Transport Act , 1950

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Transport Act, 1950.

2 Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

the expression “the Act of 1944” means the Transport Act, 1944 (No. 21 of 1944);

the expression “the Board” means the board established by section 5;

the expression “Córas Iompair Éireann (1945)” means the company incorporated on the 1st day of January, 1945, by section 9 of the Act of 1944;

the expression “dissolved undertaker” means any body being—

(a) Córas Iompair Éireann (1945), or

(b) the Grand Canal Company;

the word “enactment” includes any instrument made under an enactment;

the expression “the establishment date” means the 1st day of June, 1950;

the expression “inland waterway” includes any inland waterway, whether natural or artificial;

the word “land” includes any easement, profit or right on or over land or land covered by water;

the word “liability” includes an obligation;

the word “merchandise” includes goods, minerals, live stock and animals of all descriptions;

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

the word “securities” includes any shares, stock, debentures or debenture stock;

the expression “substituted transport stock” means transport stock mentioned in column (3) of the Third Schedule to this Act;

the expression “transferred undertaking” means the undertaking of a dissolved undertaker;

the expression “transport services” means transport services by railway, tramway, inland navigation, sea or road;

the expression “transport stock” means stock created and issued by the Board under section 29;

the expression “transport undertaker” means any undertaker operating a public transport service;

the expression “transport undertaking” means the undertaking of a transport undertaker.

(2) References in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment.

(3) In this Act, a reference by number to a Part or section is to the Part or section of this Act bearing that number unless it is indicated that a reference to another Act is intended.

3 Repeals.

3.—The enactments set out in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed as on and from the establishment date to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule.

4 Expenses.

4.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II. Coras Iompair Eireann.

5 Establishment of Córas Iompair Éireann.

5.—(1) On the establishment date there shall, by virtue of this section, stand established a board to be called Córas Iompair Éireann, to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall, by the name assigned to it by subsection (1) of this section, be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal (which shall be judicially noticed) and power to sue and be sued in its said name and to purchase, take, hold and dispose of land and other property.

(3) For the avoidance of doubts it is hereby declared that the use or occupation by the Board of any hereditament or tenement, within the meaning of the Valuation Acts, is not use or occupation of a public nature or for a public purpose, within the meaning of section 63 of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1838, or section 16 of the Valuation (Ireland) Act, 1852, or section 2 of the Valuation (Ireland) Act, 1854, or any other enactment conferring exemption from a rate leviable by local authorities generally or by a particular local authority or class of local authorities.

6 Constitution of the Board.

6.—(1) (a) The Board shall consist of such number of members as the Government may from time to time appoint.

(b) The Government shall so exercise their powers under paragraph (a) of this subsection that the number of members of the Board for the time being holding office is not less than three or more than seven.

(2) The Chairman of the Board shall be that member of the Board who at the time of his appointment or subsequently is nominated by the Government as chairman.

7 Provisions in relation to members of the Board.

7.—(1) (a) Every person appointed to be a member of the Board shall, unless he sooner dies, is removed from office, resigns or becomes disqualified, hold office for such period (not exceeding five years) as shall be fixed by the Government when appointing him.

(b) A member of the Board whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

(2) Every member of the Board shall hold office upon such terms and conditions (including the payment, out of the funds at the disposal of the Board, of remuneration and allowances for expenses) as shall be fixed by the Government at the time of his appointment.

(3) The provisions (which relate to superannuation) set out in the Second Schedule to this Act shall apply in respect of members of the Board.

(4) (a) The Government may at any time remove from office any member of the Board—

(i) who has become incapable through ill-health of performing efficiently his duties as such member, or

(ii) who has (otherwise than for a reason considered by the Government to be sufficient) been absent from all meetings of the Board during a period of six consecutive months.

(b) If at any time it appears to the Government that the removal from office of any member of the Board is necessary in the public interest, the Government may remove such member from office.

(c) If and whenever the Government remove from office under this subsection any member of the Board, the Government shall lay before each House of the Oireachtas a statement in writing of the fact of his removal from office and of the reasons for such removal.

(5) A member of the Board may at any time resign his office as such member by letter addressed and sent to the Government.

(6) (a) A member of the Board shall, within six months after his appointment, sell or otherwise dispose of any securities which he may hold for his own benefit, whether in his own name or in that of some other person, in any company carrying on a transport undertaking in the State and any transport stock which he may so hold, and it shall not be lawful for a member of the Board to purchase for his own benefit any securities in any such company or any transport stock.

(b) If a member of the Board becomes entitled for his own benefit to any such securities as are mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection or to any transport stock, he shall sell or otherwise dispose of those securities or that stock within three months after the date on which he becomes entitled to have them transferred to him.

(c) It shall be the duty of a member of the Board who is in any way, whether directly or indirectly, interested in any contract made or proposed to be made by the Board to disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Board, and the disclosure shall be forthwith recorded in the minutes of the Board, and the member who is so interested shall not take part in any deliberation or decision of the Board with respect to that contract.

(d) If any member of the Board—

(i) fails to comply with, or acts in contravention of, any of the foregoing paragraphs of this subsection, or

(ii) is adjudged bankrupt or makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors, or

(iii) ceases to be ordinarily resident in the national territory,

he shall be disqualified from holding, and shall cease to hold, office as a member of the Board.

(7) (a) Where a person who is a member of the Board becomes a member of either House of the Oireachtas, he shall, upon his becoming entitled, under the Standing Orders of that House, to sit therein, cease to be a member of the Board.

(b) A person, who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein, shall be disqualified from being a member of the Board.

8 Seal of the Board.

8.—(1) The Board shall provide and have an official seal and such seal shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman of the Board or some other member thereof authorised by the Board to act in that behalf and by the signature of an officer of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

(2) Every document purporting to be an order or other instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with the seal of the Board authenticated in accordance with this section shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such order or instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

9 Procedure of the Board.

9.—(1) At a meeting of the Board—

(a) the chairman of the Board shall, if present, be chairman of the meeting,

(b) if and as long as the chairman of the Board is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

(2) Every question at a meeting of the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question, and, in case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

(3) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be such number (not less than three) as the Board may from time to time determine and in default of determination shall be three.

(4) The Board may act notwithstanding a vacancy in its membership.

(5) Subject to this section, the Board shall, by standing orders or otherwise, regulate the procedure and business of the Board.

10 Exclusion of the Public Authorities Protection Act, 1893.

10.—The Public Authorities Protection Act, 1893, shall not apply to any action, prosecution or proceeding against the Board or in respect of any act, neglect or default by a servant or agent of the Board in his capacity as a servant or agent of the Board.

11 Contracts by the Board.

11.—Any contract or instrument which, if entered into or executed by a person not being a body corporate, would not require to be under seal may be entered into or executed on behalf of the Board by any person generally or specially authorised by the Board for that purpose.

12 Exercise of functions of the Board through its officers and servants.

12.—The Board may exercise and perform any of its functions through or by any of its officers or servants authorised by the Board in that behalf.

PART III. General Powers and Duties of the Board.

13 General powers of the Board.

13.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall, within or without the State, have, in addition to any other powers vested in, or conferred on, it by any other provision of this Act, power—

(a) to operate transport services,

(b) to consign merchandise,

(c) to enter into and carry out agreements or arrangements with any person carrying on business as a carrier of passengers or merchandise, providing for the carriage of passengers or merchandise by or on behalf of the Board and that other person under one contract or at a through charge or in the same vehicles or containers, whether belonging to the Board or not,

(d) to store merchandise, whether or not that merchandise has been or is to be carried by the Board,

(e) to carry on any hotel, place of refreshment or refreshment service which was carried on by either dissolved undertaker or by any other transport undertaker whose or part of whose transport undertaking is acquired by the Board under this Act and to provide both for its passengers and for other persons, living accommodation, places of refreshment (including hotels and restaurants) and refreshment services,

(f) to provide such amenities and facilities for passengers and other persons as it may appear to the Board requisite or expedient to provide,

(g) to carry on any activities (whether mentioned in any previous paragraph of this subsection or not) which have been carried on by either dissolved undertaker or by any other transport undertaker whose or part of whose transport undertaking is acquired by the Board under this Act,

(h) to construct, manufacture, purchase, hire, let, maintain and repair anything required for the purpose of carrying passengers or merchandise by rail, road, sea or inland waterway or otherwise for the purposes of a transport undertaking,

(i) to provide and equip stations, depots, garages, quays, wharves, jetties, harbours, workshops, offices and other buildings and port facilities, and carry out other works in connection with or for the purposes of its undertaking,

(j) to provide, own, hire, let or use railway rolling stock, road vehicles, ships, barges, lighters, tugs, ferry boats and other vehicles or craft moved, propelled or drawn by mechanical, electrical, animal or other motive power and run and operate the same,

(k) to buy land, or take land on lease or under any form of tenancy,

(l) to make working agreements or arrangements for the provision by any person of transport services which the Board is required or authorised to provide, or for the provision by the Board of any transport services which any other person has power to provide,

(m) to do anything for the purpose of advancing the skill of persons employed or to be employed by the Board or the efficiency of the equipment of the Board or of the manner in which that equipment is operated including the provision by the Board and the assistance towards the provision by others of facilities for training, education and research.

(n) to establish and support, or aid in the establishment and support of, associations, clubs, institutions, funds, trusts and conveniences calculated to promote the welfare of its employees or ex-employees and the dependants or relatives of such employees or ex-employees,

(o) to make payments towards insurance for the benefit of all or any of its employees or ex-employees or the dependants or relatives of such employees or ex-employees,

(p) to subscribe or guarantee money for charitable or benevolent objects or for any institution or any public, general or useful object,

(q) to do all such other things which in the opinion of the Board are calculated to facilitate the proper carrying on of the business of the Board.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that subsection (1) of this section relates only to the capacity of the Board as a statutory corporation, and nothing in that subsection shall be construed as authorising the disregard by the Board of any enactment or rule of law.

(3) The Board may dispose, whether absolutely or for a term of years or for any lesser period, of any property which in the opinion of the Board is not required by it for the discharge of its duties.

(4) The provisions of this section shall not be construed as limiting any power of the Board conferred by or under any other provision of this Act.

14 Conferring of additional powers on the Board.

14.—(1) The Minister may from time to time by order confer on the Board such powers (in addition to those conferred on it by section 13) as the Minister thinks proper and specifies in the order, and any such order may contain such incidental and supplementary provisions as the Minister thinks necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the order.

(2) The Minister may by order revoke or amend any order made under this section (including this subsection).

(3) Every order under this section shall be made with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(4) An order under this section shall not come into operation unless and until it is confirmed by resolution of each House of the Oireachtas, but shall as from the date of the passing of the later of such resolutions have statutory effect.

15 General duties of the Board.

15.—(1) It shall be the general duty of the Board so to exercise its powers under this Act as to provide or secure or promote the provision of an efficient, economical, convenient and properly integrated system of public transport for passengers and merchandise by rail, road and water with due regard to safety of operation, the encouragement of national economic development and the maintenance of reasonable conditions of employment for its employees and for that purpose it shall be the duty of the Board to improve in such manner as it considers necessary transport facilities so as to provide for the needs of the public, agriculture, commerce and industry.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Board so to conduct its undertaking as to secure, as soon as may be, that, taking one year with another, the revenue of the Board shall be not less than sufficient to meet the charges properly chargeable to revenue.

(3) All the business carried on by the Board, whether or not arising from undertakings or parts of undertakings vested in or transferred to it under or by virtue of any provision of this Act shall form one undertaking.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing on the Board, either directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable by proceedings before any court to which it would not otherwise be subject.

16 Information by the Board.

16.—The Board shall furnish to the Minister such information as he may from time to time require regarding matters which relate to its activities, other than day-to-day administration, and which appear to him to affect the national interest.

17 Compulsory acquisition of land.

17.—(1) The Minister may, if and whenever he thinks fit, on the application of the Board, by order (in this section referred to as an acquisition order) authorise the Board for the purpose of the exercise of its powers and duties to acquire compulsorily such land as may be specified in the order.

(2) An acquisition order—

(a) shall provide for the payment of compensation by the Board to the several persons having estates or interests in the land to which the order relates and shall provide that any question of disputed compensation shall be determined under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, and, for this purpose, the Board shall be deemed to be a public authority within the meaning of the said Act.

(b) may incorporate all or any of the provisions of the Land Clauses Acts, with such modifications and adaptations as the Minister thinks proper.

(3) An acquisition order shall have statutory force and effect.

(4) Whenever the Minister proposes to make an acquisition order—

(a) the Board shall publish, at such time or times and in such manner as the Minister directs, such notice as the Minister directs of the nature of the proposed order,