Canals Act , 1986

1 Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act—

“the Board” means Córas Iompair Éireann;

“boat” includes any barge, vessel or other water-craft;

“the canals” means the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal and includes any other waterways of the canal undertaking vested in the Board immediately before the vesting day;

“the canal undertaking” means the canal undertaking operated by the Board immediately before the vesting day;

“canal property” means the property transferred by this Act;

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

“common interest property” means any property which, immediately before the vesting day, was occupied by the Board and was used by the Board for the purposes of the operation of both the railway of the Board and the canals;

“land” includes any land covered by water;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Communications;

“the railway property” means the property of the Board used solely for the purposes of the railway of the Board which adjoins the canal property;

“the vesting day” means the day appointed under section 20 to be the vesting day.

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

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

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

2 Transfer to Commissioners of canal undertaking.

2.—(1) On the vesting day—

(a) the whole of the canal undertaking including all property (including choses-in-action), assets, powers, rights, licences, privileges and liabilities held, enjoyed or incurred by the Board in connection therewith or appertaining thereto shall by virtue of this section but subject where necessary to transfer in the books of any bank, corporation or company be transferred to the Commissioners, and

(b) all the land of the canal undertaking (other than the land described in the First Schedule) shall by virtue of this section vest in the Commissioners for all the estate, right, title and interest of the Board.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Commissioners may, on and after the vesting day, enjoy, exercise and enforce all the rights, powers and privileges aforesaid and shall be subject to all the liabilities aforesaid, and, accordingly, every debt and other liability in relation to the canal undertaking which, immediately before the vesting day, is owing and unpaid or has been incurred and is undischarged by the Board shall, on the vesting day, become and be the debt or liability of the Commissioners and shall be paid or discharged by and may be recovered from and enforced against the Commissioners accordingly.

(3) (a) Every contract made by the Board in relation to the canal undertaking which is in force immediately before the vesting day shall continue in force on and after the vesting day as if it had been made by the Commissioners and shall be construed and have effect and be enforceable by or against the Commissioners accordingly.

(b) Every licence given by the Board in relation to the canal undertaking which is in force immediately before the vesting day shall continue in force on and after the vesting day as if it had been given by the Commissioners and shall be construed and have effect and be enforceable by or against the Commissioners accordingly.

(c) Every other document granted or made by the Board in relation to the canal undertaking which is in force immediately before the vesting day shall continue in force on and after the vesting day as if it had been granted or made by the Commissioners and shall be construed and have effect and be enforceable by or against the Commissioners accordingly.

(4) Every chose-in-action transferred by this section may, on or after the vesting day, be sued upon, recovered or enforced by the Commissioners in their own name and it shall not be necessary for the Commissioners to give notice to the person bound by any such chose-in-action of the transfer effected by this section.

(5) Where, immediately before the vesting day, any legal proceedings in relation to the canal undertaking are pending to which the Board is a party, the name of the Commissioners shall be substituted in the proceedings for that of the Board and the proceedings shall not abate by reason of such substitution.

(6) References to the Board contained, immediately before the vesting day, in any statute or statutory instrument (within the meaning of the Statutory Instruments Act, 1947) or in the memorandum or articles of association of any company shall, insofar as they relate to

anything transferred by this section, be construed on and after the vesting day as references to the Commissioners.

(7) Section 12 of the Finance Act, 1895, shall not apply to the vesting of any property or rights under this section.

(8) Nothing in this section shall cause the Commissioners to be regarded as a canal undertaker or a canal company for the purposes of this or any other enactment.

3 Transfer of staff.

3.—(1) Such persons employed by the Board immediately before the vesting day in connection with the canal undertaking as are designated by the Board, after consultation with the Commissioners, shall, on the vesting day, become and be officers or servants, as the case may be, of the Commissioners.

(2) (a) A person to whom subsection (1) applies shall on the vesting day enjoy conditions of service not less beneficial in aggregate than the conditions of service to which he was subject immediately before the vesting day having regard to—

(i) any adjustment to the scale of pay by reference to which such person was remunerated or the conditions relating to the grant of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement or death to which he was subject immediately before the vesting day, and

(ii) any compensation given to such person in respect of becoming an officer or servant as the case may be of the Commissioners.

(b) Where a disagreement arises on or after the vesting day as to the amount of compensation (if any) given to a person to whom subsection (1) applies in respect of becoming an officer or servant as the case may be of the Commissioners, such disagreement shall be referred to the Labour Court which shall determine the amount of the compensation (if any).

(3) The period of service with the Board in a pensionable capacity of any person to whom subsection (1) applies shall be reckonable for the purposes of—

(a) the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1963, and the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1976,

or

(b) the non-contributory pension scheme for persons holding unestablished positions (within the meaning of the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956),

as appropriate, as if such service had been service within the meaning of those Acts and shall not be reckonable for the purposes of any other superannuation entitlement or benefit, pension or gratuity payable upon death or retirement or provided by the Board for so long as that person remains in the service of the Commissioners.

(4) On the vesting day, the trustees of any superannuation scheme of the Board of which any person transferred under subsection (1) is a member shall transfer to the Minister for Finance all securities and moneys held under the scheme on behalf of or in relation to that person.

4 Transfer of documents.

4.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as may be after the vesting day, give to the Commissioners—

(a) all documents of title, records, books, maps, plans, drawings and other documents held by the Board on the vesting day relating exclusively to the canal property, and

(b) certified copies of all documents of title, records, books, maps, plans, drawings and other documents held by the Board on the vesting day and relating to both the canal property and property of the Board.

(2) The Board shall permit the Commissioners, their servants or agents to inspect the documents referred to in subsection (1) (b) at the offices of the Board at Heuston Station, Dublin, or at any other office of the Board at which such documents are normally kept, at all times when those offices are open for business.

(3) The Board shall on the vesting day deposit in the Department of Communications maps signed by an officer of the Board authorised in that behalf by the Board and an officer of the Commissioners authorised in that behalf by the Commissioners, bearing thereon the words “Deposited under the Canals Act, 1986” and showing in accordance with the First Schedule the land not transferred under section 2 and described in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of that Schedule.

(4) In subsection (1) “certified copy”, in relation to a document, means a copy which has been duly certified as being a true copy of that document by an officer of the Board authorised in that behalf by the Board.

5 General duty of Commissioners and of Board.

5.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), on and after the vesting day, it shall be the duty of the Commissioners to undertake the care, management and maintenance of the canals and other canal property as a public amenity for use by the public for navigation in such parts of the canals as are open to navigation from time to time or fishing or otherwise for the enjoyment and recreation of the public and the Commissioners may designate particular parts of the canals and other canal property for particular purposes including purposes incidental to such purposes as aforesaid.

(2) The Commissioners shall consult with the Minister for Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry in relation to any matters which affect or could affect fish, fish life, fish stocks or fishing in the canals.

(3) It shall be the duty of the Board and the Commissioners to undertake the care, management and maintenance of common interest property while such property is under the control of the Board or under the control of the Commissioners.

6 Powers of Commissioners.

6.—The Commissioners shall have all such powers as are necessary for the performance of their functions under this Act and shall without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, have power to undertake the care, management, control, maintenance, repair, improvement and development of the canals and other canal property and to—

(a) draw any water necessary for the purposes of the canals from any source whatsoever from which the Board was entitled to draw such water before the vesting day, whether by virtue of any enactment or otherwise;

(b) dredge, widen, deepen, alter the course of or otherwise improve the canals or improve the supply of water for the canals and for that purpose to dredge, widen or deepen any stream, river, drain or channel carrying any such water supply and replace or repair any pipe carrying any such supply;

(c) construct, alter, underpin or improve any lock, quay, harbour, drydock, weir, fishpass, slipway, pumping station, building, towpath, bridge, aqueduct, embankment, culvert or road (other than a public road within the meaning of the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act, 1974) on, over or beside the canals;

(d) acquire and dispose of any land or any easement or other right over land and may, if necessary, in accordance with the Second Schedule, acquire compulsorily any land or any easement or other right over land;

(e) alter the water levels of the canals without prejudice to the right of the Board or any other person to receive water from the canals;

(f) close to navigation any part of a canal not required for navigation and reopen and declare navigable any part of a canal previously closed to navigation;

(g) lease or let to any person canal property and license the use of the canals and canal water by any person.

7 Power of Commissioners to make bye-laws.

7.—(1) On and after the vesting day the Commissioners may make bye-laws for the care, management, maintenance and control and the regulation of the use of the canals and other canal property and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, in relation to any one or more of the following matters:

(a) the regulation of the conditions (including conditions as to safety) under which boats may be used on the canals;

(b) the closing to navigation of any part of the canals;

(c) the opening to navigation of any part of the canals not open to navigation;

(d) the alteration of water levels of the canals;

(e) the regulation of bathing in the canals;

(f) the regulation of fishing in the canals (other than matters in respect of which the Minister for Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry may make bye-laws under section 9 of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959);

(g) the prevention of damage to the canals or other canal property;

(h) the removal from the canals or other canal property of any boat or thing which is or may become a danger to life, navigation or fish stocks or would otherwise interfere with the proper use of the canals or other canal property;

(i) the charging and fixing of fees, tolls and charges in respect of the use by boats of the canals (including the use of locks on the canals and mooring on the canals) and the taking of water from the canals.

(2) Bye-laws under this section may contain all such incidental, subsidiary and ancillary provisions as the Commissioners consider necessary or expedient for the purposes of the bye-laws.

(3) A person who contravenes a bye-law under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 (together with, in the case of a continuing contravention, a fine not exceeding £100 for every day on which the contravention is continued and not exceeding in total an amount which, when added to any other fine under this paragraph in relation to the contravention concerned, equals £1,000) or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine or fines and such imprisonment, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £5,000 (together with, in the case of a continuing contravention, a fine not exceeding £500 for every day on which the contravention is continued) or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine or fines and such imprisonment.

(4) Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967, shall apply in relation to an offence to which subsection (3) relates as if, in lieu of the penalties provided for in subsection (3) of the said section, there were specified therein the penalties provided for in subsection (3) (a) of this section, and the reference in subsection (2) (a) of the said section 13 to the penalties provided for in the said subsection (3) shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(5) Where an offence to which subsection (3) relates is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person (or any person acting on his behalf) being a director, manager or secretary of such body, that person or the person so acting, as the case may be, shall also be guilty of that offence.

(6) (a) The Commissioners may bring proceedings for a summary offence under this section.

(b) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence to which subsection (3) relates may be instituted within 12 months from the date of the offence.

(7) Every bye-law made by the Commissioners 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 of the Oireachtas within the next twenty-one days on which such House has sat after the bye-law is laid before it annulling such bye-law, such bye-law shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such bye-law.

8 Division of costs in respect of certain works.

8.—(1) Where the Board carries out work which benefits the property of the Commissioners and the carrying out of which is reasonably necessary for the care, management, control, maintenance, repair, improvement or development of the railway property, the Commissioners shall pay to the Board such sum as is reasonable having regard to the cost of the work carried out and the nature and extent of the benefit conferred on the property of the Commissioners by such work.

(2) Where the Commissioners carry out work which benefits the property of the Board and the carrying out of which is reasonably necessary for the care, management, control, maintenance, repair, improvement or development of the canal property, the Board shall pay to the Commissioners such sum as is reasonable having regard to the cost of the work carried out and the nature and extent of the benefit conferred on the property of the Board by such work.

9 Facilitation of certain works.

9.—(1) The Board shall afford to the Commissioners, their servants or agents all such facilities on or in relation to the railway property as may be reasonably required by the Commissioners for the care, management, control, maintenance, repair, improvement or development of any part of the canal property adjoining the railway property.

(2) The Commissioners shall afford to the Board, its servants or agents all such facilities on or in relation to the canal property as may be reasonably required by the Board for the care, management, control, maintenance, repair, improvement or development of any part of the railway property.

(3) Where the Commissioners are facilitated by the Board under subsection (1), and in consequence the Board suffers any loss or incurs any expenditure, the Commissioners shall pay to the Board an amount equal to the amount of the loss or expenditure.

(4) Where the Board is facilitated by the Commissioners under subsection (2), and in consequence the Commissioners suffer any loss or incur any expenditure, the Board shall pay to the Commissioners an amount equal to the amount of the loss or expenditure.

10 Facilitation of certain works by local authorities, etc.

10.—The Commissioners may temporarily—

(a) close to navigation any part of the canals, and

(b) alter the water level of any part of the canals,

to enable a local authority or other person to carry out, with the consent of the Commissioners, any works which may be necessary on or near the canal property:

Provided that nothing in this section shall affect—