PART II.

The Racing Board.

4. —(1) There shall, by virtue of this section, be established on the establishment date a board to be styled and known as the Racing Board to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal (which shall be judicially noticed) and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to hold land.

5. —(1) The Board shall consist of eleven members.

(2) Each person appointed a member of the Board shall be a person who, in the opinion of the Minister, is representative of, or has functions in relation to, or is otherwise connected with, racing (including practical experience in the management of racecourses) or the ownership or breeding of bloodstock, or bookmaking, or other like pursuits.

6. —(1) In this section the word “Governor” means a person who is a member of one or other of the Governing Bodies.

(2) The Minister shall, before the establishment date, appoint eleven persons (of whom six shall be Governors) to be members of the Board and the term of office of every person so appointed shall commence on the establishment date, and if any such person dies before the establishment date he shall, for the purposes of subsection (5) of this section, be deemed to have died on the establishment date.

(3) The Minister shall, in each fifth successive year following the year in which the establishment date falls, appoint eleven persons (of whom six shall be Governors) to be members of the Board and the term of office of every person so appointed shall commence on the day next following the date of his appointment.

(4) Every member of the Board appointed under subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section shall unless he sooner dies, or resigns, hold office until the expiration of the day on which the Minister next appoints, in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section, eleven persons to be members of the Board.

(5) Whenever a member of the Board dies or resigns, the Minister shall, as soon as conveniently may be, appoint another person (who shall, in case the person so dying or resigning was at the date of his appointment a Governor, be a Governor) to be a member of the Board, and the person so appointed shall, unless he sooner dies or resigns, hold office until the expiration of the day on which the Minister next appoints, in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section, eleven persons to be members of the Board.

(6) A member of the Board whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

(7) A member of the Board may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the Minister and such resignation shall take effect as on and from the date of the receipt of such letter by the Minister.

(8) Where a member of the Board, who at the date of his appointment was a Governor, ceases to be a Governor, he shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to have resigned his office as a member of the Board with effect as on and from the date of such cesser or, if he was appointed under subsection (2) of this section and such cesser occurs before the establishment date, the establishment date.

(9) The Minister shall consult the Minister for Agriculture before exercising the powers conferred on him by this section.

(10) The Board may, if it thinks fit, reimburse members for any actual out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with the business of the Board.

7. —(1) The Board shall hold its first meeting on, or as soon as conveniently may be after, the establishment date.

(2) The Board shall, in every year commencing after the holding of the first meeting, hold a meeting (in this Act referred to as the annual meeting) on such date as the Board may appoint.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the due execution of its duties.

8. —(1) The Board shall, at its first meeting and also at every annual meeting, elect one of its members to be chairman of the Board.

(2) Every person elected to be chairman of the Board shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns or becomes disqualified, hold office as chairman until the next annual meeting of the Board following his said election, but shall be eligible for re-election.

(3) Whenever the office of chairman becomes vacant through the death, resignation or disqualification of the chairman, the Board shall, at the next meeting after such vacancy, elect one of its members to be chairman, and the member so elected shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns or becomes disqualified, hold office as chairman until the next annual meeting of the Board.

(4) The chairman of the Board may at any time resign his office as chairman by letter addressed to the Board and every such resignation shall take effect at the commencement of the meeting of the Board held next after the receipt of such letter by the Board.

(5) Whenever the chairman of the Board ceases during his term of office as chairman to be a member of the Board he shall be disqualified from being and shall forthwith cease to be such chairman.

(6) Whenever at the election of chairman of the Board, there is an equality of votes for two or more persons, one of those persons shall be elected by lot.

9. —(1) At a meeting of the Board—

(a) the chairman of the Board shall, if present, be chairman of the meeting;

(b) if and so long as the chairman of the Board is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

(2) Every question at a meeting of the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question, and, in case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote, save where the question is the election of the chairman of the Board.

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

(4) The quorum for the first meeting of the Board shall be seven, and the quorum for each subsequent meeting of the Board shall be such number (not less than five) as the Board may from time to time fix or, if no quorum is for the time being so fixed, five.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business of the Board.

10. —(1) The Board may from time to time appoint such and so many committees as it thinks proper.

(2) The Board may delegate to a committee of the Board any of its functions, powers and duties which, in its opinion, can be better or more conveniently exercised or performed by a committee, and may regulate the procedure of any such committee.

(3) A committee of the Board shall consist of such number of members as the Board thinks proper and may, at the discretion of the Board, consist exclusively of persons who are members of the Board or partly of persons who are members of the Board and partly of persons who are officers of the Board.

(4) The acts of a committee of the Board shall be subject to confirmation by the Board save where the Board dispenses with the necessity for such confirmation.

11. —(1) The Board shall as soon as may be after its establishment provide itself with a seal.

(2) The seal of the Board 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 authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

12. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the Board may appoint such and so many officers and servants as it shall from time to time think proper.

(2) During the period of five years commencing on the establishment date, the appointment of any person to the post of chief officer of the Board shall be subject to the sanction of the Minister.

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

13. —(1) For the purpose of providing offices and premises necessary for the due performance of its functions, the Board may—

(a) purchase or take on lease any land,

(b) build, equip and maintain offices and premises.

(2) The Board may sell or lease any offices or premises held by it which are no longer required for the due performance of its functions.

14. —(1) The Board may, with the consent of the Governing Bodies, and after giving notice to the executive of any existing authorised racecourse which in the opinion of the Board may be affected, establish, equip and maintain racecourses, and for this purpose may acquire by agreement or lease any land (including any racecourse).

(2) The Board may, with the consent of the Governing Bodies, organise and hold race meetings at any racecourse maintained by it under this section.

(3) The Board may, with the consent of the Governing Bodies, lease any racecourse established under this section.

(4) The Board may sell or lease any land acquired by it under this section which is no longer required for the purposes for which it was acquired.

15. —The Board may apply for and hold a totalisator licence.

16. —(1) The Board may apply its funds for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—

(a) the payment of expenses incurred by it in the exercise and performance of its powers and duties under this Act,

(b) the payment of any moneys in accordance with the terms of any totalisator licence held by it,

(c) the making of payments, grants or loans for all or any one or more of the following purposes—

(i) the increase of stake-money and prizes at horse races held at authorised racecourses,

(ii) the reduction of entrance fees and similar charges in respect of such horse races,

(iii) the carriage of horses competing at such race meetings,

(iv) the reduction of the charges to the public for admission to authorised racecourses,

(v) the improvement of authorised racecourses and the amenities thereof,

(vi) any other purpose, approved by the Minister, conducive to the improvement of horse-racing,

(vii) any purposes, approved by the Minister, conducive to the improvement of the breeding of horses or to the development of the export trade in horses.

(2) The Board may attach to any grant or loan made or proposed to be made by it under this section such conditions as the Board thinks proper.

17. —The Board may borrow such sums as it may require for the purpose of its powers and its duties, but the total amount due at any time in respect of such loans shall not, without the consent of the Minister, exceed twenty thousand pounds.

18. —The Board may invest moneys in its hands from time to time in any manner in which moneys of the Post Office Savings Bank are authorised by law to be invested.

19. —(1) The Board shall keep proper and usual accounts of all moneys received or expended by it.

(2) The Board shall, within ninety days after the end of each accounting period or such longer time as the Minister shall in any particular case allow, furnish to the Minister—

(a) the accounts of the Board for that accounting period, which accounts shall be in such form (if any) as the Minister may direct and shall be audited by a duly qualified auditor appointed by the Board, and

(b) a report of its proceedings during that accounting period.

(3) The Minister shall lay copies of the accounts and report of the Board for an accounting period before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they have been received by him.

(4) The Board shall furnish to the Minister such information with regard to the exercise of its powers and duties as the Minister may from time to time require.

20. —In all legal proceedings—

(a) the production of a document purporting to be a copy of any regulation made by the Board under this Act and to be certified to be a true copy by the chairman of the Board or the chief officer of the Board shall be sufficient evidence of the regulation and no proof shall be required of the handwriting or official position of the person certifying the document;

(b) the production of a document purporting to be signed by an officer of the Minister and certifying that any specified regulation made by the Board under this Act was made with the consent of the Minister shall be sufficient evidence that the regulation was made with the consent of the Minister and no proof shall be required of the handwriting or official position of the person signing the document.