PART VIII.

Powers of Minister to Carry on Businesses and to Lend Money for the Development of Businesses.

36. —(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance to engage in and carry on all or any of the following businesses, that is to say:—

(a) the purchase, keeping, and slaughter of cattle and sheep;

(b) the sale of cattle and sheep, either in or outside Saorstát Eireann;

(c) the sale, either in or outside Saorstát Eireann, of the carcases, offals, and other parts, edible or inedible, of cattle and sheep;

(d) the treating, preparing and making suitable for sale (whether in their original or some other form or for further treatment or manufacture) of the carcases, offals and other parts, edible or inedible, of cattle and sheep;

(e) the manufacture or preparation for human consumption or for any other purpose of any marketable product from the carcases, offals, and other parts, edible or inedible, of cattle and sheep;

(f) the sale, in or outside Saorstát Eireann, of the products of all or any of the processes mentioned in the two next preceding paragraphs of this sub-section;

(g) any business which is ancillary or incidental to any business mentioned in any of the foregoing paragraphs of this sub-section.

(2) For the purpose of engaging in or carrying on any business authorised by this section, the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance may do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) purchase, maintain, use, and sell plant, machinery, tools, and other equipment;

(b) purchase and use feeding stuffs and other consumable stores;

(c) engage, employ, and dismiss managers, assistants, workmen, and other persons;

(d) enter into contracts;

(e) do all such other acts and things as may be necessary for or incidental to the conduct of any such business.

(3) The Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1924 and 1926, shall not apply to persons engaged or employed by the Minister under paragraph (c) of the next preceding sub-section of this section.

(4) It shall be lawful for the Minister to do anything which he is authorised by this section to do either, as he shall in each particular case think proper, through and by his own officers and other persons in the Civil Service of Saorstát Eireann, or through and by persons specially employed by him for the particular purpose in hand, or through and by agents, contractors, and other like persons, or party in one and partly in one and partly in another or others of those ways.

37. —(1) For the purpose of doing anything which he is authorised by this Part of this Act to do, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, acquire, compulsorily or by agreement, any land together with every right of way, water right or other easement used and enjoyed in connection therewith.

(2) For the purpose of the acquisition of land under this section, the Lands Clauses Acts shall be incorporated with this Part of this Act subject to the following modifications, that is to say:—

(a) the provisions relating to superfluous land and access to the special Act and section 133 (which relates to land tax and poor's rate) of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall not be incorporated with this Part of this Act, and

(b) in the construction of this Part of this Act and the Acts incorporated therewith, this Part of this Act shall be deemed to be the special Act and the Minister shall be deemed to be the promoter of the undertaking, and

(c) the bond required by section 85 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall be under the seal of the Minister and shall be sufficient without the addition of the sureties mentioned in that section.

(3) The price or compensation payable on the acquisition of land under this section and the expenses incurred by the Minister in relation to such acquisition shall, to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(4) Land which is subject to a land purchase annuity or the subject of a land purchase agreement or vested in or in course of being vested in the Irish Land Commission shall not be acquired under this section without the consent of the Irish Land Commission.

(5) Nothing in this section shall empower the Minister to acquire compulsorily any land held or occupied by a local authority or any body corporate for the purposes of any railway, tramway, dock, canal, water, gas, or electricity or other public undertaking.

38. —(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, sell, lease, let, or otherwise dispose of any land acquired by him under this Part of this Act and also the good will and stock-in-trade and other assets of any business carried on by him under this Part of this Act at such price and on such terms and conditions as he shall, with the consent aforesaid, think proper.

(2) Any moneys received by the Minister under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

39. —(1) The Minister shall cause to be kept, in respect of every business carried on by him under this part of this Act, all proper and usual accounts (in such form as shall be approved of by the Minister for Finance) of all moneys received or expended by him, including a capital account, revenue account, profit and loss account and a balance sheet.

(2) The accounts of the Minister in respect of every business carried on by him under this Part of this Act shall, at the end of every accounting year for such business, be transmitted to the Comptroller and Auditor-General, who shall audit, certify and report upon such accounts.

(3) Upon the completion of an audit under this section of the accounts of any business carried on by the Minister under this Part of this Act, the Minister shall cause a copy of the balance sheet and profit and loss account as passed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General and a copy of his report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

40. —(1) All moneys received by the Minister in carrying on any business under this Part of this Act shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

(2) All expenses incurred in carrying on any business under this Part of this Act shall, to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

41. —(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to lend, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, any sum or sums of money—

(a) to any person engaged in or carrying on any business to which this section applies, for the purpose of extending or developing such business, whether by the acquisition of additional premises, the installation of new or additional machinery, plant, or equipment, or in any other way whatsoever, or

(b) to any person, for the purpose of the acquisition of any then existing business to which this section applies and the subsequent extension or development of such business in any such way as aforesaid, or

(c) to any person, for the purpose of the promotion and formation of a company having amongst its objects the carrying on of a business to which this section applies.

(2) All moneys lent by the Minister under this section shall be so lent on such terms and conditions as to time and manner of repayment, rate of interest, security, and other matters as the Minister shall, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, think proper in each particular case.

(3) The terms on which money is lent by the Minister under this section may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, include all or any of the following provisions, that is to say:—

(a) a provision for the refund by the Minister out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to the person to whom or the company for the promotion and formation of which such money is so lent of statutory fees thereafter becoming payable by such person or company;

(b) a provision requiring or empowering the Minister to purchase, either at any time or in specified circumstances, all or any part of the issued share capital of a company for the promotion and formation of which such money is so lent;

(c) a provision whereby the Minister agrees to supply cattle, either free of charge or on specified terms, to the person to whom or the company for the promotion and formation of which such money is so lent.

(4) All moneys received by the Minister in repayment of moneys lent by him under this section or in payment of interest on or otherwise in relation to any such moneys shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer by the Minister in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

(5) Whenever the Minister has lent any money under this section it shall be lawful for the Minister to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to vary in any manner by agreement all or any of the terms and conditions on which such money was so lent;

(b) with the consent aforesaid, to compound for or wholly release all or any part of such moneys or of any interest or other payment payable on or in relation to such moneys;

(c) to take such steps (including legal proceedings) as the Minister may think proper to compel payment of or to recover all or any part of such moneys or of any interest or other payment payable on or in relation to such moneys or to enforce compliance with any term or condition on which such moneys were so lent.

(6) Whenever the Minister lends money under this section, he shall, within one month after making such loan, cause to be published in the Irish Oifigiúil a notice stating the fact of the making of such loan and also stating all material particulars of such loan.

(7) This section applies to any business of manufacturing or preparing for human consumption or for any other purpose any marketable product from the carcases, offals, or other parts, edible or inedible, of cattle and sheep or either of them.

42. —Whenever, under a scheme whereby compensation is payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas for cattle slaughtered or surrendered for slaughter in pursuance of such scheme, the Minister becomes possessed of any cattle (whether alive or dead), it shall be lawful for the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to dispose of such cattle in whatever manner he shall think proper.