Next (FIRST SCHEDULE)

13 1943

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Number 13 of 1943.


DISTRICT OF FERGUS DRAINAGE ACT, 1943.


ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section

1.

Definitions.

2.

Acquisition of land by the Clare Council.

3.

Contribution by the Minister to price of lands acquired.

4.

Provision of £6,000 by the Councils.

5.

Execution of works by the Commissioners.

6.

Incorporation of new works in the Fergus drainage works.

7.

Making of a charging order by the Commissioners.

8.

Powers and duties of the Councils in respect of moneys payable to them under this Act.

9.

Preservation of a certain Order and certain powers, etc.

10.

Charging order under the Drainage Maintenance Acts, 1866 and 1924.

11.

Indemnity for the Commissioners, trustees and councils.

12.

Expenses.

13.

Short title.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

SECOND SCHEDULE.


Act Referred to

Drainage Maintenance Act, 1924

No. 46 of 1924

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Number 13 of 1943.


DISTRICT OF FERGUS DRAINAGE ACT, 1943.


AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE IMPROVEMENT, REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE OF THE DRAINAGE WORKS OF THE DRAINAGE DISTRICT ENTITLED THE DISTRICT OF FERGUS AND TO MAKE PROVISIONS FOR DIVERS OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO THAT DISTRICT AND THE DRAINAGE WORKS THEREIN. [27th April, 1943.].

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

Definitions.

1. —In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

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

the expression “the Clare Council” means the Council of the County of Clare;

the expression “the Galway Council” means the Council of the County of Galway;

the expression “the Councils” means the Clare Council and the Galway Council;

the expression “the Scheduled Consent” means the Consent of which a copy is set forth in the First Schedule to this Act and which was entered into by the parties (other than the Minister for Local Government and Public Health) to the action in the High Court mentioned at the head of the said Consent and which was received and made a rule of the High Court on the 29th day of October, 1941;

the expression “the Fergus District” means the drainage district constituted by the Final Award dated the 30th day of October, 1860, and thereby entitled the District of Fergus;

the expression “the Final Award dated the 30th day of October, 1860”, means the Final Award made by the Commissioners on that date in respect of the Fergus District.

Acquisition of land by the Clare Council.

2. —(1) It shall be lawful for the Clare Council to acquire, in accordance with clause (A) of paragraph 1 of the Scheduled Consent and either by agreement or compulsorily, the lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act in fee simple freed and discharged from all rents, annuities, charges, and encumbrances whatsoever at the price of sixteen pounds per statute acre.

(2) It shall be lawful for the Councils to release each of the proprietors of the lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act from all drainage rates due or accruing due to the Councils by such proprietor in respect of his portion of the said lands at the date of the conveyance thereof to the Clare Council.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Clare Council to release each of the occupiers of the lands described in the Second Schedule hereto from all poor rate due or accruing due to the said Council by such occupier in respect of his portion of the said lands at the date of the conveyance thereof to the said Council, and for that purpose it shall be lawful for the said Council to make all requisite apportionments of poor rate where portion only of a rated holding is included in the said lands.

(4) The lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act, when conveyed to the Clare Council, shall form part of the drainage works of the Fergus District and may be used by the Councils as an overflow reservoir or for any other purpose connected with the working or maintenance of the said drainage works.

(5) Sections 69 to 83 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, as amended or adapted by or under subsequent enactments shall apply to the compulsory acquisition by the Clare Council of so much of the lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act as is not acquired by agreement and for the purpose of such application the Clare Council shall be deemed to be the promoter of the undertaking.

Contribution by the Minister to price of lands acquired.

3. —(1) If the Clare Council acquires under this Act the lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act, the Minister may pay to that Council out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas such sum, not exceeding two thousand five hundred pounds, as he shall think proper.

(2) All money paid to the Clare Council by the Minister under this section shall be applied by that Council as a contribution towards the price paid by the said Council for the lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act on the acquisition thereof under this Act.

(3) The payment of money under this section by the Minister to the Clare Council shall be taken to be in satisfaction and discharge of the obligation imposed by clause (A) of paragraph 2 of the Scheduled Consent on the Commissioners to contribute the sum of two thousand five hundred pounds, and all references in the Scheduled Consent to the sum of two thousand five hundred pounds provided by the Commissioners shall be construed as referring to the money paid by the Minister to the Clare Council under this section.

Provision of £6,000 by the Councils.

4. —(1) The Councils may, in pursuance of clause (C) of paragraph 1 of the Scheduled Consent, provide out of their respective county funds a sum not exceeding six thousand pounds for the purposes stated in the said clause (C).

(2) Money provided by the Councils under this section shall be so provided in the following proportions that is to say, 98841 of such money shall be provided by the Clare Council and 01159 thereof shall be provided by the Galway Council.

(3) The money provided by the Councils under this section shall be applied for the several purposes stated in clause (C) of paragraph 1 of the Scheduled Consent.

(4) The Galway Council shall raise and defray by means of the poor rate as a county-at-large charge so much (if any) of the costs mentioned under the head “Sixthly” in clause (C) of paragraph 1 of the Scheduled Consent as is not discharged out of the money provided by the Councils under this section.

(5) For the purpose of providing the money authorised to be provided by it under this section, the Clare Council may borrow and the Minister may lend from the Local Loans Fund a sum not exceeding the amount of the money so authorised to be provided as if the provision of that money were a purpose mentioned in Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898.

(6) The Galway Council may raise by means of the poor rate as a county-at-large charge the money authorised to be provided by it under this section or the said Council may, for the purpose of providing the said money, borrow and the Minister may lend from the Local Loans Fund a sum not exceeding the amount of the said money as if the provision of that money were a purpose mentioned in Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898.

(7) Money borrowed under this section by either of the Councils shall not be reckoned as part of the debt of such Council for the purposes of Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898.

Execution of works by the Commissioners.

5. —(1) It shall be lawful for the Commissioners to enter upon the lands comprised in the Fergus District and there execute and complete the works specified in clauses (D) and (F), respectively, of paragraph 2 of the Scheduled Consent and for that purpose the Commissioners shall have and may exercise all or any of the powers in relation to the execution or repair of drainage works conferred on them by the Drainage Maintenance Acts, 1866 and 1924.

(2) A certificate under the hand of an engineer appointed for that purpose by the Commissioners that he has inspected the works executed by the Commissioners under this section and that those works include all the works specified in clauses (D) and (F) respectively of paragraph 2 of the Scheduled Consent and have been completed to his satisfaction shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes that the said works specified in the said clauses respectively have been duly completed by the Commissioners in accordance with the Scheduled Consent.

Incorporation of new works in the Fergus drainage works.

6. —(1) When the works (in this section referred to as the new works) specified in clauses (D) and (F) respectively, of paragraph 2 of the Scheduled Consent have been completed, those works and the drainage works (in this section referred to as the old works) specified in Schedule B to the Final Award dated the 30th day of October, 1860, shall together form and be, for all purposes, the drainage works of the Fergus District, but, as respects the old works, so far only as those works are essential for the purposes of the said District.

(2) In order to give effect to the foregoing sub-section of this section, the Commissioners, on the completion of the new works, shall by an order to be made by them, so amend Schedule B to the Final Award dated the 30th day of October, 1860, that the drainage works described in the said Schedule B as amended by the said order shall comprise both the old works (so far as those works are essential for the purposes of the Fergus District) and the new works.

Making of a charging order by the Commissioners.

7. —(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act the Commissioners shall make an order (in this section and elsewhere in this Act referred to as the charging order under this Act) charging in accordance with this section the following sums (in this section referred to as the charged sums) with interest thereon from the date of the order at the general rate applicable to drainage loans made by the Commissioners at the times at which the advances making up the capital sum mentioned in paragraph (a) of this sub-section were made by the Commissioners, that is to say:—

(a) the capital sum of eleven thousand one hundred and seventy-two pounds, eleven shillings, and three pence mentioned in clause (B) of paragraph 2 of the Scheduled Consent, and

(b) the sum of two hundred and eighty-two pounds, ten shillings, and four pence owing to the Commissioners on foot of the advance made by them to the trustees of the Fergus District in the year 1918, and

(c) a sum equal to seventy-five per cent. of the total amount of the costs and expenses (as estimated by the Commissioners) of and incidental to the preparation and completion of the order.

(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to the charging order under this Act, that is to say:—

(a) the said order shall be expressed and shall operate to charge the several lots or parcels of land comprised in the lands specified in Schedule A to the Final Award dated the 30th day of October, 1860 (other than and excepting the lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act) with the payment of the charged sums and the interest thereon to the council of the county in which the lot or parcel is situate by forty equal half-yearly payments on the days appointed by the order, the first of such days to be six months, as nearly as conveniently may be, after the date of the said order;

(b) the Commissioners shall set out in the said order the several lots or parcels of the lands thereby charged in pursuance of the foregoing paragraph of this sub-section and the decimal proportions in which the said lots or parcels shall be so charged;

(c) the said decimal proportions shall be calculated and fixed by the Commissioners and shall, without any further order, be the proportions in which the said several lots or parcels shall be respectively liable to contribute to the payment of the charged sums and the interest thereon and to the drainage maintenance rate in the Fergus District and no such lot or parcel shall be liable to contribute a greater proportion of the said charged sums, interest, or rate;

(d) in calculating the said decimal proportions the Commissioners shall have due regard to the fact that the lands described in the Second Schedule to this Act are excluded from the lands charged by the said order, and the Commissioners may have regard to the copies in their possession of the maps, valuers' books and other documents prepared in connection with the formation of the Fergus District;

(e) the said order shall also be expressed and shall operate to charge the respective county funds of the Clare Council and the Galway Council with the payment at the times and in the manner stated in the said order to the Commissioners of the charged sums and the interest thereon rateably in the proportions (which shall be stated in the said order) in which the amounts of the charged sums and the interest thereon are charged by the said order on lands in the county of Clare and lands in the county of Galway.

(3) All interest owing to the Local Loans Fund on the date of the charging order under this Act by either of the Councils in respect of the capital sum of eleven thousand one hundred and seventy-two pounds, eleven shillings, and three pence included in the charged sums is hereby remitted and accordingly shall not be payable or recoverable.

(4) The sum of two hundred and eighty-two pounds, ten shillings, and four pence included in the charged sums is hereby declared to be the total amount (notwithstanding any penal interest or poundage which may have accrued) owing at the passing of this Act to the Commissioners on foot of the advance made by them to the trustees of the Fergus District in the year 1918.

(5) The sum included in the charged sums in respect of the costs and expenses of and incidental to the preparation and completion of the charging order under this Act shall be advanced from the Local Loans Fund and shall be repayable and recoverable in the manner provided by this Act.

(6) So much of the charged sums and the interest thereon as is charged on the county fund of either of the Councils by the charging order under this Act shall be paid to the Commissioners by such Council at the times and in the manner stated in the said order and shall be so paid by such Council out of the moneys collected by such Council from the proprietors or occupiers of the several lots or parcels of land in the county of such Council on which the charged sums and the interest thereon are charged by the said order and, if and so far as the moneys so collected are not sufficient, the deficiency shall be so paid by such Council out of the county fund and be raised by means of the poor rate as á county-at-large charge.

(7) In addition and without prejudice to any method of recovery under any other Act, moneys payable to the Commissioners by either of the Councils under the next preceding sub-section of this section may be recovered by the Commissioners from such Council by action at law.

Powers and duties of the Councils in respect of moneys payable to them under this Act.

8. —(1) The Clare Council and the Galway Council shall each of them have and may exercise for the recovery of the sums charged by the charging order under this Act on land situate in their county all and every of the rights, powers, and remedies conferred by the Drainage Maintenance Act, 1866, on the Commissioners for the recovery of sums charged by a charging order under that Act.

(2) Every sum charged on a lot or parcel of land by the charging order under this Act shall be leviable on, payable by, and recoverable from the proprietor or (where such proprietor is not also the occupier) the occupier of such lot or parcel, and the Commissioners shall make such apportionments as may be necessary to give effect to this sub-section, but the liability of an occupier under this section shall be without prejudice to any right to deduct any such sum paid by him from the rent payable by him.

(3) It shall be the duty of each of the Councils to collect from the proprietor or (where the proprietor is not also the occupier) the occupier of every lot or parcel of land charged by the charging order under this Act and situate in their county all sums payable to such Council under the said order by such proprietor and every such sum shall and may be collected and recovered in the like manner as poor rate is or may be collected and recovered.

(4) Section 54 of the Drainage and Improvement of Lands Act (Ireland), 1863, shall apply to all moneys assessed, rated, and taxed on the proprietors of any lot or parcel of land pursuant to the charge on such lot or parcel made by the charging order under this Act.

Preservation of a certain Order and certain powers, etc.

9. —(1) Nothing in this Act shall prejudice or affect the validity or the operation of the Order dated the 17th day of November, 1931, made by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health under section 20 of the Local Government Act, 1898, as amended by section 3 of the Drainage Maintenance Act, 1924 (No. 46 of 1924), whereby the business of the trustees of the Fergus District was transferred to the Councils.

(2) The powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Councils in respect of the Fergus District and the drainage works thereof shall not be suspended, terminated, or affected by the exercise by the Commissioners of any of the powers conferred on them by this Act save that, on and after the date of the charging order under this Act, the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Councils in relation to the maintenance of drainage works in the said District shall extend and be limited to the drainage works specified in Schedule B to the Final Award dated the 30th day of October, 1860, as amended by the Commissioners under this Act.

Charging order under the Drainage Maintenance Acts, 1866 and 1924.

10. —Notwithstanding anything contained in the Drainage Maintenance Acts, 1866 and 1924, the Commissioners shall not make any charging order under those Acts in respect of works heretofore executed by them in the Fergus District under the Drainage Maintenance Act, 1924 (No. 46 of 1924).

Indemnity for the Commissioners, trustees, and councils.

11. —No action or other proceeding shall lie nor shall any damages be recoverable in any Court against the Councils, jointly or severally, the Commissioners, or the trustees of the Fergus District in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by them or any of them in relation to the Fergus District at any time (whether before or after the passing of this Act) before the date of the charging order under this Act.

Expenses.

12. —Save as is otherwise provided by this Act, expenses incurred by the Commissioners in the execution of this Act (including the expenses of the execution and completion of the works specified in clauses (D) and (F),' respectively, of paragraph 2 of the Scheduled Consent) shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Short title.

13. —This Act may be cited as the District of Fergus Drainage Act, 1943.