Electricity (Supply)(Amendment) Act , 1949

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

the expression “the Act of 1927” means the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1927 (No. 27 of 1927);

the expression “the Board” means the Electricity Supply Board;

the expression “general employee” means a person in the employment of the Board who is not a manual worker and whose employment is not of a casual nature;

the expression “the general employees superannuation scheme” means the general employees superannuation scheme under section 4 of the Superannuation Act of 1942;

the expression “manual worker” has the same meaning as it has in the Superannuation Act of 1942;

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

the expression “the Superannuation Act of 1942” means the Electricity Supply Board (Superannuation) Act, 1942 (No. 17 of 1942);

the expression “the Tribunal” means, except in section 15, the tribunal established pursuant to subsection (1) of section 3.

2 General regulations.

2.—(1) The Board may make regulations—

(a) for any purpose connected with the generation, transmission, distribution or use of electricity,

(b) for any purpose connected with the performance by the Board of any of their powers, duties or functions.

(2) Where the Board make under this section regulations the purposes of which are not solely purposes connected with the procedure, administration or internal direction of the Board, they shall submit the regulations to the Minister for confirmation and the Minister shall thereupon either—

(a) by order confirm the regulations,

(b) return the regulations to the Board for the making of such amendments therein as he thinks proper, or

(c) refuse to confirm the regulations.

(3) Where regulations are returned to the Board under subsection (2) of this section, the Board shall make in the regulations the amendments required by the Minister, and that subsection shall thereupon apply to the regulations as amended as if they were new regulations.

(4) Regulations to which subsection (2) of this section applies shall come into operation if, and only if, they are confirmed by order under this section and, if they are so confirmed, the day on which they shall come into operation shall be the day specified in that behalf in the order confirming them.

(5) Regulations under this section may provide that any provision made by or under the Electricity (Supply) Acts, 1882 to 1919, shall cease to have effect.

(6) Where a person contravenes a provision of regulations under this section which is stated to be a penal provision, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(7) Any regulations which were made by the Board under section 33 or section 34 (both repealed by this Act) of the Act of 1927 and which were in force immediately before the passing of the Act shall be regarded as regulations under this section and shall continue in force and be capable of being amended or revoked accordingly.

(8) An order 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 is passed by either House within the next twenty-one days upon which that House has sat after the order has been laid before it annulling the order, the order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

3 Establishment of the Tribunal.

3.—(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Act, the Minister shall cause a tribunal to be established in accordance with this section for the purposes mentioned in this Act.

(2) The Tribunal shall consist of a chairman and two ordinary members appointed in accordance with the following provisions, that is to say:—

(a) one of the ordinary members of the Tribunal shall be nominated and appointed by the Board;

(b) the other of the ordinary members of the Tribunal shall be nominated and appointed by the persons for the time being in the employment of the Board who are general employees in such manner as shall be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this section;

(c) the chairman of the Tribunal shall be appointed by the Minister on the joint nomination of the two ordinary members, but if either or both of those members informs or inform the Minister that they cannot agree on a joint nomination, the chairman shall be nominated and appointed by the Minister.

(3) Every member of the Tribunal shall, unless he sooner dies or resigns, hold office as such member for five years from the date of his appointment, but shall be eligible for re-appointment.

(4) If the chairman of the Tribunal is for any reason temporarily unable to act as chairman, the Minister may on the joint nomination of the two ordinary members of the Tribunal appoint another person to act temporarily as the chairman of the Tribunal during such inability, but if either or both of the said ordinary members informs or inform the Minister that they cannot agree on a joint nomination, the Minister may himself nominate the person so to be appointed by him.

(5) If the ordinary member of the Tribunal nominated and appointed by the Board is for any reason temporarily unable to act as a member of the Tribunal, the Board shall nominate and appoint another person to act temporarily as a member of the Tribunal during such inability.

(6) If the ordinary member of the Tribunal nominated and appointed by the persons for the time being in the employment of the Board who are general employees is for any reason temporarily unable to act as a member of the Tribunal, the said persons shall nominate and appoint (in such manner as shall be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this section) another person to act temporarily as a member of the Tribunal during such inability.

(7) The Minister may, after consultation with such person or persons or organisation or organisations as appear to him to be representative of general employees in the employment of the Board, make regulations prescribing the manner in which the persons for the time being in the employment of the Board who are general employees shall nominate and appoint the ordinary member of the Tribunal to be nominated and appointed by them and the manner in which those persons shall nominate and appoint a person to act temporarily as a member of the Tribunal during the inability of the said ordinary member to act as such member.

(8) The expenses under this Act in relation to the Tribunal (including fees) shall be defrayed by the Board as part of the general expenses of the Board.

4 Procedure of the Tribunal.

4.—(1) The Tribunal shall have power to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) to regulate its own procedure and appoint the times and places of its sittings;

(b) to take evidence on oath and for that purpose to administer oaths;

(c) to allow any person or persons to be present at sittings of the Tribunal and to exclude any person or persons from such sittings.

(2) Where the Tribunal cannot reach a unanimous decision on any matter referred to it under this Act, the decision of the Tribunal shall be—

(a) where two of its members are in agreement, in accordance with the opinion of such two members, or

(b) in default of agreement between two of its members, in accordance with the opinion of the chairman.

(3) The decision of the Tribunal on any matter referred to it under this Act shall be given in writing signed by the chairman.

(4) The Tribunal shall have all such powers, rights, and privileges for enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath and for compelling the production of documents as are vested in the High Court or a Judge thereof in respect of the trial of an action, and a summons signed by the Chairman of the Tribunal shall be equivalent to and have the like effect as a formal process issued by the High Court for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or compelling the production of documents.

(5) If any person on being duly summoned under this section to attend as a witness before the Tribunal makes default in so attending or, being in attendance before the Tribunal as a witness, refuses to take an oath required by the chairman to be taken by him or refuses to produce any document in his power or control required by the chairman to be produced by him or refuses to answer any questions required by the chairman to be answered by him, the chairman may certify the offence of such person to the High Court and that Court may, after such inquiry as it thinks proper to make, punish or take steps for the punishment of that person in like manner as if he had been guilty of contempt of the said Court.

5 Reference of disputes to the Tribunal.

5.—(1) Every dispute which shall arise between the Board and all or any of the general employees for the time being in the employment of the Board and which relates to the employment of such employees (including disputes declared by this Act to be referable to the Tribunal) shall, at the request of the Board or of the other party or parties to the dispute, be referred to and be determined by the Tribunal.

(2) When determining a dispute in relation to rates of remuneration and hours of work or either of them, the Tribunal shall have regard to the principle underlying the fair wages clause commonly inserted in government contracts and to the general circumstances and conditions of employment by the Board, including the advantages of regular employment and the benefits under the superannuation schemes under the Superannuation Act of 1942.

(3) Where a dispute is referred pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to the Tribunal, the Tribunal may request the Labour Court to investigate the dispute and thereupon the Labour Court may investigate the dispute, but, save upon request as aforesaid, the Labour Court shall not investigate a dispute to which this section applies.

(4) This section shall not affect subsection (6) of section 3 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1942 (No. 27 of 1942).

6 Dispute as to whether person is or is not general employee.

6.—Every dispute between a person in the employment of the Board and the Board as to whether such person is or is not a general employee shall be referable to the Tribunal, and the decision of the Tribunal thereon shall be final and binding on all persons concerned.

7 Giving of summary of certain provisions to general employee.

7.—The Board shall give to each of their general employees a summary in writing of the provisions of the Superannuation Act of 1942 and this Act in relation to the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) continuity of service with the Board so far as concerns general employees,

(b) the effect of a break in the service of a general employee,

(c) the Tribunal and the functions thereof.

8 Declaration whether the Board intend or do not intend to grant supplementary allowance.

8.—(1) A person to whom section 14 or 15 of the Superannuation Act of 1942 applies and who at the passing of that Act had not attained the age of sixty years may apply to the Board for, and the Board shall give to him, a statement declaring whether the Board intend or do not intend, if such person retires from the service of the Board in such circumstances that he is entitled to a pension under a superannuation scheme under that Act, to grant and pay to him a supplementary allowance under subsection (2) of the said section 14 or 15 and, if they intend to grant and pay to him such supplementary allowance, declaring the amount thereof.

(2) Where the Board give under this section a statement declaring that they intend, if a person retires from the service of the Board in such circumstances that he is entitled to a pension under a superannuation scheme under the Superannuation Act of 1942, to grant and pay to him a supplementary allowance under subsection (2) of section 14 or 15 of that Act, it shall be obligatory on the Board, if such person retires as aforesaid, to grant and pay to him a supplementary allowance under that subsection of an amount not less than that declared in the statement.

9 Superannuation of certain persons formerly employed by local bodies.

9.—(1) In this section—

the expression “local body” has the same meaning as it has in Part IV of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925);

the expression “authorised undertaker” and the word “undertaking” have the same meanings respectively as they have in the Act of 1927;

the expression “former undertaker” means a local body which was an authorised undertaker whose undertaking was acquired by the Board under the Act of 1927;

the expression “the appropriate superannuation scheme” means, in relation to a person to whom this section applies, the superannuation scheme under the Superannuation Act of 1942 which would apply to him but for the provisions of subsection (7) of this section.

(2) This section applies to every person—

(a) who was in the employment of a former undertaker and who had no superannuation rights referable to his service with such undertaker,

(b) who became, on the acquisition by the Board of the undertaking of such former undertaker, a servant of the Board by virtue of section 39 of the Act of 1927, and

(c) who, on the date of the passing of this Act, is in the continuous employment of the Board.

(3) Any person to whom this section applies may, by application in writing made to the Board not later than one month after the date of the passing of this Act, elect to receive the like superannuation benefits as those to which he would be entitled under the appropriate superannuation scheme if that scheme applied to him.

(4) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to every person to whom this section applies who makes, within the time limited by subsection (3) of this section, the application mentioned in that subsection:

(a) such person shall (save where he leaves the service of the Board in circumstances such that thereupon the Local Authorities (Electrical Employees) Act, 1937 (No. 13 of 1937), applies to him) be entitled to receive from the Board the like superannuation benefits (if any) as those which he would be entitled to receive under the appropriate superannuation scheme if that scheme applied to him,

(b) for the purposes of the superannuation benefits to which he is entitled under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the remuneration and service of such person shall be computed in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this section,

(c) the provisions contained in paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of subsection (3) and in subsection (6) of section 13 of the Superannuation Act of 1942 shall apply as if herein re-enacted in relation to such person.

(5) Where a person to whom this section applies, who has not made, within the time limited by subsection (3) of this section, the application mentioned in that subsection, leaves the service of the Board otherwise than—

(a) on account of being discharged for misconduct,

(b) on account of resigning without the consent of the Board, or

(c) in circumstances such that thereupon the Local Authorities (Electrical Employees) Act, 1937 (No. 13 of 1937), applies to him,

he shall be paid by the Board an allowance for life, not exceeding two-thirds of his remuneration, calculated at the rate of one-sixtieth of his remuneration for each year of his service.

(6) For the purposes of whichever of the two next preceding subsections applies to him—

(a) the remuneration of a person to whom this section applies shall be taken to be the average annual remuneration paid to him by the Board during the three years ending on the day on which he leaves their service,

(b) the service of a person to whom this section applies shall be taken to be the aggregate of—

(i) his service in the employment of the former undertaker,

(ii) his continuous service (both before and after the passing of this Act) in the employment of the Board.

(7) No superannuation scheme under the Superannuation Act of 1942 shall apply to or enable superannuation benefits thereunder to be received by any person to whom this section applies and, if before the passing of this Act any contributions were paid by any such person, or by the Board in respect of any such person, to the fund set up for the purposes of a superannuation scheme under the Superannuation Act of 1942, the contributions shall be repaid.

(8) Where a person is entitled to an allowance under this section from the Board, he shall not be entitled to any other superannuation benefits or allowances from them and, in particular, section 15 of the Superannuation Act of 1942 shall not apply to him.

(9) All expenses incurred by the Board under this section shall be defrayed as part of their general expenses.

10 Superannuation of certain persons employed at the Pigeon House generating station when it was closed.

10.—(1) This section applies to every person who—

(a) suffered loss of employment by reason of the closing in the year 1930 of the generating station at the Pigeon House, Dublin,

(b) either—

(i) was awarded, under the First Schedule to the Act of 1927, a gratuity on account of such loss of employment, or

(ii) would have been awarded, under the First Schedule to the Act of 1927, a gratuity on account of such loss of employment if the reference in paragraph 1 of that Schedule to a period of not less than two nor more than five years had been a reference to a period of not more than five years, and

(c) on the date of the passing of this Act is in the continuous employment of the Board.

(2) In this section the expression “appropriate superannuation scheme” means, in relation to a person to whom this section applies, the superannuation scheme under the Superannuation Act of 1942 which would apply to him but for the provisions of subsection (7) of this section.

(3) Any person to whom this section applies may, by application in writing made to the Board not later than one month after the date of the passing of this Act, elect to receive from the Board the like superannuation benefits as those to which he would be entitled under the appropriate superannuation scheme if that scheme applied to him.

(4) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to every person to whom this section applies who makes, within the time limited by subsection (3) of this section, the application mentioned in that subsection:

(a) such person shall be entitled to receive from the Board the like superannuation benefits as those which he would be entitled to receive under the appropriate superannuation scheme if that scheme applied to him;