Great Northern Railway Act, 1958
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: —This Act may be cited as the Great Northern Railway Act, 1958.
num: 2
paragraphs: —In this Act—
“the Act of 1953” means the Great Northern Railway Act, 1953 ;
“the Board” means CÃ³ras Iompair Ãireann;
“the Company” means Dundalk Engineering Works Limited or such other company as the Minister may by order designate as its successor for the purposes of this Act;
“the transfer date” has the meaning assigned to it by section 7;
“land” includes land covered by water and any easement, profit or right in or over land or land covered by water;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;
“the Ministry”means the Ministry of Commerce for Northern Ireland;
“the Minister of Commerce”means the Minister of Commerce for Northern Ireland;
“the outgoing Board”means the Great Northern Railway Board;
num: 3
paragraphs: —The Minister is hereby authorised to enter into an agreement with the Ministry in the terms of the draft set out in the Schedule.
num: 4
paragraphs: — Section 12 of the Finance Act, 1895 , shall not operate so as to require the Board to deliver to the Revenue Commissioners a copy of this Act or of an order under section 8 or to pay any stamp duty under the said section 12 on any such copy.
num: 5
paragraphs: —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
num: 6
paragraphs: — (1) The following provisions of the Act of 1953 are hereby repealed as from the transfer date: Part II (except sections 6, 17, 18 and 19), Part III, sections 28 and 34, subsection (2) of section 35, Part V and Part VI.
(2) The Act of 1953, so far as unrepealed by subsection (1), is hereby repealed as from the date of dissolution of the outgoing Board under section 20.
num: 7
paragraphs: —(1) The part of the undertaking of the Great Northern Railway Board within the State shall vest in CÃ³ras Iompair Ãireann (in this Act called “the Board”) on the 1st day of October, 1958 (in this Act called “the transfer date”).
num: 8
paragraphs: —(1) The Minister may by order vest in the Company such land (being land vested in the outgoing Board or vested in the Minister and used or occupied by the outgoing Board for the purposes of the Dundalk Works or parts of any such land) and such chattels used or acquired in or in connection with the Dundalk Works as may be agreed between the outgoing Board and the Company or, failing agreement, be determined by the Minister and, in either case, indicated in the order.
(2) The order shall operate to vest (on payment by the Company of such consideration, if any, as may be specified in the order) such lands and chattels in the Company on such day as may be provided for by the order for all the estate, right, title and interest of the outgoing Board or the Minister, as the case may be.
num: 9
paragraphs: —(1) The Board shall, to the exclusion of the outgoing Board, be subject to all liabilities (other than liabilities in relation to land not vested in the Board) to which the outgoing Board was subject immediately before the transfer date.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any statutory obligation of the outgoing Board to repay any moneys advanced in respect of anticipated losses.
(3) All contracts, deeds, bonds, agreements and other instruments and all working arrangements subsisting immediately before the transfer date and affecting the outgoing Board (otherwise than in relation to land not vested in the Board) shall be of as full force and effect against or in favour of the Board and may be enforced as fully and effectually as if, instead of the outgoing Board, the Board had been a party thereto.
num: 10
paragraphs: —(1) The capital liability of the outgoing Board to the Minister and to the Minister of Commerce, directed by subsection (2) of section 35 of the Act of 1953 to be shown in the accounts of the outgoing Board, is hereby discharged with effect as from immediately before the transfer date.
(2) The liabilities of the outgoing Board to the Minister in respect of payments made under subsection (3) of section 30 of the Act of 1953, or under subsection (3) of section 33 of that Act, are hereby discharged with effect as from immediately before the transfer date.
num: 11
paragraphs: —On and after the transfer date any public service vehicle licence under the Road Traffic Act, 1933 , held immediately before that date by the outgoing Board shall stand transferred to the Board and shall have effect as if the Board were named therein as the holder.
num: 12
paragraphs: —All bye-laws made or deemed to have been made by the outgoing Board and in force immediately before the transfer date shall, on and after that date, continue in force in relation to the undertaking vested in the Board by this Act and be deemed to have been made under section 22 of the Act of 1950 and shall be capable of being amended or revoked by bye-laws under that section.
num: 13
paragraphs: —All rules and regulations made by the outgoing Board or by the former Great Northern Railway Company (Ireland) and in force immediately before the transfer date shall, on and after that date, continue in force until revoked, altered or superseded.
num: 14
paragraphs: —(1) Subject to subsection (2), every person who, immediately before the transfer date, was an officer or servant of the outgoing Board and was then resident in the State shall on that date become an officer or servant of the Board on the same terms and conditions of service.
(2) (a) Any such officer or servant who, immediately before the transfer date, was a member of the Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund shall continue to be an officer or servant of the outgoing Board and shall, on and after that date, be seconded for duty to the Board.
(b) The obligations, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice, of the outgoing Board under the Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund in respect of every such officer or servant shall continue to be binding on the outgoing Board and, after the dissolution of the outgoing Board, shall bind the Board.
(c) All moneys from time to time required by the outgoing Board to discharge its obligations in respect of any such officer or servant shall on demand be paid to it by the Board.
(d) All the rights and obligations conferred or imposed on the outgoing Board by the contract of service or by law in respect of an officer or servant so seconded shall, save as provided by paragraph (b), be rights and obligations of the Board.
(e) On the dissolution of the outgoing Board every seconded officer or servant then in its service shall become an officer or servant of the Board on the same terms and conditions of service.
(3) (a) The obligations, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice, of the outgoing Board under the Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund in respect of every person who, immediately before the transfer date, is entitled to benefit under that Fund and who was resident in the State when he first became so entitled shall continue to be binding on the outgoing Board and, after the dissolution of the outgoing Board, shall bind the Board.
(b) All moneys from time to time required by the outgoing Board to discharge its obligations in respect of any such person shall on demand be paid to it by the Board.
num: 15
paragraphs: —(1) In this section—“existing superannuation scheme” means a pension or staff fund referred to in the scheduled agreement in so far as it applies to—
(a) any former officer or servant of the outgoing Board transferred or seconded to the Board, or
(b) any person who, immediately before the transfer date, is entitled to benefit under any such fund and who was resident in the State when he first became so entitled;
“member” means any such former officer or servant or person so entitled.
(2) The outgoing Board shall transfer to the Board the securities and moneys held by it for the purposes of an existing superannuation scheme certified by an actuary appointed jointly by the Minister and the Ministry to be appropriate to its members to be held by the Board for the same purposes.
(3) The Board, subject to the approval of the Minister, shall from time to time appoint trustees for the purposes of any existing superannuation scheme and shall transfer the securities and moneys held by it for the purposes of the scheme to the said trustees.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section, every existing superannuation scheme and the management thereof shall, on and after the transfer date, continue in being.
(5) For the purposes of any enactment and of rules and regulations relating to any existing superannuation scheme, the following provisions shall, on and after the transfer date, have effect:
(a) any power of the outgoing Board or any officer thereof in relation to the said scheme may be exercised by the Board or any officer of the Board authorised by the Board in that behalf;
(b) the service or employment or dismissal under or by the Board of any officer or servant of the outgoing Board who is employed by the Board shall be deemed to be service or employment or dismissal under or by the outgoing Board;
(c) where under the rules of the said scheme the outgoing Board is empowered to appoint officers and servants to any managing committee, the Board in exercising those powers shall appoint officers or servants of the Board who are members of the said scheme or who, but for this Act or the Act of 1953, would have been eligible for appointment to such managing committee.
(6) The obligations, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice, of the outgoing Board in respect of any existing superannuation scheme and in respect of every member of the said existing superannuation scheme shall be binding on the Board.
(7) All persons who are or have been members of any existing superannuation scheme and all persons claiming in right of any such members shall be entitled to the same benefits, rights and privileges and subject to the same obligations, whether obtaining legally or by customary practice, as such persons would have been or might have become entitled or subject to but for this Act.
(8) Any former officer or servant of the outgoing Board transferred to the Board who is not a member of any existing superannuation scheme shall, so long as he remains in the service of the Board, have the same right (if any) to become a member of any such scheme as he would have had but for this Act if he had remained in the service of the outgoing Board.
(9) An officer or servant of the Board who is a member of an existing superannuation scheme shall not be eligible to become a member of a superannuation scheme established before the transfer date for employees of the Board.
(10) The Board may whenever it thinks proper prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme amending (whether by addition, omission or variation) an existing superannuation scheme or amending, as aforesaid, or revoking an amending scheme under this section for the time being in force, and subsections (2), (3), (4) and (6) of section 44 of the Transport Act, 1950 , shall apply in relation to every scheme submitted under this section.
(11) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the Board from amending an existing superannuation scheme in accordance with a power in that behalf contained therein.
(13) References in this section to an existing superannuation have been set up under an irrevocable trust.
(13) References in this section to an existing superannuation scheme are to the scheme as adapted by section 40 of the Act of 1953.
num: 16
paragraphs: —(1) In this section—
num: 17
paragraphs: —(1) This section shall have effect in the following cases:
(a) where, as a consequence of the vesting on the transfer date of the part of the undertaking of the outgoing Board within the State, the Board, within five years after the passing of this Act, dispenses with the services of an officer or servant (including an officer or servant transferred or seconded under section 14) or transfers him to another position in its service;
(b) where, before the transfer date, the outgoing Board, as a consequence of ceasing to provide a service of trains, dispensed with the services of an officer or servant or transferred him to another position in its service, and the officer or servant was resident in the State at the time of his dismissal or transfer;
(c) where the Board ceases to provide or permanently reduces any transport service by rail or inland waterway or substitutes diesel for steam traction or where an order is made under section 9 of the Transport Act, 1958 , in relation to a specified level crossing and as a consequence thereof the Board, within five years after the passing of that Act, either dispenses with the services of an officer or servant (being an officer or servant transferred or seconded under section 14) or transfers him to another position in its service.
(2) This section applies only to an officer or servant who at the date of his dismissal or transfer was employed in a permanent capacity or who was, except for casual interruptions of employment, employed, whether by the outgoing Board or by the Board, during the whole of the preceding three years.
num: 18
paragraphs: —(1) This section shall have effect where, as a consequence of the undertaking of the outgoing Board having ceased to be vested in that Board, the Irish Railway Clearing House, within five years after the passing of this Act, dispenses with the services of an officer or servant or transfers him to another position in its service.
(2) This section applies only to an officer or servant who at the date of his dismissal was employed in a permanent capacity or who was, except for casual interruptions of employment, employed by the Irish Railway Clearing House during the whole of the preceding three years.
num: 19
paragraphs: —(1) Section 38 of the Act of 1953, which provides for compensation in certain cases of dismissal or transfer of officers and servants, shall not apply to a person to whom section 17 applies.
(2) The repeal of the said section 38 shall not affect the right of any person entitled to compensation under it to the payment or continuance of such compensation.
num: 20
paragraphs: —(1) When the outgoing Board has complied with any request made to it by the Board for the purpose of securing that the ownership of any property or assets or any right is effectively transferred to the Board and ascertained that the Board does not desire to make any further request, the outgoing Board shall notify the Minister.
(2) If the Minister, after consultation with the Minister of Commerce, is satisfied (whether any such notice has been given to him or not) that any request so made has been complied with and that there are no further requirements to be complied with, the Minister shall make an order that there is no reason for the continued existence of the outgoing Board and shall cause the order to be published in Iris OifigiÃºil, and upon the publication thereof the outgoing Board shall be dissolved and section 6 of the Act of 1953, by which it was incorporated, shall cease to have effect.
(3) During the period beginning on the transfer date and ending on the dissolution of the outgoing Board, the statutory provisions and other instruments relating to it shall remain in force in relation thereto as if this Act had not passed, so far as the powers conferred thereby are required for the remaining purposes of the outgoing Board.
num: 21
paragraphs: —Every notice served by or on the outgoing Board before the transfer date the effect or term of which has not ceased or expired before that date shall, so far as it is not inconsistent with this Act, continue in force and have effect thereafter as if it were a notice served by or on the Board on the date on which it was actually served and as if the functions or property to which the said notice relates had on the same date already vested in the Board.
num: 22
paragraphs: —(1) The outgoing Board shall, on and after the transfer date, continue to be liable under the Income Tax Acts to prepare and deliver any statement, return or particulars required for the purposes of those Acts for any year of assessment ending on or before the 5th day of April next following that date.
(2) Assessment to income tax for any year of assessment ending on or before the 5th day of April next following the transfer date may be made on the outgoing Board on or after that date, and income tax in respect of any such assessment so made, which shall have become final and conclusive, shall, when it becomes due and payable, be deemed to have become due and payable before that date.
(3) For the purposes of this section the secretary of the Board or other officer performing the duties of secretary of the Board shall be deemed to be secretary of the outgoing Board or other officer performing the duties of secretary.
(4) The Board shall be and is hereby empowered to deduct out of the emoluments of any person holding an office or employment of profit under the Board any income tax charged on the outgoing Board in respect of any office or employment of profit held by such person under the outgoing Board.
(5) For the purposes of this section but not further or otherwise the outgoing Board shall be deemed to continue in existence on and after the date of dissolution under section 20.
num: 23
paragraphs: —The annual grant to be made by the Minister to the Board under section 10 of the Transport Act, 1958 , in the financial year beginning on the 1st day of April, 1959, and in each of the next four financial years is hereby increased from £1,000,000 to £1,175,000 and that section shall stand amended accordingly.
num: 24
paragraphs: — Section 28 of the Transport Act, 1950 (as amended by section 2 of the Transport Act, 1955 ) is hereby amended by the substitution in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) (which imposes a limit on temporary borrowing) of £2,000,000 for £1,500,000.
num: 25
paragraphs: —Subsection (1) of section 30 of the Transport Act, 1950 (as amended by section 3 of the Transport Act, 1955 ) is hereby amended by the substitution in paragraph (b) (which imposes a limit on the guarantee by the Minister for Finance of temporary borrowing) of £1,500,000 for £1,000,000.