Local Government (Reorganisation) Act, 1985
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: —(1) This Act may be cited as the Local Government (Reorganisation) Act, 1985.
(2) The Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1983, and this Act may be cited together as the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1985.
(3) The Local Government (Dublin) Acts, 1930 to 1971, and Part III of this Act may be cited together as the Local Government (Dublin) Acts, 1930 to 1985.
(4) The County Management Acts, 1940 to 1972, and section 7 of this Act may be cited together as the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1985.
(5) Part IV of this Act and the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1983, shall be construed together as one Act.
(6) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may fix by order, either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.
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paragraphs: —(1) In this Act—
“functions”, except where the context otherwise requires, includes powers and duties;
“the Minister” means the Minister for the Environment.
(2) A reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by any subsequent enactment.
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paragraphs: —(1) Every order or regulation made by the Minister under this Act, other than under section 5 , 7 (7), 8 or 24 , shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if either such House shall, within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such order is laid before it, pass a resolution annulling such order or regulation, such order or regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
(2) Where it is proposed to make an order under section 8 or 24 of this Act, a draft thereof shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.
(3) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, the Minister may by order amend or revoke an order made under this Act (including an order made under this subsection).
(b) In case it is proposed to make an order under this subsection amending (whether expressly or otherwise) or revoking an order under section 8 or 24 of this Act, subsection (2) of this section shall apply as regards the proposal as it applied to the proposal to make the order to which the order proposed to be made under this subsection relates.
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paragraphs: — In this part—
“the appointed day” has the meaning assigned to it by section 5 (1);
“the City Council” has the meaning assigned to it by section 6 (2);
“the Corporation” has the meaning assigned to it by section 5 (2);
“the County Council” means the council of the county of Galway;
“the County” means the administrative county of Galway;
“the County Borough” means the county borough of Galway;
“the Borough” means the Borough of Galway established by the Local Government (Galway) Act, 1937 ;
“the Borough Council” means the council established under the Local Government (Galway) Act, 1937 , for the Borough.
num: 5
paragraphs: —(1) On such day (in this Part referred to as the “appointed day”) as the Minister shall appoint by order, the Borough shall cease to be part of the County and shall, as on and from such day, be an administrative county of itself, and be called the County Borough of Galway.
(2) On the appointed day the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Galway shall be and be known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the County Borough of Galway (elsewhere referred to in this Part as “the Corporation”).
(3) The Corporation shall have, in so far as is consistent with this Act or any order made under section 8 or 24 of this Act, the functions which immediately before the appointed day stood vested by law in the Corporation of the Borough of Galway together with such other functions as are for the time being, vested by law in the corporations of county boroughs generally and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the law which immediately before the appointed day applied in respect of the Borough, together with the law which for the time being applies in respect of county boroughs generally, shall, insofar as is consistent with this Act or any order made under section 8 or 24 of this Act, apply to the County Borough.
(4) For the purposes of the election of members of the County Council held next after the commencement of this section and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the Borough shall be deemed not to be part of the County and persons registered as local government electors in respect of the area comprised in the Borough shall not be entitled to vote at the election of members of the said council.
(5) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that, subject to any order made under section 8 or 24 of this Act, anything commenced or otherwise done before the appointed day in relation to, or in the name of, the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Galway shall on and after that day be regarded as if it had been commenced or otherwise done in relation to, or in the name of, the Corporation.
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paragraphs: —(1) (a) The Borough Council shall, on and after the ordinary day of retirement of members thereof which occurs next after the commencement of this section, consist of fifteen members and that number of members shall accordingly be elected at every election of members of the Borough Council held after such commencement.
(b) Section 15 of the Local Government (Galway) Act, 1937 , shall be construed and have effect subject to paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(2) On and from the appointed day there shall be a Galway City Council (elsewhere in this Part referred to as “the City Council”) to fulfil the functions assigned to it by law and it shall consist of a Mayor and the same number of aldermen and councillors as did the Borough Council immediately prior to the appointed day, and the persons who were members of the Borough Council immediately prior to the appointed day shall on that day become and be the members of the City Council and shall in relation to the City Council, hold the same offices as they held, respectively, in relation to the Borough Council.
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paragraphs: —(1) The City Council shall directly perform all the functions of the Corporation which by virtue of subsection (3) of this section are reserved functions and such other functions as are for the time being declared by or under any enactment to be reserved functions.
(2) There shall be an office of Galway City Manager the holder of which shall perform for the Corporation every function of the Corporation which (having regard to subsections (1) and (3) of this section) is not a reserved function.
(3) Subject to this section and to the provisions of any order made under section 8 or 24 of this Act, the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1972, shall apply to the Corporation in like manner as they apply to the council of a county.
(4) For the purposes of giving effect to subsection (3) of this section, in the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1972, except where the context otherwise requires—
(a) any reference to a county shall be construed as including a reference to the County Borough,
(b) any reference to the council of a county shall be construed as including a reference to the Corporation, or, as may be appropriate, to the City Council,
(c) any reference to the chairman of the council of a county shall be construed as including a reference to the Mayor of the County Borough,
(d) any reference to a meeting, member, committee, member of a committee or meeting of a committee of a county council shall be construed as including a reference to a meeting, member, committee, member of a committee or meeting of a committee, as may be appropriate, of the City Council,
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paragraphs: —(1) The Minister may by order make such provisions as may appear to him to be appropriate, arising from, by reason of, for the purposes of, or to give full effect to, the establishment of the Borough as a county borough and such order may include provisions relating to any matter whatsoever arising in relation to such establishment.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the Minister may—
(a) make such provisions in relation to the offices of Galway City Manager and Galway County Manager, or either of them, as he considers appropriate,
(b) make such other provisions as he considers appropriate for or in connection with the management of the County Borough, the County or both the County Borough and the County.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prejudicing the generality of section 24 of this Act.
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paragraphs: — In this Part and in the First , Second and Third Schedules to this Act—
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paragraphs: —(1) On the commencement of this section, each of the parts of the City described in Part II of the First Schedule to this Act shall be detached from the City and from the jurisdiction and powers of the Corporation and added to the County, and on and from such commencement each of the said parts shall be included in, and form part of, the County for all purposes, and the boundary of the County shall be altered accordingly.
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paragraphs: —(1) The City Council shall, on and after the ordinary day of retirement of members thereof next after the commencement of this section, consist of fifty-two members and that number of members shall accordingly be elected at every election of members of that council held after such commencement.
(2) Section 2 of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1945 , shall be construed and have effect subject to subsection (1) of this section.
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paragraphs: —(1) The County, as existing on the commencement of section 10 of this Act, shall, for the purpose of the local elections next occurring after the commencement of this section to the councils established under section 13 (1) of this Act, be divided for the purposes of those elections into three electoral counties to be known for such purposes as—
(a) the electoral County of Dublin — Fingal,
(b) the electoral County of Dublin — Belgard,
(c) the electoral County of DÃºn Laoghaire-Rathdown.
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paragraphs: —(1) A council shall be established in each of the established electoral counties.
(2) The number of members of a council referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be that set out in column (2) of the Table to this section opposite the mention in column (1) thereof of that council.
(3) There shall be elected at the local elections next occurring after the commencement of section 12 of this Act a council for each of the established electoral counties and the Local Elections Acts, 1963 to 1974, shall apply to each election held pursuant to this subsection as if each of the councils to be so elected were the council of a county.
TABLE
Council
Numbers of members of council
(1)
(2)
Council of the electoral County of Dublin — Fingal.
24
Council of the electoral County of Dublin — Belgard.
26
Council of the electoral County of DÃºn Laoghaire-Rathdown.
28
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paragraphs: —(1) The Minister shall by order divide each of the established electoral counties into county electoral areas and fix in respect of each such county the number of members of the council of such county to be elected from every county electoral area in such county, and in making such order the Minister shall comply with the requirements of subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The order required to be made by subsection (1) of this section shall be made as soon as may be after the commencement of section 12 of this Act and in any event not later than the date of the order to be made under section 84 (as amended by section 4 of the Local Elections Act, 1966 ) of the Electoral Act, 1963 , fixing the polling day at the local elections to be held in 1985.
(3) The divisions into county electoral areas effected by an order under subsection (1) of this section shall have effect for the purposes of the elections to be held pursuant to section 13 (3) of this Act and thereafter.
(4) The number of members of the council of an established electoral county to be elected for each county electoral area in such county at the elections to be held pursuant to section 13 (3) of this Act and thereafter shall be the number fixed in that behalf by the order required to be made under subsection (1) of this section.
(5) Subsection (7) of section 33 of the Local Government Act, 1941 , shall apply to any division effected under subsection (1) of this section as it applies to any division made by an order under the said section 33.
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paragraphs: —(1) The register of electors for an established electoral county shall, for the purposes of the elections to be held pursuant to section 13 (3) of this Act, be that portion of the register of electors for the County (as existing immediately after the commencement of section 10 of this Act) as relates to the area which that established electoral county comprises.
(2) The returning officer for the election of members of each of the councils of the established electoral counties shall be the Dublin City Manager and Town Clerk.
(3) The cost of conducting the elections held pursuant to section 13 (3) of this Act shall be defrayed—
(a) in the case of the election as regards the electoral county of DÃºn Laoghaire-Rathdown, by the County Council and the Corporation of the Borough of DÃºn Laoghaire in such proportion as the Dublin City Manager and Town Clerk shall direct,
(b) in the case of the other such elections, by the County Council.
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paragraphs: —(1) There shall not be an election of members of the County Council or the Borough Council at the local elections next occurring after the commencement of section 12 of this Act.
(2) The County Council shall, on and after the ordinary day of retirement of members thereof next occurring after the commencement of section 12 of this Act, consist of seventy-eight members.
(3) Each of the persons elected to the councils of the established electoral counties at the elections held pursuant to section 13 (3) of this Act shall be regarded for all purposes as having been elected to the County Council on the same day as their election to whichever of the councils established under section 13 (1) of this Act is appropriate and on and from the ordinary day of retirement referred to in subsection (2) of this section those persons shall be the members of and shall act as the County Council.
(4) The persons elected at the elections held pursuant to section 13 (3) of this Act for the relevant electoral areas shall be regarded for all purposes as having been elected to the Borough Council on the same day as their election to the Council of the electoral county of DÃºn Laoghaire-Rathdown and on and from the ordinary day of retirement referred to in subsection (2) of this section those persons shall be the members of and shall act as the Borough Council.
(5) Section 43 (1) of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 , shall be construed and have effect subject to subsection (4) of this section.
(6) In this section “the relevant electoral areas” means such of the electoral areas fixed by the order under section 14 of this Act, as regards the electoral county of DÃºn Laoghaire-Rathdown, as the Minister shall by order specify, which order shall also specify the total number of members who by virtue of subsection (4) of this section are to be the members of and act as the Borough Council and which order the Minister is hereby empowered to make.
(7) In this section “the ordinary day of retirement” means the day which, had subsection (1) of this section not been enacted, would, by virtue of the Local Elections Regulations, 1965, be the day on which the members of the County Council would be required to retire.
num: 17
paragraphs: —(1) As soon as may be after the commencement of section 12 of this Act, the Commissioner of Valuation shall prepare in quintuplicate a map, drawn to such convenient scale and in such convenient number of separate sheets as he shall think fit, showing the boundaries of each of the established electoral counties and when such maps have been prepared by the said Commissioner he shall seal each such map and shall, as soon as may be thereafter, deposit them as follows, namely, one of them in the principal office of the said Commissioner, another in the offices of the Minister and the other three in the offices of the County Council.
(2) Every map deposited pursuant to subsection (1) of this section in the principal office of the Commissioner of Valuation or in the offices of the County Council, shall be retained in the office or offices in which it is so deposited, and each such map, or true copies thereof, shall be open for inspection free of charge at the office or offices in which it is so deposited by any person at any time at which such office or offices is or are open for the transaction of public business, and it shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Valuation or the County Council to prepare and supply to any person requesting the same a true copy of any map so deposited with him or them or any particular part thereof and to charge for such copy such sum as he, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, or they, may fix.
num: 18
paragraphs: —(1) The Minister may by regulations provide that, notwithstanding the alteration of boundaries effected by section 10 of this Act—
(a) any enactment (other than this Act) or any order, regulation, rule, bye-law or other instrument or agreement made wholly or partly under any such enactment, shall, for such period as may be specified in the regulations, continue to have effect in the added areas, in the excluded areas or in any part so specified of those areas,
(b) the expression “county borough” in any enactment specified in the regulations or in any such instrument or agreement so specified shall, for such period as is so specified, continue to include (and be deemed always to have continued to include) the excluded areas or any part so specified of the excluded areas.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prejudicing the generality of section 24 of this Act.
num: 19
paragraphs: —(1) (a) On the commencement of this subsection, the area described in the Fourth Schedule to this Act shall, for the purposes of the local elections next occurring after such commencement, be detached from the County Health District of Galway and from the jurisdiction and powers of the council of the county of Galway (in so far as they relate to such purposes) and be added to the Borough of Galway, and on and from such commencement the said area shall be included in, and form part of, the said borough for the said purposes and the boundary of that borough shall be altered accordingly.
(b) The Minister may by order make such incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions as appear to him to be expedient to enable paragraph (a) of this subsection to have effect for the purposes of the elections referred to in that paragraph.
(2) The Minister shall by order provide that the boundary alteration effected by subsection (1) of this section shall (in addition to having effect for the purposes specified in the said subsection (1)) have effect for such other purposes as shall be specified in the order.
(3) Where an order under subsection (2) of this section has not been made prior to the local elections next occurring after the commencement of subsection (1) of this section, then, pending the making and coming into operation of the said order, each of the persons elected at the aforesaid local elections to the council of the Borough of Galway shall be the members of and, as regards the period beginning on the day of their coming into office and ending on the commencement of the said order, shall act as the council for the said borough as it existed immediately prior to the making of the boundary changes effected by the said subsection (1).
(4) For the purposes of giving effect to the order required to be made by subsection (2) of this section, the Minister may either by that order or by another order—
num: 20
paragraphs: —The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of section 19 of this Act and in any event not later than the date of the making of an order under section 84 (as amended by section 4 of the Local Elections Act, 1966 ) of the Electoral Act, 1963 , fixing the polling day at the local elections to be held in 1985, make an order under subsection (2) (as amended by section 87 (4) of the Electoral Act, 1963 ) of section 35 of the Local Government Act, 1941 , in respect of the Borough of Galway and an order under section 33 of the said Act, in respect of the county of Galway.
num: 21
paragraphs: —(1) The Minister may by order, made at any time before the local elections held next after the passing of this Act, alter the number of members of the council of any county specified in the order.
(2) Where the Minister makes an order under this section, on and after the ordinary day of retirement of members of any council to which the order relates next after the passing of this Act, the number of members of any such council shall consist of the number fixed in that regard by the order.
(3) Where an order is made under this section in relation to the council of a county, in so far as the order fixes the number of members of the council, it shall, for the purposes of subsection (7) of section 33 of the Local Government Act, 1941 , be regarded as having been made under the said section 33.
num: 22
paragraphs: — Where, by reason of the making of an order dividing any county, county borough, borough or urban district into electoral areas (including an order made under section 14 , or pursuant to the requirements of section 20 , of this Act), or amending or modifying such a division (which order is in this section hereafter referred to as “the dividing order”), a polling district or part of a polling district is situate in an electoral area, being an electoral area specified in the dividing order and which is identical in area and name with none of the electoral areas existing immediately before the day on which the dividing order is made, the Minister may, by direction, provide for the entry of the name of that electoral area, in respect of the polling district or part of the polling district, in every register of electors and list of corrections prepared under Part II of the Electoral Act, 1963 , and published by a registration authority before the local elections next held after the making of the dividing order.
num: 23
paragraphs: —(1) Where, by reason of the making of an order dividing any county, county borough, borough or urban district into electoral areas (including an order made under section 14 , or pursuant to the requirements of section 20 , of this Act) or amending or modifying such a division (which order is in this subsection subsequently referred to as “the dividing order”), a polling district existing immediately before the day on which the dividing order is made is not wholly situate within one of the electoral areas specified in the dividing order, the appropriate officer shall, with respect to the part of the polling district situate in an electoral area so specified—
(a) join it, or parts of it, with any adjoining polling district or districts, or
(b) constitute it as a polling district and appoint a polling place for it.
(2) An arrangement made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall, as regards a polling district to which it relates, have effect until, and only until, the scheme under section 22 of the Electoral Act, 1963 , and relating to the county, county borough, borough or urban district, as may be appropriate, in which the polling district is situate is next made after the commencement of the relevant dividing order within the meaning of the said subsection (1), comes into operation.
(3) In this section “the appropriate officer” means—
(a) in relation to a polling district situate in a county borough, the manager for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of the county borough (including a person duly appointed either as deputy for such manager or to act in the place of such manager during his absence or incapacity or during a vacancy in his office),
(b) in relation to a polling district situate in an established electoral county, the Dublin City Manager and Town Clerk (including a person duly appointed either as deputy for such manager or to act in the place of such manager during his absence or incapacity or during a vacancy in his office), and
(c) in relation to any other polling district, the secretary of the council of the county in which the polling district is situate (including a person duly appointed either as deputy for such secretary or to act in the place of such secretary during his absence or incapacity or during a vacancy in his office).
num: 24
paragraphs: — Where it appears to the Minister—
(a) having regard to any provision of this Act, that it is appropriate so to do, or
(b) to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of enabling any enactment, other than this Act or, any order, regulation, rule, bye-law or other instrument, or agreement, to have effect in conformity with this Act, or
(c) to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of remedying any inconsistency between any such enactment or instrument and this Act, or
(d) that any such enactment or instrument is adequately replaced or is rendered unnecessary by any provision of this Act,
the Minister may, in relation to any such enactment (including any provision contained in a local, personal or private Act), instrument or agreement, by order provide for—
(e) its application, with any modification or adaptation specified in the order, to local authorities generally, to local authorities of a class or description specified in the order, or to any particular local authority or part so specified of the functional area of a local authority so specified, or
(f) its non-application to local authorities generally, to local authorities of a class or description so specified or to any particular local authority or part so specified of the functional area of a local authority so specified, or
(g) its amendment otherwise or its repeal, revocation or termination.
num: 25
paragraphs: —(1) (a) On and after the ordinary day of retirement of the members of the City Council (within the meaning of section 9 of this Act) next occurring after the commencement of section 11 of this Act the number of members of that Council constituting a quorum shall be thirteen.
(b) Section 31 (2) of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 , shall be construed and have effect subject to paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(2) (a) On and after the ordinary day of retirement of the members of the Council of the Borough of Galway next occurring after the commencement of section 6 of this Act the number of members of that Council constituting a quorum shall be four.
(b) Section 15 of the Local Government (Galway) Act, 1937 , shall be construed and have effect subject to paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(3) Where the Minister makes an order under section 16 (6) of this Act specifying the number of members of the council of the Borough of DÃºn Laoghaire, he shall by order under this subsection fix a quorum for that council.
(4) Where an order under subsection (3) of this section is for the time being in force, section 43 (1) of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 , shall be construed and have effect subject to the terms of the order.
num: 26
paragraphs: —Rule 3 (inserted by section 26 (1) of the Agriculture (An Chomhairle OiliÃºna TalamhaÃ­ochta) Act, 1979) of the Second Schedule to the Agriculture Act, 1931 , shall, as regards the Dublin Committee of Agriculture and such other committee of agriculture (if any) as for the time being stands specified in an order made for the purposes of this section by the Minister, be construed and have effect as if “the same number as the number appointed at the annual meeting of the council held next before the commencement of section 12 of the Local Government (Reorganisation) Act, 1985,” were substituted for “four times the number of county electoral areas in the county at the date of that annual meeting”.
num: 27
paragraphs: —(1) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, a local authority in appointing, whether by nomination or election, members of the local authority or persons who are not members of the local authority (where such is authorised by or under any enactment relating to such appointments) to be members of any body mentioned in subsection (2) of this section or a committee of agriculture shall make such appointments—
num: 28
paragraphs: —(1) (a) The land lying between the existing boundary of the administrative county of Cork and an imaginary straight line drawn from Muccurragh Point in Bantry Bay to League Point in the said bay shall, subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, on and after the commencement of this section, be included in, and form part, of the said administrative county and the boundary of that county shall be altered accordingly.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect—
(i) in case an order under paragraph (c) of this subsection is for the time being in force, for the purposes specified in the order,
(ii) in case such an order is not so in force, for all purposes.
(c) (i) The Minister may by order provide that paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect for, and only for, such purposes as are specified in the order.
(ii) In case an order under this paragraph is for the time being in force, references in any enactment to the functional area of a local authority shall be construed and have effect subject to the terms of the order.
(2) (a) Notwithstanding any enactment relating to the extension, adjustment or other alteration of the boundary of a county or county borough, but subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, the Minister may by order provide that any land specified in the order, being land to which this subsection applies, shall, on and from such date as is specified in the order, be included in, and form part of, a county or county borough specified in the order and the boundary of that county or county borough shall be altered accordingly.
(b) Prior to making an order under this subsection, the Minister shall consult the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland and any other Minister of the Government who, in his opinion, may be concerned, and the council of any county or the corporation of any county borough which, in his opinion, may be affected.
(c) This subsection applies to land—
(i) which is contiguous to the county or county borough to which an order under this subsection relates, and
(ii) all of which is located below the high water mark, and
(iii) is to the landward side of a line every point of which is three miles distant from the high water mark, and
(iv) does not form part of any county or county borough.
(d) An order under this subsection may provide that the order shall have effect for all purposes or for, and only for, such purposes as are specified in the order, and in case purposes are so specified, then for so long as the relevant order remains in force references in any enactment to the functional area of a local authority shall be construed and have effect subject to the terms of the order.
(3) (a) The Minister may by order make such incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions as appear to him to be expedient to enable subsection (1) of this section to have effect.
(b) An order under subsection (1) (c) (i) or (2) of this section may include such incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions as appear to the Minister to be expedient.
(c) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, the Minister may by an order under this subsection—
(i) provide for—
(I) the preparation of official maps and the evidential value of such maps,
(II) the inclusion of the land specified in the order, or of any part of such land, in any borough, urban district or town, or in any other administrative, electoral or geographical area or district, or
num: 29
paragraphs: —Nothing in this Act shall be construed as interrupting or otherwise affecting the continued existence of the council of the County of Dublin or of the Corporation of the Borough of DÃºn Laoghaire or the exercise or performance by either of those bodies of any of its functions.