PART II.

Establishment and General Powers of the Irish Tourist Board.

4. —(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act, there shall be established in accordance with this Act a board which shall be styled and known as the Irish Tourist Board to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to hold and dispose of land.

(3) The Board shall consist of such number of members (not exceeding five) as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may from time to time determine.

(4) The members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and every person so appointed to be a member of the Board shall (unless he sooner dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified) hold office for such period not exceeding five years as shall be fixed by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, when appointing him, and every such person shall on the expiration of his term of office be eligible for reappointment.

(5) The Minister shall from time to time appoint a member of the Board to be the Chairman of the Board.

(6) Every member of the Board shall be paid out of the funds at the disposal of the Board such remuneration and such allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall direct when appointing him.

5. —Every member of the Board shall, while holding office as such member, be disqualified from being nominated or elected and from sitting or receiving payment as a member of Dáil Eireann or of Seanad Eireann.

6. —(1) The Board shall provide and have a common 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 the signature of an officer of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

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

7. —The Minister, whenever he so thinks proper, may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, remove from office one or more or all of the members of the Board.

8. —(1) A member of the Board may at any time resign his office as such member by letter addressed and sent to the Minister.

(2) If and whenever a member of the Board is adjudged bankrupt, or makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors, or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to suffer imprisonment or penal servitude, or ceases to be ordinarily resident in Ireland, he shall be disqualified from holding and shall cease to hold office as a member of the Board.

9. —(1) The Board shall hold such and so many meetings and at such times as may be necessary for the proper discharge of its functions.

(2) The quorum at any meeting of the Board shall be three.

(3) Save as is otherwise provided by this Act, the Board shall regulate by standing orders or otherwise the procedure to be observed and the business to be transacted at its meetings.

(4) The Board may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies amongst its members.

10. —(1) The Board shall keep, in such form as shall be approved by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Finance, all proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expended by it, and in particular shall keep in such form as aforesaid all such special accounts as the Minister of his own motion or at the request of the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct.

(2) The accounts of the Board for each year shall be audited within ninety days, or such longer time as the Minister shall in any particular case allow, after the end of such year and shall be the subject of a report by duly qualified auditors appointed annually for the purpose by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and the fees of such auditors and the expenses generally of such audits shall be paid by the Board.

(3) Immediately after every audit under this section of the accounts of the Board, the Board shall send to the Minister a copy of the balance sheet and profit and loss account as passed by the auditors together with a copy of the auditors' report, and the Minister shall lay copies of the said documents before each House of the Oireachtas and shall also publish and put on sale the said documents.

11. —(1) The Board shall appoint such and so many officers and servants as it shall from time to time think proper.

(2) There shall be paid by the Board to its officers and servants such remuneration and allowances as the Board shall determine.

(3) The Board may, if it so thinks fit, for the purpose of the appointment of a person to fill a situation in the service of the Board request the Local Appointments Commissioners to recommend to it a person for appointment to such situation, and the said Commissioners on receiving such request shall select and recommend under and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 (No. 39 of 1926), to the Board a person for appointment to such situation and shall, if they so think proper, select and recommend to the Board two or more persons for such appointment, and the Board on receiving from the said Commissioners such recommendation shall appoint to such situation the person so recommended by the Commissioners or, where more than one person is so recommended, such one of the persons so recommended as the Board thinks proper.

(4) The Board shall pay to the Local Appointments Commissioners out of the funds at its disposal such expenses in respect of the selection and recommendation by the said Commissioners under this section of persons to fill situations in the service of the Board as shall be fixed by agreement between the Board and the said Commissioners with the consent of the Minister for Finance or, in default of such agreement, by the Minister for Finance.

(5) Every sum received by the Local Appointments Commissioners under the immediately preceding sub-section of this section shall be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (b) of sub-section (2) of section 12 of the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 , to be a fee paid to the said Commissioners under the said Act.

12. —Save as otherwise provided by this Act, the Board may exercise any of the powers and perform any of the functions conferred and imposed on the Board by this Act through or by any of its officers or servants authorised by the Board in that behalf.

13. —A member of the Board who has any interest in any company or concern with which the Board proposes to make any contract or any interest in such contract shall disclose to the Board the fact of such interest and the nature thereof, and such member shall take no part in any deliberation or decision of the Board relating to such contract, and such disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board.

14. —In addition to the specific powers conferred on the Board by this Act and the duties imposed on the Board by this Act, it shall be lawful for the Board to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) assist, financially (including by way of loan) or otherwise, in the provision, extension, or improvement of accommodation for tourists;

(b) build, establish, equip, or operate hotels, guest houses, holiday hostels, holiday homes, youth hostels, and holiday camps or assist, financially (including by way of loan) or otherwise, in the building, establishing, equipping, or operating thereof;

(c) provide or assist, financially (including by way of loan) or otherwise, in providing services, sports, amusements, or other facilities which appear to the Board to be calculated to improve tourist traffic;

(d) improve and maintain amenities and conditions which appear to the Board to be likely to affect tourist traffic;

(e) engage in any kind of publicity in connection with tourist traffic;

(f) establish or assist in establishing any form of agency in connection with tourist traffic;

(g) provide or assist in providing schemes for the training of persons to do work which is wholly or mainly connected with tourist traffic;

(h) prepare and publish guide-books, itineraries, time-tables, and other publications for the benefit or assistance of tourists.

15. —(1) The Minister for Finance, on the recommendation of the Minister, may pay to the Board out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas such sums not exceeding in the aggregate forty-five thousand pounds in any one financial year, as the Board shall from time to time require.

(2) Sums paid under this section to the Board shall not be repayable.

16. —(1) The Minister for Finance, on the recommendation of the Minister, may advance to the Board out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof such sums, not exceeding in the aggregate six hundred thousand pounds, as the Board shall from time to time require.

(2) Save as may be otherwise authorised by the Minister for Finance on the recommendation of the Minister, sums advanced under this section to the Board shall be expended by the Board solely on works, investments, or loans under this Act of a profit earning character.

(3) Sums advanced to the Board under this section shall be repayable with interest as provided by the subsequent provisions of this Act, but, notwithstanding anything contained in such provisions, it shall be lawful for the Minister for Finance at any time on the recommendation of the Minister to do either or both of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) to waive altogether or to postpone for such time as he thinks proper the repayment of any sum or a part of any sum so advanced or any instalment of any such sum or any part of any such instalment,

(b) to waive altogether or to postpone for such time as he thinks proper the payment of interest on any sum or part of any sum so advanced.

(4) The Minister for Finance may, for the purpose of providing for the advance of sums out of the Central Fund under this section, borrow on the security of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof such sums as shall be required for that purpose, and the said Minister may, for the purposes of such borrowing, create and issue securities bearing such rate of interest and subject to such conditions as to repayment, redemption, or otherwise as he thinks fit, and shall pay all moneys so borrowed into the Exchequer.

(5) The principal of and interest on all securities issued under this section shall be charged on and payable out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

17. —(1) The Board shall pay to the Minister for Finance on every sum advanced to the Board out of the Central Fund under this Act and which is repayable interest from the date of the advance of such sum until the same is repaid at such rate as shall from time to time be appointed by the Minister for Finance in respect of such sum, and such interest shall be so paid by half-yearly payments on such days in every year as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time appoint.

(2) If the Board fails to pay to the Minister for Finance any interest payable by it under this section at the time appointed in that behalf under this section, the Board shall pay to the said Minister interest at the rate appointed by the said Minister on the interest so unpaid from the time appointed as aforesaid until the same is actually paid.

(3) All interest paid to the Minister for Finance by the Board under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the said Minister may direct.

18. —(1) For the purpose of providing for the repayment by the Board of the advances made to it out of the Central Fund under this Act which are repayable, the Board shall make to the Minister for Finance half-yearly payments commencing on such date, and continuing for such number of years and being of such amounts and payable at such times as the said Minister, after consultation with the Minister, shall appoint, and different such dates, numbers of years, amounts, and times may be so appointed in respect of different portions of such advances.

(2) The several half-yearly payments to be made to the Minister for Finance by the Board under this section shall be applied by the said Minister as sinking funds for the repayment of the several portions of the advances in respect of which such half-yearly payments are made and when the Board has paid to the said Minister the full number of the half-yearly payments appointed under this section in respect of any portion of such advances (together with any interest which may have become payable under this section in respect of any of such half-yearly payments) such portion of such advances shall be deemed to be fully repaid by the Board, without prejudice to the liability of the Board for any interest then unpaid in respect of such portion of such advances.

(3) If the Board fails to pay to the Minister for Finance any half-yearly payment or portion of a half-yearly payment payable by it to the said Minister under this section at the time appointed in that behalf under this section, the Board shall pay to the said Minister on such half-yearly payment or portion of a half-yearly payment interest at such rate as shall from time to time be appointed by the said Minister in respect thereof from the time appointed as aforesaid until the same is actually paid.

(4) All moneys paid by the Board to the Minister for Finance under this section in repayment of advances shall be paid into the Exchequer.

(5) All sums paid by the Board to the Minister for Finance under this section on foot of interest shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the said Minister may direct.

19. —(1) In this section the word “land” includes land covered with water and also includes easements, way-leaves, water-rights, fishing rights, sporting rights, and other rights over or in respect of any land or water.

(2) If and whenever the Board thinks proper to acquire compulsorily any land for the purpose of the exercise of any of the powers or the performance of any of the duties or functions conferred or imposed on it by this Act, the Board may, with the consent of the Minister, by order declare its intention so to acquire such land and every such order shall operate to confer on the Board full power to acquire compulsorily the land mentioned therein under and in accordance with this section.

(3) Whenever the Board proposes to make an order under this section for the purpose of acquiring any land, it shall so inform the Irish Land Commission and if, within three months of their being so informed, the said Commission inform the Board that the said Commission are about to acquire such land for their purposes under the Land Purchase Acts, the Board shall not make such order.

(4) Before making an order under this section, the Board—

(a) shall deposit and keep open for inspection in its principal office or some other suitable place such plans, specifications, and other documents as will show fully and clearly the land intended to be acquired by virtue of the order, and

(b) shall give notice, in such manner as it may consider best adapted for informing persons likely to be affected by the order, of the intention of the Board to consider the making thereof and of the manner in which representations and objections in respect of the order may be made, and

(c) shall, if it considers it expedient so to do, cause a public inquiry to be held in regard to the making of the order.

(5) Whenever the Board acquires under this section any land which is subject, either alone or in conjunction with other land, to a purchase annuity, or an annual sum equivalent to a purchase annuity payable to the Irish Land Commission, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) if such purchase annuity or annual sum is payable in respect only of the land so acquired, the Irish Land Commission may require the Board to redeem such purchase annuity or annual sum;

(b) if such purchase annuity or annual sum is payable in respect of the land so acquired and other land, the said Commission may apportion such purchase annuity or annual sum between the land so acquired and such other land and may require the Board to redeem the part of such purchase annuity or annual sum so apportioned on the land so acquired;

(c) whenever the said Commission so requires the Board to redeem any such purchase annuity or annual sum, or such apportioned part thereof, the Board shall forthwith redeem such purchase annuity or annual sum, or such apportioned part thereof (as the case may be) under and in accordance with the Land Purchase Acts.

(6) Compensation shall be paid by the Board for land compulsorily acquired by virtue of an order under this section to the several persons entitled thereto or having estates or interests therein, and such compensation shall, in default of agreement, be fixed under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919.

(7) Sections 69 to 83 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall apply to any compensation payable by the Board under this section and to the conveyance to the Board of any land compulsorily acquired by virtue of an order under this section, and for the purpose of such application the Board shall be deemed to be the promoter of the undertaking.

(8) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to any public inquiry held under this section—

(a) the Minister shall appoint a fit and proper person to hold such inquiry;

(b) such person is hereby authorised to administer oaths to persons appearing as witnesses at such inquiry;

(c) any person interested in the subject matter of such inquiry shall be entitled to appear personally or by counsel or solicitor and to adduce evidence.

20. —The Board may, with the consent of the Minister, make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

21. —The Board shall furnish to the Minister such information as he may from time to time require in relation to the carrying out by the Board of its powers and duties.

22. —(1) The Board shall in each year, at such date and in such form as the Minister may direct, make to the Minister a report of its proceedings under this Act during the preceding year.

(2) The Board shall furnish to the Minister at such times and in such form and manner as the Minister may direct such statistics and returns as the Minister may require.

(3) The Minister shall lay as soon as may be before each House of the Oireachtas a copy of every report made to him by the Board under this section.