PART II.

General Powers and Duties of Board.

7. —(1) It shall be the general duty of the Board to provide reasonable, efficient and economical transport services with due regard to safety of operation, the encouragement of national economic development and the maintenance of reasonable conditions of employment for its employees.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Board to conduct its undertaking so that, as soon as may be, and in any case not later than the 31st day of March, 1964, its operating expenditure, including all charges properly chargeable to revenue, shall not be greater than the revenue of the Board.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing on the Board, either directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable by proceedings before any court to which it would not otherwise be subject.

8. —(1) In this section—

“charges” includes fares, rates or tolls;

“service” means any of the following—

(a) the conveyance of passengers and their luggage,

(b) the receiving, forwarding, carrying and delivering of merchandise,

(c) any other transport service or facility.

(2) The Board may fix, demand, take and recover such charges as the Board thinks fit for any service provided by it.

(3) The Board may attach to any service provided by it such terms and conditions as the Board thinks fit.

(4) Any carriage of merchandise by rail by the Board which is in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in Statutory Rule and Order No. 13 of 1930 shall be deemed to be carriage of that commodity under terms and conditions which are just and reasonable.

(5) Unless otherwise specified in writing by the Board, all merchandise carried by the Board by rail shall be deemed to be carried subject to the terms and conditions contained in Statutory Rule and Order No. 13 of 1930.

(6) The Minister, on the application of the Board, may by order vary (whether by addition, substitution or deletion) the terms and conditions of carriage contained in Statutory Rule and Order No. 13 of 1930, and references in this section (including this subsection) to such terms and conditions shall be construed as references to those terms and conditions as so varied.

(7) Where an application is made under subsection (6), the Board shall, if the Minister so requires, give notice of the application to the public in such form and manner as the Minister directs.

(8) Notwithstanding any rule of law or enactment to the contrary, the Board may refuse any particular traffic offered to it.

9. —(1) The Minister may, on the application of the Board and after consultation with the Minister for Local Government, by order provide that the provisions of section 47 of the Railways' Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and section 6 of the Railways Clauses Act, 1863, which relate to the control of level crossings, and any other enactment incorporating requirements to similar effect, or such of those provisions as may be specified in the order, shall not apply to a specified level crossing of the undertaking.

(2) The order may require the Board to provide and maintain such barriers, lights and automatic and other devices and appliances and to comply with such other conditions and requirements for the protection, safety and convenience of the public as the Minister thinks fit and specifies in the order.

(3) The order may require the Board to recompense, in such manner as the order may prescribe, any person performing services for the Board at the level crossing under any form of agreement, where that person's services under the agreement are dispensed with as a consequence of the order.

(4)An application by the Board to the Minister shall be accompanied by a draft of the proposed order and the draft shall be in such form as the Minister may direct.

(5) Before making the application the Board shall give notice of its proposal, together with a copy of the draft, to the appropriate road authority and to the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána.

(6) The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Local Government, by order amend or revoke an order under this section.