Dublin Transport Authority Act , 1986

PART I Preliminary and General

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Dublin Transport Authority Act, 1986.

2 Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

“the Act of 1932” means the Road Transport Act, 1932;

“the Act of 1961” means the Road Traffic Act, 1961;

“the Act of 1968” means the Road Traffic Act, 1968;

“the Act of 1974” means the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act, 1974;

“the Authority” means the Dublin Transport Authority;

“the Authority's functional area” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10;

“chief executive” has the meaning assigned to it by section 13;

“development plan” has the same meaning as in the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts, 1963 to 1983;

“the establishment day” means the day appointed by order under section 4 to be the establishment day for the purposes of this Act;

“local authority” (except in section 36) means the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough, the council of an urban district or the commissioners of a town;

“mechanically propelled vehicle” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1961;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Communications;

“passenger road service” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1932;

“pedal cycle” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1961;

“planning authority” means

(a) in the case of a county exclusive of any borough or urban district therein, the council of the county,

(b) in the case of a county or other borough, the corporation of the borough, and

(c) in the case of an urban district, the council of the district;

“public road” means any road, street, lane, footpath, square, court, alley or passage, and any part thereof, the responsibility for the maintenance of which lies on a road authority, and shall include any bridge, viaduct, underpass, subway, tunnel, overbridge, flyover, pipe, arch, gulley, footpath, carriageways (whether single or multiple), pavement, railing, fence, wall, barrier, guardrail, margin, lay-by, hard shoulder, cycle track, island, median, central reserve, channelliser, roundabout, pole, bollard, wire, cable, sign, signal or lighting forming part of the road or other similar structure forming part of the road necessary for the safety, convenience or amenity of road users;

“public service vehicle” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1961;

“road authority” means the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough, or the council of an urban district;

“street service vehicle” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1961;

“variation”, in relation to a development plan, means a variation under Part III of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963.

(2) In this Act a reference to a Part or section, or to the Schedule, is to a Part or section of, or to the Schedule to, this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(3) In this Act a reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

(4) In this Act a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended by or under any subsequent enactment.

3 Commencement.

3.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by any order or orders of the Minister, either generally or by reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

4 Establishment day.

4.—The Minister shall by order appoint a day to be the establishment day for the purposes of this Act.

5 Laying of orders before Houses of Oireachtas.

5.—Every order made under section 3 shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next subsequent 21 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.

(2) The order made under section 4 and every order made under section 9 or 10 shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made.

6 Expenses.

6.—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 Dublin Transport Authority

7 Establishment of Authority.

7.—There shall, by virtue of this section, be established on the establishment day a body to be known as Iompras Bhaile Átha Cliath or, in the English language, the Dublin Transport Authority (in this Act referred to as “the Authority”) to perform the functions assigned to it by or under this Act.

8 General duties and functions of Authority.

8.—(1) The Authority shall perform the functions assigned to it by or under this Act so as to ensure as far as possible the proper and efficient planning and operation of road and rail transport in its functional area.

(2) The Authority shall, on request, advise the Minister or the Minister for the Environment on any matter relating to its functions or relating to the proper and efficient planning and operation of road and rail transport in its functional area.

(3) The Authority shall consult with the local authorities in its functional area in relation to any measures which it intends to take under this Act.

(4) In the performance of its functions, the Authority may—

(a) promote, engage in and participate in programmes of public education relating to road and rail transport in the Authority's functional area, and

(b) promote, engage in and participate in research relating to road and rail transport in the Authority's functional area.

(c) promote the greater use of public transport within the Authority's functional area.

9 Assignment of additional functions to Authority.

9.—(1) The Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and the Minister for the Public Service, and where matters within the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment are concerned with the consent also of that Minister, may by order confer on the Authority such additional functions, in relation to road and rail transport planning, resources or operations in its functional area, as the Minister thinks proper and specifies in the order.

(2) An order under this section may provide for the performance of the additional functions subject to conditions specified in the order, and may contain such incidental and supplementary provisions as the Minister thinks necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the order.

(3) An order under this section may specify the functional area in which the additional functions conferred by the order are to be performed and may contain such adaptations or modifications of other enactments as the Minister thinks necessary.

(4) The Minister, with the consent as aforesaid, may by order amend or revoke an order under this section.

(5) When an order under this section is proposed to be made, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

10 Authority's functional area.

10.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Authority shall perform its functions in relation to the area (in this Act referred to as “the Authority's functional area”) comprising the county borough of Dublin and the administrative county of Dublin.

(2) The Minister may by order from time to time declare that the Authority shall perform such of its functions as may be specified in the order in relation to such other contiguous area or areas (in addition to that referred to in subsection (1)), or in relation to such portion of the Authority's functional area as may be specified in the order and, while such an order is in force, subsection (1) shall be construed accordingly.

(3) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section.

(4) When an order under this section is proposed to be made, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

11 Application of Schedule.

11.—The Schedule shall apply in relation to the Authority.

12 Directions to Authority.

12.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of any other Minister concerned, give to the Authority such general directions in writing concerning the traffic management objectives of the Authority or its administration as he considers appropriate.

(2) The Authority shall comply with any direction under this section.

13 Chief Executive.

13.—(1) The Authority shall from time to time appoint in a wholetime capacity a person to be the chief officer of the Authority and such officer is referred to in this Act as “the chief executive”.

(2) The chief executive shall not hold any other office or position without the consent of the Authority.

14 Officers and servants.

14.—(1) The Authority may appoint such and so many persons to be its officers (in addition to the chief executive) and servants as, subject to the approval of the Minister, it from time to time thinks proper.

(2) An officer (including the chief executive) or servant of the Authority shall hold his office or employment on such terms and conditions as the Authority, subject to the approval of the Minister given after consultation with the Minister for the Environment and with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, may from time to time determine.

(3) There shall be paid by the Authority to its officers (including the chief executive) and servants such remuneration and allowances as it, subject to the approval of the Minister given after consultation with the Minister for the Environment and with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, may from time to time determine.

(4) The Authority may, at any time for stated reasons, remove any officer (including the chief executive) or servant of the Authority from being its officer or servant.

15 Traffic wardens.

15.—(1) With effect from the commencement of this section, such persons, being authorised persons appointed by the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána in accordance with section 103 of the Act of 1961 and employed in the Authority's functional area immediately before such commencement, as are designated by him, after consultation with the Authority, shall be deemed to be in the employment of the Authority.

(2) (a) Save in accordance with a collective agreement negotiated with any recognised trade union concerned, a person deemed to be in the employment of the Authority in accordance with subsection (1) shall not, while in such employment, receive a lesser scale of pay or have imposed on him less beneficial conditions of service than the scale of pay to which he was entitled and the conditions of service to which he was subject immediately before the commencement of this section.

(b) Until such time as the scales of pay and conditions of service of persons deemed to be in the employment of the Authority in accordance with subsection (1) are varied by the Authority following consultation with a recognised trade union, the scales of pay to which such persons were entitled and the conditions of service of such persons before their transfer under that subsection shall continue to apply to them.

(c) In this subsection “recognised trade union” means a trade union recognised by the Authority for the purposes of negotiations which are concerned with the remuneration or conditions of employment, or the working conditions, of the persons deemed to be in the employment of the Authority in accordance with subsection (1).

(3) The following subsections are hereby substituted for subsections (1) and (2) of section 2 of the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act, 1975:

“(1) (a) The Dublin Transport Authority, after consultation with the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, may make arrangements for the carrying out of the functions specified in subsection (2) of this section in the Authority's functional area by persons employed by the Authority.

(b) A local authority all or part of whose functional area is not situate in the functional area of the Dublin Transport Authority may, after consultation with the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, make arrangements for the carrying out of the functions specified in subsection (2) of this section in the functional area of the authority or in such part of the functional area of the authority not situate in the Authority's functional area by persons employed by the authority.

(2) The functions referred to in subsection (1) of this section are—

(a) functions in respect of offences under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1984, or the Dublin Transport Authority Act, 1986, which relate to the prohibition or restriction of the stopping or parking of mechanically propelled vehicles,

(b) functions relating to the offence under regulations made under the Roads Act, 1920, of not attaching to and carrying on a vehicle in the manner prescribed by those regulations a licence in respect of the vehicle issued under that Act,

(c) such other functions as may be declared by the Minister by regulations made with the consent of the Minister for Justice, and different regulations may be made under this subsection for different areas.”.

(4) The following subsection is hereby substituted for subsection (1) of section 3 of the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act, 1975:

“(1) This section applies to such of the following offences as may be declared by the Minister by regulations, made after consultation with the Minister for Justice, to be offences to which this section applies, namely, any offence under regulations made under section 2 (c) (inserted by the Dublin Transport Authority Act, 1986) of this Act and any offence under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1984, or the Dublin Transport Authority Act, 1986, which relates to the prohibition or restriction of the stopping or parking of mechanically propelled vehicles and the offence under regulations made under the Roads Act, 1920, of not attaching to and carrying on a vehicle in the manner prescribed by those regulations a licence in respect of the vehicle issued under that Act.”.

(5) The following subsections are hereby substituted for subsections (2) to (4) of section 3 of the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act, 1975:

“(2) Where a traffic warden has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an offence to which this section applies he may deliver to the person a notice in the prescribed form stating—

(a) that the person is alleged to have committed the offence,

(b) that the person may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to the local authority or to the Dublin Transport Authority (as may be specified in the notice) a payment of a prescribed amount, accompanied by the notice,

(c) that a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will not be instituted during the period specified in the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will be instituted.

(3) Where a traffic warden has reasonable grounds for believing that an offence to which this section applies, involving the use of a mechanically propelled vehicle, is being or has been committed, he may affix to the vehicle a notice in the prescribed form stating—

(a) that the offence is alleged to have been committed,

(b) that a person liable to be prosecuted for the offence may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to the local authority or to the Dublin Transport Authority (as may be specified in the notice) a payment of a prescribed amount, accompanied by the notice,

(c) that a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will not be instituted during the period specified in the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, that no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will be instituted.

(4) Where a notice is delivered under subsection (2) or affixed under subsection (3) of this section—

(a) a person to whom the notice applies may, during the period specified in the notice, make to the local authority or to the Dublin Transport Authority (as may be specified in the notice) the payment specified in the notice, accompanied by the notice,

(b) the local authority or the Dublin Transport Authority (as the case may be) may receive the payment, issue a receipt for it and retain the money so paid for disposal in accordance with this Act, and no payment so received shall in any circumstances be recoverable by the person who made it,

(c) a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall not be instituted during the period specified in the notice, and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall be instituted.”.

(6) The following section is hereby substituted for section 5 of the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act, 1975:

“5. A prosecution for an offence to which section 3 of this Act applies, an offence under section 3 (5) of this Act or an offence under section 4 of this Act may be brought by a local authority or, where the offence is alleged to have been committed in the functional area of the Dublin Transport Authority, by the Authority.”.

(7) All moneys paid to the Authority in respect of offences to which section 3 of the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act, 1975, relates shall be paid into the Exchequer in accordance with such directions as may from time to time be given by the Minister for Finance.

16 Membership of House of Oireachtas, etc.

16.—(1) Where any officer (including the chief executive) or servant of the Authority is—

(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann, or

(b) elected as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or of the Assembly of the European Communities, or

(c) regarded pursuant to section 15 (inserted by the European Assembly Elections Act, 1984) of the European Assembly Elections Act, 1977, as having been elected to such Assembly to fill a vacancy, or

(d) elected to or co-opted onto a local authority all or part of whose functional area is within the functional area of the Authority,