Forestry Act , 1946

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title and commencement.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Forestry Act, 1946.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister shall by order appoint in that behalf.

2 Definitions generally.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Act of 1891” means the Registration of Title Act, 1891, as amended by the Registration of Title Act, 1942 (No. 26 of 1942);

the expression “the Act of 1928” means the Forestry Act, 1928 (No. 34 of 1928);

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

the expression “the operative date” means the date on which this Act comes into operation;

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

the word “timber” means wood which is the product of any tree;

the word “tree” does not include any hazel, apple, plum, damson, pear or cherry tree grown for the value of its fruit or any ozier, but with those exceptions includes every tree of any age or any stage of growth;

the word “wood” (save in the definition of the word “timber”) includes a plantation.

3 Service of certain documents.

3.—(1) Where any document (other than a prohibition order made under subsection (1) of section 39 of this Act) is permitted or required by this Act to be served by the Minister or the Irish Land Commission on any person, the following provisions shall apply in relation to the service of that document, that is to say:—

(a) the document may be served—

(i) by delivering it to that person, or

(ii) by sending it by registered post in an envelope addressed to that person at an address in the State at which he ordinarily resides or carries on business, or

(iii) by sending it by registered post in an envelope addressed to an agent of that person at an address in the State at which such agent ordinarily resides or carries on business,

(b) in case the Minister or the Irish Land Commission certifies that it is not reasonably practicable to serve the document in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection, the document shall be deemed to have been duly served on that person if a copy thereof is published in Iris Oifigiúil and the date of service shall be taken to be the date of such publication.

(2) Where the Minister or the Irish Land Commission publishes, under subsection (1) of this section, in the Iris Oifigiúil a copy of a document, the Minister or the Irish Land Commission shall also publish a copy of that document in one or more newspapers circulating in the locality in which the land to which that document relates is situate.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a company registered 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 unincorporate body shall be deemed to carry on business at its principal office or place of business in the State.

4 Prosecution of offences.

4.—(1) Proceedings for an offence under any section or subsection of this Act shall not be instituted except by the Minister or with the consent of the Minister or an officer of the Department of Lands, not below the rank of an Assistant Secretary, nominated by the Minister for the purpose.

(2) Every offence under any section or subsection of this Act may be prosecuted by or at the suit of the Minister as prosecutor.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, proceedings for an offence under any section or subsection of this Act may be instituted at any time within one year after the time at which the cause of complaint has arisen.

5 Regulations.

5.—(1) The Minister may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed.

(2) Subsection (1) of section 3 of the Land Act, 1933 (No. 38 of 1933), shall apply to any regulations made by the Minister under this section prescribing any matter or thing referred to in Part III of this Act as prescribed, other than matters relating to the practice and procedure of the Appeal Tribunal, in like manner as if such matter or thing were being prescribed for the purposes of the Land Purchase Acts by rules made under the said subsection (1).

(3) Subsection (7) of section 7 of the Land Act, 1933, shall apply to any regulations made by the Minister under this section prescribing any matter or thing referred to in Part III of this Act as prescribed, where such matter or thing is connected with the practice or procedure of the Appeal Tribunal, in like manner as if such matter or thing were being prescribed for the purposes of the Land Purchase Acts by rules made under the said subsection (7).

6 Repeals.

6.—Each enactment mentioned in the Schedule to this Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the said Schedule opposite the mention of that enactment.

7 Expenses.

7.—All expenses incurred in 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.

8 Application of moneys received by the Minister.

8.—All moneys received by the Minister under this Act shall be paid into, or disposed of for the benefit of, the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

PART II. Promotion of Interests of Forestry and Development of Afforestation, and Production and Supply of Timber.

9 General powers of the Minister.

9.—(1) Subject to the consent (either general or particular) of the Minister for Finance, the Minister may do all or any of the following things—

(a) purchase or take on lease or otherwise acquire any land suitable for forestry or required for purposes in connection with afforestation or with the management of any woods or forests or any right (so required) over any land;

(b) manage, plant and otherwise utilise any land vested in the Minister by virtue of the Forestry (Re-distribution of Public Services) Order, 1933 (S. R. & O., No. 158 of 1933), or acquired under the Forestry Acts, 1919 and 1928, or under this Act, and erect such buildings or execute such other works thereon as he thinks necessary;

(c) sell or let any land vested in the Minister by virtue of the Forestry (Re-distribution of Public Services) Order, 1933 (S. R. & O., No. 158 of 1933), or acquired under the Forestry Acts, 1919 and 1928, or under this Act, or exchange any such land for any other land and (where requisite on any such exchange) pay or receive money for equality of exchange or grant rights on or over any such land;

(d) purchase or take on lease any buildings or works required in connection with his powers under this section and sell or let any buildings or works belonging to him;

(e) purchase or otherwise acquire standing timber, and sell or otherwise dispose of any timber belonging to him, or, subject to such terms as may be mutually agreed, to a private owner, and generally promote the supply, sale, utilisation, and conversion of timber;

(f) make advances by way of grant or by way of loan, or partly in one way and partly in the other, and upon such terms and subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, to persons (including local authorities) in respect of the afforestation (including the replanting) of land belonging to those persons;

(g) undertake the planting, development, utilisation, management or supervision, upon such terms and subject to such conditions as may be agreed upon, or give assistance or advice in relation to, the planting or management of any woods or forests belonging to any persons, including woods and forests belonging to any Minister of State or belonging to a local authority;

(h) establish and carry on or aid in the establishment and carrying on of woodland industries;

(i) undertake the collection, preparation, publication and distribution of statistics relating to forestry and promote and develop instruction and training in forestry by establishing or aiding schools or other educational establishments or in such other manner as he thinks fit;

(j) make or aid in making such inquiries, experiments and research, and collect or aid in collecting such information, as he thinks important for the purpose of promoting forestry and the teaching of forestry, and publish or otherwise take steps to make known the results of such inquiries, experiments or research and to disseminate such information;

(k) disseminate, or aid in the dissemination of, information likely, in his opinion, to arouse, stimulate, or increase, public interest in forestry or woodland industries;

(l) make or aid in making such inquiries as he thinks necessary for the purpose of securing an adequate supply of timber in the State or promoting the sale, utilisation or conversion of timber or fostering the establishment or extension of woodland industries.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall be construed as authorising the Minister to sell, or let, or exchange for other land, any foreshore, within the meaning of the Foreshore Act, 1933 (No. 12 of 1933), or any State Minerals, within the meaning of the Minerals Development Act, 1940 (No. 31 of 1940).

(3) The State Lands Act, 1924 (No. 45 of 1924), shall, in so far as it applies to any such land as is mentioned in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, cease to apply.

(4) The Minister may accept any gift made to him for all or any of the purposes of this Act, and, subject to the terms thereof, may apply it for those purposes in accordance with regulations which he is hereby authorised to make.

(5) Any person under a disability referred to in section 7 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, may enter into agreements with the Minister for the purposes of this section in like manner in all respects as he is entitled to enter into agreements for the purpose of the said section 7.

(6) The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the expiration of every financial year (other than the financial year 1945-46) cause to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas a report of his proceedings under this Act during that year.

10 Consultative Committee.

10.—(1) The Minister may by order establish a consultative committee (in this section referred to as the Consultative Committee) for giving to the Minister in accordance with the provisions of the order advice and assistance with respect to the exercise by the Minister of his powers under this Act.

(2) The constitution of the Consultative Committee shall be such as may be determined by the order establishing it, so, however, that the members of the said Committee shall include—

(a) a representative of the Minister for Agriculture;

(b) a person having practical experience of matters relating to forestry;

(c) a person with knowledge and experience of the home grown timber trade;

(d) a person with knowledge or experience of labour matters;

(e) a person with knowledge or experience of the work of county councils;

(f) a member of any society existing for the promotion of afforestation;

(g) an owner of woodland.

11 Inspection of land.

11.—(1) Any authorised officer may enter on and survey any land for the purpose of ascertaining whether it is suitable for afforestation or for the purpose of inspecting any timber thereon or for any other purpose in connection with the exercise of the powers of the Minister under this Act.

(2) An authorised officer, who enters on any land in pursuance of his power under this section, shall, if so required by the occupier of that land, produce his authority to such occupier and permit him to read it.

(3) If any person obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer in the exercise of any power conferred on him by this section, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(4) In this section the expression “authorised officer” means a person appointed in writing by the Minister to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this section.

PART III. Extinguishment of Easements, Creation of Rights of Way and Compulsory Acquisition of Land.

Chapter I. Preliminary and General.

12 Definitions for purposes of Part III.

12.—In this Part—

the expression “acquisition order” means an order made under section 23 of this Act;

the expression “annual sum” means any annual or periodical payment charged on land, but does not include—

(a) any State annuity, or

(b) a rent payable to the Land Commission or the Commissioners under a contract of tenancy expressed to be made for temporary convenience, or

(c) interest on a mortgage, or

(d) a charge subsisting under a settlement;

the expression “the Appeal Tribunal” means the tribunal constituted by section 7 of the Land Act, 1933 (No. 38 of 1933);

the expression “assessment order” means an order made under subsection (2) of section 24 or subsection (1) of section 25 of this Act;

the expression “charge subsisting under a settlement” means a charge subsisting or to arise under a settlement, within the meaning of the Settled Land Acts, 1882 to 1890, not being a charge having priority to the settlement or a charge created for securing money actually raised;

the expression “the Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland;

the word “easement” includes any profit--prendre or other right in or over land;

the word “interest”, in relation to land, includes—

(a) an easement,

(b) an annual sum,

but does not include—

(c) a tenancy from year to year held under the Land Commission or the Commissioners and expressed in the contract of tenancy to be for temporary convenience, or

(d) a State annuity, or

(e) a mortgage on land, or

(f) a charge subsisting under a settlement affecting the land;

the expression “the Judicial Commissioner” means the Judge of the High Court for the time being assigned to discharge the office of Judicial Commissioner under the Land Law (Commission) Act, 1923 (No. 27 of 1923);

the expression “the Land Commission” means the Irish Land Commission;

the expression “the Lay Commissioners” means the Land Commissioners other than members of the Appeal Tribunal;

the word “lease” includes a fee farm grant and any contract of tenancy;

the word “mortgage” includes an equitable mortgage, a charge for securing any capital sum, and a judgment mortgage, but does not include a State annuity or a charge subsisting under a settlement, and the words “mortgagee” and “mortgagor” shall be construed accordingly and shall respectively include a person from time to time deriving title under the original mortgagee and a person from time to time deriving title under the original mortgagor;

the word “owner”, in relation to land, means—

(a) where the land is vested under the Land Purchase Acts in the Land Commission, but not in the tenant-purchaser or purchaser thereof, the person who is for the time being the tenant-purchaser or purchaser, as the case may be, of such land, and

(b) in any other case, the owner of the lowest estate in the land constituting an estate saleable under the Land Purchase Acts;

the expression “State annuity” means any sum being—

(a) any land purchase annuity or any annual sum equivalent to a purchase annuity, within the meaning of the Land Purchase Acts, payable to the Land Commission, or

(b) any land purchase annuity payable to the Commissioners, or

(c) any rent charge, annuity or yearly or half-yearly payment payable to the Commissioners in respect of any local loan, within the meaning of the Local Loans Fund Act, 1935 (No. 16 of 1935);

the expression “vesting date” means, in relation to any land which is the subject of a vesting order, the date specified in that order as the date on which the land is to vest in the Minister;

the expression “vested land” means land which is the subject of a vesting order;

the expression “vesting order” means an order made under section 26 of this Act.

13 Provisions in relation to applications and appeals under Part III.

13.—Every application and every appeal under any section contained in this Part shall be made and conducted in the prescribed manner.

14 Finality of decision of Appeal Tribunal on appeals under Part III.

14.—(1) The decision of the Appeal Tribunal on any appeal under any section contained in this Part shall be final.

(2) Where, in the course of the hearing of an appeal to the Appeal Tribunal under any section contained in this Part, any party to the appeal requests the Appeal Tribunal to refer a question of law arising on the appeal to the Supreme Court by way of case stated for the determination of the Supreme Court, the Appeal Tribunal shall refer the question to the Supreme Court accordingly, and adjourn its decision on the appeal pending the determination of such case stated.

15 Application of Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919.

15.—Section 2 of the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, shall apply in relation to—

(a) the fixing of compensation under sections 19, 20 or 21 of this Act,

(b) the assessing, under sections 24 or 25 of this Act, of any value,

(c) the fixing of compensation under section 31 of this Act,

with the modification that the references in the said section 2 to the official arbitrator shall be construed as references to the Lay Commissioners.

16 Powers of Lay Commissioners and Appeal Tribunal to award costs in proceedings under Part III.

16.—(1) (a) In any proceedings under this Part heard and determined by the Lay Commissioners or the Appeal Tribunal, the Lay Commissioners or the Appeal Tribunal, as the case may be, may direct that the costs and expenses of any party to such proceedings shall be paid by any other party thereto, and they may also, on the application of such first-mentioned party, issue an order for the levying of the amount (as taxed or measured in accordance with paragraph (b) of this subsection) of such costs and expenses together with the costs of obtaining such order.

(b) Where the Lay Commissioners or the Appeal Tribunal direct, under paragraph (a) of this subsection, that the costs and expenses of any party to proceedings heard and determined by them shall be paid by any other party thereto, the said costs and expenses shall be taxed by a Taxing Master of the High Court, unless both the said parties agree that the said costs and expenses should be measured by the Lay Commissioners or the Appeal Tribunal, as the case may be, in which case the said costs and expenses shall be so measured.