First Previous (PART VII. Finance and Accounts.) Next (PART IX. Contracts and Tenders.)

9 1946

HARBOURS ACT, 1946

PART VIII.

Harbour Works Orders.

Harbour works order.

134. —(1) The Minister may, if and whenever he thinks fit, by order (in this Act referred to as a harbour works order)—

(a) authorise a harbour authority to construct, reconstruct, extend or remove within the period specified in the order such docks, graving docks, quays, wharves, jetties, piers, embankments, break-waters, roads, viaducts, tramways, railways, aerodromes or other works as may be specified in the order, or

(b) authorise a harbour authority to acquire compulsorily such land (including any right or easement in, over or in respect of land) as may be specified in the order,

or

(c) transfer to a local authority the harbour, or a specified part of the harbour, of a harbour authority, together with all the property, works, plant, equipment and chattels in connection therewith, and authorise the doing of all things necessary to give effect to such transfer, or

(d) transfer to a harbour authority a specified port or pier and the management and control thereof, or

(e) fix, or vary either by extension or diminution, the limits of the harbour of a harbour authority.

(2) The Minister may, if and whenever he thinks fit, by order (in this Act also referred to as a harbour works order) amend or revoke a harbour works order (including a harbour works order made under this subsection).

(3) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a harbour works order under paragraph (c) or (d) of subsection (1) of this section and a harbour works order under subsection (2) of this section consequent on a harbour works order made under the said paragraph (c) or (d):

(a) the order may be made by the Minister either on the application of the harbour authority to whom the order relates or without any such application,

(b) where the Minister makes the order without an application therefor having been made by the harbour authority to whom the order relates, it shall be the duty of that harbour authority to take all such steps as may be necessary or may be directed by the Minister for the purpose of implementing the order, and

(c) where the order is under the said paragraph (c) or under subsection (2) of this section consequent on a harbour works order made under the said paragraph (c), the order shall not be made save with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

(4) Save as provided by subsection (3) of this section, a harbour works order shall not be made otherwise than on the application of the harbour authority to whom the order relates.

(5) A harbour works order may include such supplemental and ancillary provisions and such conditions and restrictions as the Minister thinks proper.

(6) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (5) of this section, a harbour works order may—

(a) contain provisions for authorising, subject to the terms of the order, the opening, stopping up, breaking up, crossing, altering, extending, diverting or otherwise interfering with any public or private roads, highways, streets, footpaths, tunnels, streams, watercourses, railway-sidings, sewers, drains, pipes, wires or apparatus, and

(b) contain a condition that the harbour authority to whom the order relates shall not, in carrying out the provisions of the order, displace persons of the working class or shall displace such persons only after compliance with specified requirements.

(7) Where a harbour works order authorises or requires a harbour authority to acquire any land compulsorily, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) the order shall, in respect of any land so acquired, provide for the payment of compensation by the harbour authority to the several persons having estates or interests in the land and shall provide that any question of disputed compensation shall be determined under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, as amended by the Acquisition of Land (Reference Committee) Act, 1925 (No. 22 of 1925);

(b) the order may incorporate all or any of the provisions of the Land Clauses Acts, with such modifications and adaptations as the Minister thinks proper.

(8) Subject to the provisions of the next following section, a harbour works order shall have statutory force and effect.

Provisional harbour works order.

135. —(1) Where a harbour works order—

(a) authorises a harbour authority to acquire compulsorily land as respects which the Minister is of opinion, and so states in the order, that, by reason of its extent and situation or the purposes for which it is used or for any other reason, it ought not to be acquired compulsorily without the sanction of the Oireachtas, or

(b) transfers to a local authority the harbour of a harbour authority, or

(c) transfers to a local authority a part of the harbour of a harbour authority, being a part as respects which the Minister is of opinion, and so states in the order, that, by reason of its extent, it ought not to be transferred without the sanction of the Oireachtas, or

(d) transfers to a harbour authority a specified port or pier, or

(e) fixes, or varies either by extension or diminution, the limits of the harbour of a harbour authority, or

(f) revokes or amends a previous harbour works order which was confirmed by Act of the Oireachtas,

such order (in this Act referred to as a provisional harbour works order) shall be of no force or effect unless and until confirmed by Act of the Oireachtas.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in respect of a provisional harbour works order:

(a) as soon as conveniently may be after the making of the order, the Minister shall deposit a copy of the order with the county registrar of the county in which is situate the principal office of the harbour authority to whom the order relates;

(b) the Minister shall thereupon publish in the Iris Oifigiúil and in two newspapers circulating in such county a notice intimating that the copy of the order will, during a specified period not less than twenty-eight days, remain open at the office of the county registrar for public inspection during ordinary office hours and that objections and representations in relation to the order may be furnished in writing to the Minister during the said period;

(c) during the said period the county registrar shall keep the copy of the order open for inspection as aforesaid and objections and representations in relation to the order may be furnished in writing to the Minister;

(d) unless the Minister annuls the order under subsection (3) of this section, he shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the expiration of the said period and having considered the objections and representations (if any) furnished as aforesaid, cause to be introduced in the Oireachtas a bill in which the order, either as originally made or as varied under subsection (3) of this section (as the case may be), is set out in full as the Schedule thereto.

(3) The Minister may annul or vary a provisional harbour works order before the bill to confirm it is introduced in the Oireachtas.

(4) The expenses incurred by the Minister in publishing a notice under paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section shall be borne by the harbour authority concerned and shall be recoverable from them by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(5) An Act passed by the Oireachtas to confirm a provisional harbour works order shall be deemed to be a public general Act.

Notice of proposal to make harbour works order other than provisional harbour works order.

136. —(1) Whenever the Minister proposes to make a harbour works order other than a provisional harbour works order—

(a) the harbour authority to whom the proposed order relates shall publish, at such time or times and in such manner as the Minister directs, such notice as the Minister directs of the nature of the proposed order,

(b) such notice shall contain an intimation that objections and representations in relation to the order may be furnished in writing to the Minister during a specified period, and

(c) in making the order, the Minister shall have regard to the objections and representations (if any) furnished as aforesaid.

(2) The expenses incurred by a harbour authority in the publication in pursuance of this section of a notice shall be borne by the harbour authority.

(3) Whenever a harbour authority refuse or fail to publish a notice directed by the Minister to be published by them under this section, the Minister may, without prejudice to any other proceedings against the harbour authority, himself publish the notice and all expenses incurred by him in so doing shall be borne by the harbour authority and shall be recoverable by the Minister from the harbour authority as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Local inquiries in regard to harbour works order.

137. —Whenever the Minister proposes to make a harbour works order, he may, if he so thinks fit, direct that a local inquiry be held in regard to the proposed order.

Application for harbour works order.

138. —(1) A harbour authority may apply to the Minister for a harbour works order.

(2) An application for a harbour works order shall be in such form and shall contain such particulars as the Minister may require and shall be accompanied by a draft of the proposed order.

(3) A harbour authority applying under this section for a harbour works order shall, when required by the Minister so to do, furnish to the Minister such further particulars and such plans and other documents as he may from time to time require for the consideration of the application.

(4) The Minister may require any statement made in an application for a harbour works order, or made to the Minister in response to a requirement of particulars under this section, to be verified in such manner as the Minister may require by some person having personal knowledge of such statement.

(5) If a harbour authority fail to furnish any particulars, plan, document or verification which they are required by the Minister under this section to furnish, the Minister may, on the ground of the failure and without prejudice to his discretion to make or refuse to make a harbour works order, refuse the application in relation to which the particulars, plan, document or verification were so required.

(6) There shall be paid to the Minister by a harbour authority applying under this section for a harbour works order such fee as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may fix.

(7) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a fee payable under subsection (6) of this section:

(a) the fee shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct, and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance, and

(b) the Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of the fee.

Surveys and inspections.

139. —(1) The Minister may, if and whenever he so thinks fit, cause to be made—

(a) a survey of the intended site of any works which a harbour authority propose to construct, and

(b) an inspection of any works when completed or in course of construction by a harbour authority.

(2) The cost of a survey or inspection under this section shall be borne by the harbour authority who have constructed or propose to construct the works in respect of which the survey or inspection is made, and such cost shall be recoverable from the harbour authority by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Duty of harbour authority to prevent danger to navigation in respect of works.

140. —(1) Where any works completed by a harbour authority or in course of construction, extension or repair by a harbour authority below the level of high water mark are so placed as to be dangerous to navigation or any works completed by a harbour authority have suffered such damage or decay as to be dangerous to navigation, it shall be the duty of the harbour authority, at or near the extremities of the works, to lay down and maintain such buoys, to exhibit and keep burning such lights and to do such other things to lessen danger to navigation as the general lighthouse authority may from time to time approve or direct under the subsequent provisions of this section.

(2) The general lighthouse authority may, on the application of the harbour authority concerned or without any such application, approve of means taken under this section to lessen danger to navigation in respect of any works, or may disapprove of such means, and may direct such harbour authority to take such other means for that purpose, in lieu of or in addition to the means already taken, as the general lighthouse authority think necessary or proper.

Penalty for obstruction or interference in connection with harbour works order.

141. —A person who obstructs or interferes with the carrying out of the provisions of a harbour works order shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.