AGRICULTURE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1944

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE AGRICULTURE ACT, 1931. [23rd February, 1944.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture,

the expression “the Principal Act” means the Agriculture Act, 1931 (No. 8 of 1931);

the word “office” means an office under a committee of agriculture.

2 Payment of travelling expenses to members of committees of agriculture.

2.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a committee of agriculture shall defray the expenses of locomotion incurred—

• (a) by each of its members in travelling to and from meetings of such committee held after the 30th day of June, 1943, and

• (b) by a member of a sub-committee of such committee in travelling to and from meetings of such sub-committee held after the 30th day of June, 1943.

• (2) No person shall be paid under this section expenses in respect of a meeting held at a place less than five miles by any route from his ordinary place of residence.

• (3) The amount of the expenses paid under this section to a person in respect of a meeting shall not exceed the amount of the expenses which would reasonably have been incurred by him in travelling from and to his ordinary place of residence to and from the place of that meeting.

• (4) No person shall be paid under this section expenses in respect of a meeting of a sub-committee of a committee of agriculture unless the Minister, on the application of that committee, authorises the payment, under this section, of expenses to members of that sub-committee.

• (5) A claim for payment under this section of expenses shall be made in writing and the Minister, if he so thinks fit, may direct the form to be used in making such claim.

• (6) A person who knowingly makes or allows to be made a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a payment under this section for himself or another 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, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

• (7) A person who is convicted of an offence under this section shall thereafter be disqualified from being elected or being a member of a committee of agriculture or of a body which is a local authority for any of the purposes of the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1941, or of a council established by law in respect of a county or county borough or a committee of such council and shall also be disqualified from holding an office or employment under a committee of agriculture or any such body, council or committee as aforesaid.

• (8) The references in section 17 and in paragraph (d) of sub-section (1) of section 38 of the Principal Act to the provisions of the Principal Act relating to the payment of travelling expenses to members of committees shall be construed as including references to the preceding provisions of this section.

• (9) Section 18 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 2 of the Agriculture (Amendment) Act, 1934 (No. 20 of 1934), and the Third Schedule to the Principal Act shall cease to apply in relation to a meeting, held after the 30th day of June, 1943, of a committee of agriculture.

3 Disqualification for membership of committees of agriculture.

3.—(1) Article 12 (except sub-article (9)) of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, as amended by any subsequent enactment, shall apply to committees of agriculture and their members in like manner as it applies to councils of counties and their members.

• (2) A person shall be disqualified for being elected or chosen or being a member of a committee of agriculture if he is concerned by himself or his partner in any bargain or contract entered into with such committee or participates by himself or his partner in the profit of any such bargain or contract or of any work done under the authority of such committee.

• (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) of this section, a person shall not be disqualified for being elected or chosen or being a member of a committee of agriculture—

• (a) by reason of his having by himself or his partner received or contracted to receive any benefits or advantages offered in pursuance of agricultural schemes administered by such committee, if the consent of the Minister to members of committees of agriculture receiving such benefits or advantages has been given, or

• (b) by reason of being, by himself or his partner interested—

• (i) in any newspaper in which an advertisement relating to the affairs of such committee is inserted, or

• (ii) in any contract with such committee as a shareholder in any joint stock company.

• (4) section 34 of the Principal Act is hereby repealed.

4 Amendment of section 24 of the Principal Act.

4.—Sub-section (1) of section 24 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion, after the words “to be held”, of the words “in relation to the performance by a committee of agriculture of its duties under this Act or”.

5 Dissolution of committees of agriculture.

5.—(1) If and whenever—

• (a) the Minister is satisfied, after the holding of a local inquiry under section 24 of the Principal Act, as amended by this Act, that the duties of a committee of agriculture for a county are not being duly and effectively discharged by such committee, or

• (b) a committee of agriculture for a county wilfully neglects to comply with any lawful order, direction, or regulation of the Minister, or

• (c) a committee of agriculture for a county fails to comply with any judgment, order, or decree of any court, or

• (d) a committee of agriculture for a county refuses after due notice to allow its accounts to be audited by a local government auditor assigned in that behalf under section 68 of the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941),

the Minister may by order dissolve such committee and, as he may think fit, either order a new appointment to be made, by the council of such county, 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 committee of agriculture, 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 (if any) of all such persons.

• (3) The remuneration of all persons appointed under the foregoing sub-section to perform the duties of a committee of agriculture for a county shall be paid out of the moneys raised by means of the agricultural rate by the council of that county.

• (4) Where the Minister has, under sub-section (1) of this section, dissolved a committee of agriculture for a county and transferred the property, powers and duties of such committee to any body, person or persons, the Minister shall, in the first or second election year after such dissolution, by order cause a new appointment to be made, by the council of such county, of members of such committee, and upon the making of such new appointment all the properties, powers, and duties of the dissolved committee shall vest in the committee so appointed, notwithstanding such transfer.

In this sub-section the expression “election year” has the meaning assigned to it by section 25 of the Local Elections Act, 1937 (No. 14 of 1937).

• (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.

6 Returns, information, etc.

6.—(1) The Minister may require a committee of agriculture to make to him any return or report or to furnish him with any information in relation to their functions which he may consider necessary or desirable for the purposes of any of the powers and duties for the time being conferred or imposed on him in relation to such committee, and it shall be the duty of such committee to comply with such requirement.

• (2) An inspector of the Minister may require any officer of a committee of agriculture to give to such inspector any information in relation to the functions of such officer which such inspector reasonably requires for the purpose of performing the duties imposed on such inspector by the Minister, and it shall be the duty of such officer to comply with such requirement.

7 Attendance of officers of committees of agriculture at conferences, etc.

7.—(1) A committee of agriculture shall, when required by the Minister—

• (a) permit officers to attend conferences from time to time with officers of the Department of Agriculture;

• (b) permit officers to attend for interviews at the offices of the Department of Agriculture;

• (c) permit officers to attend at functions having a bearing on their work.

• (2) Officers of committees of agriculture travelling in pursuance of permission under this section shall be allowed travelling and maintenance expenses in accordance with the rates prescribed by regulations made under section 28 of the Principal Act.

8 Age limit for offices.

8.—(1) The Minister may declare any specified age to be the age limit for all offices or for such offices as belong to a specified class, description, or grade or for one or more specified offices.

• (2) Every declaration under this section shall come into force six months after the day on which it is made.

• (3) Where a declaration under this section is for the time being in force in relation to any particular office, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

• (a) if on the day when such declaration comes into force there is a holder of such office and such holder, on that day, reaches or is older than the age specified in such declaration as the age limit for such office, such holder shall cease to hold such office on the said day when such declaration comes into force;

• (b) if on a day after the day when such declaration comes into force any holder of such office reaches the age specified in such declaration as the age limit for such office, such holder shall cease to hold such office on the said day after the day on which such declaration comes into force.

• (4) Any person who ceases under the immediately preceding sub-section of this section to hold an office shall, where necessary for the purposes of sub-section (1) of section 44 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925), or of any other enactment relating to the superannuation of officers of committees of agriculture, be deemed to have become incapable of discharging the duties of such office with efficiency by reason of old age and shall, where necessary for the purposes of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919, be deemed to have resigned such office with the consent of the Minister.

9 Suspension of officers.

9.—(1) Whenever in respect of the holder of an office under a committee of agriculture there is, in the opinion of such committee or of the Minister, reason to believe that such holder has failed to perform satisfactorily the duties of such office or has misconducted himself in relation to such office or is otherwise unfit to hold such office, such committee or the Minister (as the case may be) may suspend such holder from the performance of the duties of such office while such alleged failure, misconduct, or unfitness is being inquired into and the disciplinary action (if any) to be taken in regard thereto is being determined and such inquiry shall be held as soon as conveniently may be after the date of such suspension.

• (2) The Minister may terminate a suspension under this section and every such suspension shall continue until so terminated.

• (3) Whenever the holder of an office under a committee of agriculture is suspended under this section, he shall forthwith hand over to such committee all books, deeds, contracts, accounts, vouchers, maps, plans and other documents in his possession, custody, or control which relate to such office.

• (4) The holder of an office who is suspended under this section shall not be paid any remuneration in respect of such office during the continuance of his suspension and, upon the termination of his suspension, the remuneration which he would, had he not been suspended, have been paid during the period of suspension shall be wholly or partly forfeited, or paid to him, or otherwise disposed of, as the Minister shall direct.

• (5) Section 11 of the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 (No. 39 of 1926), shall cease to have effect in relation to officers and servants of committees of agriculture.

10 Removal from office by Minister on conviction.

10.—(1) Where the holder of an office is convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the Minister, renders him unfit for such office, the Minister may by order remove suck holder from such office.

• (2) Section 23 of the Principal Act shall not apply in respect of a removal from office under sub-section (1) of this section.

11 Application of this Act to existing officers.

11.—The fact that an officer is in office at the date of the passing of this Act shall not be a ground for contending that the three immediately preceding sections of this Act do not apply in relation to such officer.

12 Revocation and amendment of orders, etc.

12.—Every power conferred by any section contained in the Principal Act or this Act to make any order, declaration or direction shall be construed as including a power to revoke or amend any order, declaration or direction made under such section.

13 Short title, construction and collective citation.

13.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Agriculture (Amendment) Act, 1944.

• (2) The Agriculture Acts, 1931 to 1941, and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.

• (3) The Agriculture Acts, 1931 to 1941, and this Act may be cited together as the Agriculture Acts, 1931 to 1944.