Local Government Act , 1946

PART I Preliminary and General

1 Short title, collective citation and construction.

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

(2) The Local Government Acts. 1925 to 1941, and this Act may be cited together as the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1946.

(3) The Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1941, and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Act of 1941” means the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941);

the expression “county-at-large charges” has the meaning specified in subsection (2) of section 10 of this Act;

the expression “the county fund” has the meaning specified in section 7 of this Act;

the expression “the county rate” has the meaning specified in subsection (1) of section 12 of this Act;

the word “hereditament” includes a tenement;

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

the expression “the municipal fund,” in relation to an urban authority, has the meaning specified in subsection (1) of section 15 of this Act;

the expression “the municipal rate,” in relation to an urban authority, has the meaning specified in subsection (1) of section 18 of this Act;

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

the expression “rating authority” means—

(a) the council of a county,

(b) the corporation of a county borough, or

(c) the urban authority of an urban area;

the expression “reserved function” means—

(a) as respects the council of a county or an elective body for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 and 1942, a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 and 1942, and

(b) as respects the corporation of a county borough, a reserved function for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of the borough;

the expression “road authority” means—

(a) the council of a county,

(b) the corporation of a county borough, or

(c) the urban authority of an urban area;

the expression “town charges” has the meaning specified in subsection (4) of section 10 of this Act;

the expression “urban area” means—

(a) a borough other than a county borough, or

(b) an urban district;

the expression “urban authority” means the corporation or council (as may be appropriate) of an urban area;

the expression “urban charges” has the meaning specified in subsection (3) of section 10 of this Act;

the expression “voluntary civic improvement fund” means a voluntary civic improvement fund within the meaning of the Local Authorities (Acceptance of Gifts) Act, 1945 (No. 30 of 1945).

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 referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

5 Repeals.

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

6 Adaptation of existing enactments.

6.—(1) The Minister may by order make such adaptations in any enactment or order in force at the passing of this Act and relating to any matter affected by this Act as are in his opinion necessary to enable the enactment to have effect in conformity with this Act.

(2) Every order under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as conveniently may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

PART II. Expenses of Certain Local Authorities.

7 The county fund of council of county.

7.—The fund maintained immediately before the commencement of this section by the council of a county pursuant to section 47 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, shall, notwithstanding the repeal of that section by this Act, continue to be maintained by the council and shall be known as the county fund.

8 Sums received by council of county.

8.—(1) A sum received by the council of a county, whether from rates or from sources other than rates, shall be paid to the treasurer of the council and, save as provided by subsection (2) of this section, only the receipt of the treasurer shall be a good discharge to the person paying the sum.

(2) The receipt of a collector of rates of the council of a county or of any person duly authorised by the council of a county to receive payments of any other particular class shall be a good discharge to a person making a payment (as the case may be) of rates to such collector or of such particular class to such authorised person, but in every such case it shall be the duty of the rate collector or authorised person to whom the payment is made to pay the amount thereof to the treasurer of the council within such time as may be specified by the council or by regulations of the Minister for payments of its class or, if no such time has been so specified, forthwith.

(3) The treasurer of the council of a county shall pay a sum received by him under this section—

(a) if the sum is paid for the purposes of a voluntary civic improvement fund, into that fund, and

(b) in any other case, into the county fund.

9 Payments by council of county.

9.—(1) The expenses incurred by the council of a county in the exercise and performance of their powers and duties (including expenses of discharging liabilities existing at the commencement of this section but not including expenses defrayable out of a voluntary civic improvement fund) shall be defrayed by the treasurer of the council out of the county fund.

(2) A payment shall not be made out of the county fund of the council of a county unless it is authorised in accordance with section 21 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940), or ordered by a court of justice.

10 Areas of charge of expenses of council of county.

10.—(1) Expenses of the council of a county shall, save where it is otherwise provided by law, be charged equally over the whole of the county.

(2) Expenses of the council of a county which are charged over the whole of the county shall be known as county-at-large charges.

(3) Expenses of the council of a county which are charged on an urban area in the county shall be known as urban charges.

(4) Expenses of the council of a county which are incurred in meeting a demand made by the commissioners of a town under subsection (1) of section 26 of this Act shall consist of—

(a) the amount of the said demand, and

(b) a sum (which shall not, without the consent of the Minister, exceed seven and one half per cent. of the amount of the said demand) equal to the estimated amount of rates to be written off as irrecoverable and the costs of collection,

and such expenses shall be charged on the area of the town and shall be known as town charges.

(5) If at the time when the estimate of expenses of a county council for a local financial year is considered in pursuance of section 24 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940) the area on which a portion of such expenses is properly chargeable cannot yet be determined, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say :—

(a) such portion shall be included in such estimate in the prescribed manner as a county-at-large charge and raised accordingly by means of the county rate for the said year;

(b) provision shall be made in the prescribed manner in the accounts of the council for determining how much (if any) of such portion should have been charged on any area other than the whole of the county;

(c) if, in accordance with paragraph (b) of this subsection, it is determined that any amount should have been charged on an area other than the whole of the county an appropriate adjustment shall be made in the prescribed manner in the county rate for a subsequent year by means of an increase in the sum charged on such area and a reduction in the county-at-large charges.

(6) Where expenses of the council of a county are charged on an area consisting of both an area which is not an urban area and either an urban area or two or more urban areas—

(a) the amount of the expenses to be charged on the portion of the area of charge which is not an urban area shall be the amount which bears to the total amount of the expenses the same proportion as the valuation of that portion bears to the valuation of the area of charge, and

(b) the amount of the expenses to be charged on the urban area or each urban area (as the case may be) shall be the amount which bears to the total amount of the expenses the same proportion as the valuation of such urban area bears to the valuation of the area of charge.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6) of this section, the valuation of an area shall be the total of the valuations appearing in the valuation lists for the time being in force under the Valuation Acts of all the hereditaments in the area.

11 Obtaining of funds by council of county.

11.—(1) The council of a county shall obtain the moneys necessary to supply any deficiency (whether actual or prospective) in the county fund as follows :

(a) where the deficiency arises from expenses charged wholly on an area which is not an urban area, the council shall raise the amount of the expenses equally over that area by means of the poor rate,

(b) where the deficiency arises from expenses charged wholly on an urban area, the council shall demand the amount of the expenses from the urban authority of the urban area in the prescribed form and manner,

(c) where the deficiency arises from expenses charged as to part on an area which is not an urban area and as to the remainder on an urban area or two or more urban areas, the council shall raise so much of the expenses as is charged on the area which is not an urban area equally over that area by means of the poor rate and—

(i) where the remainder of the expenses is charged on one urban area, shall demand the amount of such remainder from the urban authority of the urban area in the prescribed form and manner, and

(ii) where the remainder of the expenses is charged on two or more urban areas, shall demand the portion of such remainder charged on each urban area from the urban authority of such urban area in the prescribed form and manner.

(2) An urban authority shall pay to the council of the county in which their urban area is situated a sum demanded by the council under this section.

12 The county rate of council of county.

12.—(1) The poor rate raised pursuant to section 11 of this Act by the council of a county shall be known as the county rate.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall be construed as effecting a change of name only and shall not prejudice the existence of the poor rate nor the effect of any reference to it in any statutory or other enactment, but, for the purposes of conforming to such change of name, for every reference to the poor rate in any resolution, notice, rate book or other, document passed or used by the council of a county in the making, levying, collecting or recovery of rates, there shall be substituted, in the case of the county rate, a reference to that rate, and every form used for the purpose of the making, levying, collecting or recovery of poor rate shall, in its application in respect of the county rate, be amended accordingly.

13 Special provisions in relation to town charges.

13.—(1) The following provisions shall apply in relation to any portion of the county rate made by the council of a county for the purposes of a deficiency in the county fund arising from town charges :—

(a) such portion shall be assessed and made separately from the remainder of the county rate,

(b) for the purposes of such assessment, the valuation of a hereditament of any of the following classes shall be reduced to one quarter of the actual valuation under the Valuation Acts of the hereditament :—

(i) land used solely for one or more of the following purposes, that is to say, as arable, meadow or pasture ground or as woodlands, or market gardens, or nursery grounds,

(ii) land covered with water and used as a canal and any towing path to the same,

(iii) land used as a railway constructed under statutory powers for public conveyance,

(c) no assessment shall be made on any half-rent rateable to the poor rate under section 63 of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1838, and the enactments amending the same.

(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to or operate to reduce the annual value with reference to which the tax in respect of any hereditament under Schedules A and B of the Income Tax Act, 1918, is ascertained.

14 Rates on vacant premises in county.

14.—(1) Where a hereditament which is situated in a county but not in an urban area and which is not a small dwelling within the meaning of the Local Government (Rates on Small Dwellings) Act, 1928 (No. 4 of 1928), is unoccupied at the making of the county rate, such rate shall be made upon the person (in this section referred to as the owner) who is for the time being entitled to occupy the hereditament and, upon such rate being paid by the owner, he shall be entitled to claim and receive from the council of the county a refund of one-twelfth of such rate in respect of every completed month (reckoned from any day of one month to the corresponding day of the next month) during which the hereditament is unoccupied either for the purpose of the execution of additions, alterations or repairs thereto or because the owner is bona fide unable to obtain a suitable tenant therefor, in the case of a hereditament to which the Rent Restrictions Act, 1946 (No. 4 of 1946), for the time being applies, at the maximum rent for the time being permitted under that Act or, in the case of any other hereditament, at a reasonable rent.

(2) Where—

(a) a rate is made by virtue of this section on the owner of an unoccupied hereditament, and

(b) the hereditament is subsequently let by or on behalf of the owner, and

(c) the rate or any part thereof is in arrear and unpaid,

the rate collector by whom the rate is collectible may, in addition to and without prejudice to any other remedy for the recovery of the amount of the rate so in arrear and unpaid, serve either personally or by post on the occupier of the hereditament a notice stating the said amount so in arrear and unpaid and requiring the occupier to pay to the rate collector or his successor in office all rent then due or thereafter to become due by him in respect of the hereditament until the said amount is by such payment or otherwise discharged, and thereupon the rate collector or his successor in office shall have the exclusive right to recover, receive and give a good discharge for all rent required by the notice to be paid to him.

(3) A rate made by virtue of this section on the owner of an unoccupied hereditament shall not be invalidated by any error or defect in the statement of the name of the owner or by the use of the description “the owner” without any name or addition, and the rate shall be recoverable from the owner notwithstanding any such error or defect or the use of any such description.

15 The municipal fund of urban authority.

15.—(1) An urban authority shall establish and maintain a fund to be known as the municipal fund.

(2) A sinking fund or any other fund (not being a voluntary civic improvement fund) to meet a future or prospective liability which an urban authority is required by or under statute to maintain shall be maintained out of the municipal fund.

(3) A fund which was maintained by an urban authority immediately before the commencement of this section and which was neither a sinking fund nor other fund to meet a future or prospective liability which the urban authority was required by or under statute to maintain nor a voluntary civic improvement fund shall cease to be maintained and—

(a) if any moneys were standing to the credit of the fund immediately before such commencement, they shall be paid into the municipal fund, and

(b) if any liability stood attached to the fund immediately before such commencement, it shall attach to and be discharged out of the municipal fund.

16 Sums received by urban authority.

16.—(1) A sum received by an urban authority, whether from rates or a source other than rates, shall be paid to the treasurer of the authority and, save as provided by subsection (2) of this section, only the receipt of the treasurer shall be a good discharge to a person paying the sum.

(2) The receipt of a collector of rates of an urban authority or of any person duly authorised by an urban authority to receive payments of any other particular class shall be a good discharge to a person making a payment (as the case may be) of rates to such collector or of such particular class to such authorised person, but in every such case it shall be the duty of the rate collector or authorised person to whom the payment is made to pay the amount thereof to the treasurer of the urban authority within such time as may be specified by the authority or by regulations of the Minister for payments of its class, or if no such time has been so specified, forthwith.

(3) The treasurer of an urban authority shall pay a sum received by him under this section—

(a) if the sum is paid for the purposes of a voluntary civic improvement fund, into that fund, and

(b) in any other case, into the municipal fund.

17 Payments by urban authority.

17.—(1) The expenses incurred by an urban authority in the exercise and performance of their powers and duties (including expenses of discharging liabilities existing at the commencement of this section but not including expenses defrayable out of a voluntary civic improvement fund) shall be defrayed by the treasurer of the authority out of the municipal fund.

(2) A payment shall not be made out of the municipal fund of an urban authority unless it is either authorised in accordance with section 21 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940), or ordered by a court of justice.

18 The municipal rate of urban authority.