of this section shall (unless for any reason he has previously ceased to hold office) cease to hold office on the occurrence of whichever of the following events first occurs, that is to say:—

(a) the expiration of the period specified in that behalf in such authorisation,

(b) the appointment to such office of a person possessing the qualifications for the time being declared under this section to be the qualifications for such office.