PART II.

Vesting of the National Stud Farm in the Minister for Agriculture and Power of the said Minister to Make Leases and Grant Licences of the National Stud Farm.

6. —(1) On the passing of this Act the National Stud Farm shall, by virtue of this section and without any conveyance or assignment, vest in the Minister for Agriculture for all the estate or interest which immediately before the passing of this Act belonged to the State therein.

(2) Where any person is registered under the Registration of Title Act, 1891, as the owner of an estate or interest in any land which, by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, vests in the Minister for Agriculture, the registering authority under the said Act shall, upon production of a certificate under the official seal of the said Minister certifying that such land has, by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, vested in him, substitute the name of the said Minister for that of such person.

7. —(1) Subject to this section, the Minister for Agriculture may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make leases of the National Stud Farm or any part thereof for any term.

(2) The following provisions shall apply in relation to every lease made under subsection (1) of this section—

(a) the lease shall, unless the Minister for Agriculture is of opinion that it should in the public interest be made free of any payment, be made subject to the payment to the said Minister of such moneys, whether by way of fine or other preliminary payment or by way of rent or by both such ways, as the said Minister shall think proper and agree upon with the proposed lessee;

(b) the lease shall contain—

(i) such covenants, conditions and agreements as the said Minister shall think proper or desirable in the public interest and shall agree upon with the proposed lessee,

(ii) a proviso for re-entry on the breach, non-performance or non-observance by the lessee of any covenant, condition or agreement contained in the lease;

(c) the lease shall not include or extend to any minerals or mining rights which are State minerals for the purposes of the Minerals Development Act, 1940 (No. 31 of 1940), but may include or extend to any one or more of the following, namely, sand, gravel, stone and clay, being not more than twenty feet below the surface.

(3) Where the Minister for Agriculture proposes to make under subsection (1) of this section a lease for any term exceeding five years, he shall lay before each House of the Oireachtas a statement showing particulars of the land proposed to be included in the lease, the name of the proposed lessee, the fine or other preliminary payment (if any) and the rent (if any) proposed to be charged and the covenants, conditions and agreements proposed to be inserted in the lease.

(4) No lease for any term exceeding five years shall be made under subsection (1) of this section until either—

(a) each House of the Oireachtas has by resolution authorised the making of the lease with or without modification of the proposed provisions of the lease, or

(b) the expiration of whichever of the following periods is the longer, that is to say—

(i) twelve days after the first day on which either House of the Oireachtas sits next after the appropriate statement mentioned in subsection (3) of this section is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas,

(ii) six days on which either House of the Oireachtas sits next after the said statement shall have been so laid before the Houses.

(5) Where a resolution of either House of the Oireachtas authorises the making of a lease under subsection (1) of this section subject to any modification of the proposed provisions of the lease, the lease shall not be made save with and subject to such modification.

8. —(1) The Minister for Agriculture may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, grant to any person, on such terms and conditions as the Minister for Agriculture thinks proper, a licence to use and occupy the National Stud Farm or any part thereof during any specified period, either generally or in a particular manner or for a particular purpose.

(2) A licence granted under subsection (1) of this section to use and occupy any part of the National Stud Farm which is held by the Minister for Agriculture as a tenancy from year to year shall not be deemed a sub-letting of that part for the purposes of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881.

9. —The State Lands Act, 1924 (No. 45 of 1924), shall cease to apply to the National Stud Farm.