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a Department of State, to which was assigned the
administration and business of the public service of
the State in relation to specific matters. He was not
essentially a trading corporation.
The section did not specifically give any right to
engage in the business of aerodrome operator but merely
a rignt to establish and maintain aerodromes.
Thorough search of similar legislation
The President continued : "I made a fairly thorough
search through other legislation in an attempt to find a
similar provision which has been read as conferring on
a Minister of State an implied power to charge for the
services provided by him and I have failed to find any."
During the course of hia starch it occurred to him
that Ministers of State did carry on certain activities of
a public nature and made charges in respect of them.
For example, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
carried on the business of the Post Office and also tele-
graphic and telephonic communication. It appeared
that the Minister had a statutory monopoly in these
businesses and that the charges were fixed by virtue of
statutory provisions. The same Minister was authorised
to carry on broadcasting stations under Section 17 of
the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926, and Section 18 of
the same Act authorised him to charge fees for the
distribution from a broadcasting station of any class or
classes of broadcasting matter and provide for the fixing
of the amount of the fees to be charged.
The Minister for Justice, who provided a service in
the form of a registry of titles in the Land Registry, was
authorised, under Section 14 of the Registration of Title
Act, 1964, to charge fees. The Minister for Lands was
given by Section 9 of the Forestry Act, 1946, what
amounted to a power to engage in business as if we
were a private person.
The Minister for Transport and Power was given the
express authority to charge for certain services rendered
to aircraft under Section 12 of the Air Navigation
(Euro Control) Act, 1963.
No implied power to chaige for other services
Departing from the domain of Departments of State
to look at other public services, the President said that
he found that County Councils had imposed on them,
by Section 24 of the Local Authority Act, 1925, the
duty of maintaining and constructing county roads.
"But I think it would hardly be argued that this gave
an implied power to charge tolls for the right of pass-
age over such roads." Under the Health Act, 1970,
Health Boards were authorised to provide and main-
tain hospitals, but provision was made under Section
53, 54 and 55 for charges for hospital services.
The President said that he had come to the conclu-
sion that Section 37 of the Air Navigation and Trans-
port Act, 1936, did not authorise the plaintiff to charge
for the services which he provided at aerodromes.
"He may have power to fix charges for landings at
aerodromes, but in my view it is not to be found in the
section relied on. No other authority was suggested dur-
ing the course of the argument. Accordingly, I consider
that the plaintiff has not shown that he had any right
to recover the landing fees claimed in this action and
that his action should be dismissed."
The Irish Times
(1st June 1972)
Court order to prevent picketing by drivers.
Eighteen lorry drivers employed by John A. Wood Ltd.,
Victoria Cross, Cork, have been restrained by an order
of the Dublin High Court from picketing the com-
pany's premises at Carrigtwohill, Classes, Garryhesta,
Inchigaggin and Carrigrohane, in Co. Cork. It was
stated that picketing has already cost the company
£20,000.
Anthony D. Barry, general manager and director of
the company, in an affidavit, stated that the company
employed 365 union members, 327 of whom, including
the defendants, were members of the I.T.G.W.U. On
March 14th an agreement was registered between that
union and the company over rates of pay and overtime.
It was the practice of the company to offer the em-
ployees overtime work and no assumption of such work
was made by the employees without the express offer
of the company.
On May 22nd the supervisor in charge of transport
at the company's weighbridge at Classes, Mr. T. Lucey,
told him that one of the defendants, J. P. Burns, had
worked the previous Saturday without the offer of
such work. Mr. Lucey stated that when questioned,
Mr. Burns admitted that this was the case, but said it
was his right to such work when the Readymix plant
at Inchigaggin was in operation, and that if the com-
pany attempted to interfere with this right the plant
would be picketed by the defendants.
Mr. Barry said that he instructed Mr. Lucey to
deduct the hours worked by Mr. Burns from his pay
sheet. On May 26th the defendants stopped work on
the instigation of Mr. Burns. A union representative
informed him that the union could not support the
defendants in their unofficial action and could not pur-
sue the defendants' grievances until they returned to
work.
Mr. Barry added that on May 30th it was reported
to him by one of the company's drivers, who was not a
defendant, that he was assaulted and quite severely
battered while transporting a load of burned limestone
from Carrigtwohill to Cork. He did not recognise who
his assailants were.
The President of the High Court, Mr. Justice
O'Keeffe. granted the injunction to the company and
it is effective until June 12th.
The Irish Times
(1st June 1972)
171