PART VI.

Legal Proceedings and Penalties.

76. —(1) All minutes of the proceedings at a meeting of a public assistance authority or of a committee of any such authority which purport to be signed by the chairman of such meeting or by the chairman of the next subsequent meeting of such authority or committee shall (without proof of the signature of the person by whom such minutes purport to be signed or that such person was in fact the chairman of the meeting at which such minutes purport to have been signed) be received in all legal proceedings as prima facie evidence of the proceedings at the meeting to which such minutes relate and as prima facie evidence that such meeting was duly convened and held and that the proceedings thereat were duly transacted according to law.

(2) A copy of a resolution passed or order made at a meeting of a public assistance authority or of a committee of any such authority which purports to be certified by the secretary or town clerk of such authority to be a true copy of such resolution or order shall be received in all legal proceedings as prima facie evidence of the passing of such resolution or the making of such order (as the case may be) and of the terms thereof without proof of the signature of the person by whom such copy purports to be so certified or that he was in fact such secretary or town clerk.

77. —(1) Every person who wilfully does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first such offence, to a fine not exceeding five pounds and, in the case of a second or any subsequent such offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

(2) This section shall not apply to a contravention by an inmate of a district institution of a regulation in force by virtue of this Act in such institution.

78. —Every person in receipt of general assistance who wilfully refuses or neglects to perform a task of work which he is required under this Act to perform shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty-one days.

79. —Every inmate of a district institution who—

(a) wilfully does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation in force by virtue of this Act in such institution, or

(b) is, by reason of the consumption of intoxicating liquor, drunk or incapable of conducting himself in such institution, or

(c) does any act of insubordination in relation to an officer of such institution, or

(d) does any other act (whether of commission or omission) of misbehaviour in such institution which is prejudicial to the discipline or the good government of such institution,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty-one days.

80. —Every person who, for the purpose of obtaining public assistance for himself or another person, makes any statement or representation which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds, or at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

81. —(1) If a person who is required by or under this Act to deliver up the custody of a child to a public assistance authority wilfully refuses or neglects so to deliver up such custody, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(2) Whenever a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the Justice of the District Court by whom such person is so convicted shall make at the time of such conviction an order for the removal of the child in relation to which such offence was committed from the custody of such person to the custody of the public assistance authority which is entitled by virtue of this Act to have the custody of such child.

82. —If any person—

(a) knowingly assists or induces, directly or indirectly, a child under the age of sixteen years who is maintained by a public assistance authority to leave, without the consent of such authority, the place where it is so maintained, or

(b) harbours or conceals a child under the age of sixteen years who is maintained by a public assistance authority and has, to the knowledge of such person, left without the consent of such authority the place where it is so maintained, or

(c) knowingly assists or induces, directly or indirectly, a child in respect of whom the rights and powers of its parents or one of its parents are vested in a public assistance authority to leave, without the consent of such authority, a place in which it had been placed by such authority, or

(d) harbours or conceals a child in respect of whom the rights and powers of its parents or one of its parents are vested in a public assistance authority and who has, to the knowledge of such person, left without the consent of such authority a place in which it had been placed by such authority,

such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

83. —(1) Whenever a person deserts or wilfully neglects to maintain his wife or a child whom he is liable under this Act to maintain and in consequence of such desertion or neglect such wife or child becomes eligible for general assistance, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

(2) Sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Evidence) Act, 1924 (No. 37 of 1924), shall apply and have effect in relation to persons charged with an offence under this section as if this section were mentioned in the Schedule to that Act.

84. —(1) The matron or other officer having the charge and management of a district institution may without warrant arrest in such district institution any inmate of such district institution whom such matron or other officer reasonably suspects of having committed in such district institution an offence punishable on summary conviction, and every such matron or other officer shall, for the purpose of such arrest have all the powers and authority of a member of the Gárda Síochána.

(2) Any person arrested under the foregoing sub-section of this section shall be delivered with all convenient speed into the custody of a member of the Gárda Síochána and shall thereupon be dealt with according to law as if he had been lawfully arrested by such member.

85. —A public assistance authority may pay the reasonable costs of the prosecution of a person charged with an offence directly affecting the administration of the law relating to public assistance, whether such person is or is not convicted of such offence.