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3 1982

TRANSPORT (TOUR OPERATORS AND TRAVEL AGENTS) ACT, 1982

PART IV

Travellers' Protection Fund

Travellers' Protection Fund.

15. —(1) The Minister shall establish a fund to be known as the Travellers' Protection Fund (in this Act referred to as “the Fund”) from which payments may be made in accordance with the provisions of section 18 of this Act in respect of losses or liabilities incurred by customers of tour operators or travel agents who held a licence under this Act or whose licence has been revoked and the revocation is the subject of an appeal to the court, in consequence of the inability or failure of the tour operators or travel agents to meet their financial or contractual obligations in respect of overseas travel contracts.

(2) The collection, retention and disbursement of the resources of the Fund shall be a function of the Minister.

(3) The Minister may by regulations made under this section nominate any person specified in the regulations to carry out any or all of the functions conferred on the Minister by this section.

Contributions to Fund.

16. —(1) A tour operator shall make contributions to the Fund of such amounts and at such times on such basis as may be specified in regulations made by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(2) Regulations made by the Minister under this section may—

(a) provide that contributions for the Fund may be paid to the Minister or to such other person as may be specified in the regulations;

(b) provide that different contributions may be made by different classes of tour operators having regard to the scale of business of the tour operator and may specify the manner for determining the amounts of different contributions;

(c) specify the time and manner in which payments of sums due in respect of contributions to the Fund may be made.

Resources of the Fund.

17. —(1) The resources of the Fund shall be maintained and administered by the Minister or, as the case may be, by a person nominated by him pursuant to section 15 of this Act.

(2) The costs of administration of the Fund shall be defrayed from the resources of the Fund.

(3) The Minister or, as the case may be, the person nominated by him pursuant to section 15 of this Act, shall keep all proper and usual accounts of all moneys paid into the Fund and of all disbursements from the Fund including an income and expenditure account and a balance sheet.

(4) As soon as may be after the end of each year, accounts kept in pursuance of this section shall be submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit and, immediately after the audit, a copy of the income and expenditure account and of the balance sheet and a copy of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

Disbursements from Fund.

18. —(1) Payments may be made from the Fund for all or any of the following purposes—

(a) to provide travel facilities for any customer of a tour operator or travel agent who is outside Ireland and who is unable to make the return journey provided for in an overseas travel contract by reason of the inability or failure of the tour operator or travel agent concerned to fulfil his financial or contractual obligations in relation to such overseas travel contract;

(b) to reimburse a customer of a tour operator or travel agent for any reasonable expenses necessarily incurred by such customer by reason of the inability or failure of the tour operator or travel agent to meet his financial or contractual obligations in relation to an overseas travel contract;

(c) to refund, as far as possible, to a customer of a tour operator or travel agent any payments made by him to the tour operator or travel agent in respect of an overseas travel contract which could not be completed by reason of the inability or failure of the tour operator or travel agent to meet his financial or contractual obligations in relation to such overseas travel contract;

(d) to defray any reasonable expenses incurred by the Minister, or provide for any payments by the Minister, on behalf of a customer of a tour operator or travel agent in respect of an overseas travel contract which could not be completed by reason of the inability or failure of the tour operator or travel agent to meet his financial or contractual obligations in relation to such overseas travel contract.

(2) Payments may not be made from the Fund to a person in respect of any loss or liability incurred in connection with an overseas travel contract unless the tour operator or travel agent concerned held, at the time such person entered into the contract, a licence under this Act, or unless the licence of such operator or travel agent was, at that time, revoked and the revocation is the subject of an appeal to the court.

(3) Where money is payable on foot of the Bond to, or for the benefit of, a customer of a tour operator or travel agent for the purpose of compensating such customer for losses or liabilities incurred by him in connection with an overseas travel contract—

(a) a payment shall not be made out of the Fund until all moneys payable under the Bond have been paid to, or for the benefit of, such person, and

(b) a payment shall not be made out of the Fund to any person in respect of losses or liabilities incurred by him in any case where such person has already been reimbursed in full from moneys payable pursuant to the Bond.

(4) If any event occurs which may affect or delay payments pursuant to the Bond, the Minister or any person nominated by him pursuant to this Act, at his discretion, may make payments from the Fund to or for the benefit of any customer of a tour operator or travel agent who may be affected and any amount so paid shall be repaid to the Fund as soon as may be after any funds payable pursuant to the Bond have been realised.

(5) Without prejudice to any existing right of a customer of a tour operator or travel agent to recover damages in relation to the standard of accommodation or service provided pursuant to an overseas travel contract, nothing in this section shall be construed as enabling such customer to recover any such damages from the Fund.

(6) Regulations made by the Minister under this section may—

(a) provide for the determination of the amounts of payments from the Fund,

(b) provide for the terms on which and the manner in which any payments from the Fund may be made in any particular case or classes of case,

(c) specify the manner in which payments are to be made in any case where the amount of the Fund and any sums due pursuant to the Bond of a tour operator or travel agent are insufficient to satisfy the claims of all persons concerned, and, in particular, may specify that in any such case payments shall be made in proportion to the amount established to be due in respect of each claim.

Investment of money of Fund.

19. —(1) Moneys of the Fund shall be maintained in a current account to be managed and controlled by the Minister or in an investment account to be managed and controlled by the Minister for Finance.

(2) Sums payable into the Fund shall be paid into the current account thereof and sums payable out of the Fund shall be paid out of that account.

(3) Moneys standing to the credit of the current account and not required to meet current expenditure shall be transferred to the investment account of the Fund.

(4) Whenever the moneys in the current account of the Fund are insufficient to meet the liabilities of that account, there shall be transferred to that account from the investment account of the Fund such sums as may be necessary for the purpose of discharging those liabilities.

(5) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, moneys standing to the credit of the investment account of the Fund shall be invested by the Minister for Finance, and income arising from any such investment shall be paid into that account.

(6) An investment pursuant to subsection (5) of this section may be in any securities in which trustees are for the time being by law empowered to invest trust funds or in any of the stocks, funds and securities as are for the time being authorised by law as investments for Post Office Savings Bank funds.