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The following sections will be of interest to
practitioners :—
Section 8, which provides for the maintenance of
a Register by
the Planning Authority for the
purposes of the Act in respect of all lands within
the area and containing entries of all relevant
matters. The Register is to incorporate a map to
enable a person to trace any entry thereon and an
applicant may obtain a certificate of any entry in
the Register for a fee. It is not clear from the section
if the Planning Authority will give something in the
nature of a search showing all entries relating to
specified premises. It is apparently the duty of the
applicant to inspect the Register himself and then
make application for certificates
in
relation
to
particular entries.
Section 9, which obliges the occupier of any
premises or any person receiving rent to give when
required to the Planning Authority particulars of
the estate or interest by virtue of which he occupies
the premises or the name and address and the estate
or interest (so far as they are known to him) of
every person having an estate or interest in the land.
Section 75 (i), which provides for the disposal
of land by a Planning Authority for the purposes of
the Act, and that the consent of the Minister may in
certain cases be required. (It is not clear what effect
the refusal of or failure to obtain consent would
have upon a
bona fide
purchaser of the premises for
value and it would seem, therefore, that any person
purchasing such land should ensure, by means of a
requisition on title, that the consent of the Minister
has been given.)
Under Sub-section (4) of Section 75 neither the
Landlord and Tenant Acts, 1931 and 1958 nor the
Rent Restrictions Act, 1960, apply to a lease granted
by a Planning Authority where the land has been
acquired by the Authority for the purposes of the
Act and the Authority consider that they will not
require the use of the land for any of their functions
for a particular period. Such a lease is to be expressed
to be a lease granted for the purposes of the
particular sub-section.
Section 82 provides that regulations may be made
for any matters relating to references and appeals
and under sub-section 4 any person conducting an
oral hearing may require an officer of the Planning
Authority to give information in relation thereto
which would be reasonably
required.
Under
Sub-section 7 any person may be required to attend
and give evidence in relation to any matter in
question at the hearing and to produce any books,
deeds, contracts, accounts, vouchers, maps, plans
or other documents in his possession or control
relating to the subject matter of the appeal or
reference.
SOCIAL WELFARE (MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS) BILL, 1963
The above Bill, which was introduced recently,
gives effect to the budget increases in social assistance
payments and for the increase in the rates of social
insurance benefits and contributions from January,
1964. The Bill also provides for an increase in the
maximum yearly means which a person may have
in order to qualify for a non-contributory old age
pension. Section 2 of the Bill provides for increasing
all rates of non-contributory old age and blind
pensions by 2/6 per week and it comes into operation
on the ist November, 1963.
CORONERS' ACT, 1962 (FEES AND EX-
PENSES) REGULATIONS, 1963
The above regulations (S.I. No. 145 of 1963)
were signed by the Minister for Justice on the 25th
July, 1963. They prescribe various fees and expenses
for the purposes of the Coroners' Act, 1962
vl^. :
the fee to be paid to a Coroner who holds an inquest
outside his own district, the fee chargeable by a
Coroner or a County Registrar for furnishing copies
of inquest documents, the fees and expenses payable
in respect of postmortem and special examinations
and the attendance of witnesses at inquests and the
removal or custody of a body. They replace the
existing regulations (S.I. No. 92 of 1962). The
regulations may be obtained from the Government
Publications Sales Office, G.P.O. Arcade, Dublin,
price gd.
FINANCE BILL, 1963
The following is an excerpt from the Official
Report of the Dail Debates relating to Section 16 of
the Finance Bill, 1963. This section provides that
the Revenue Commissioners may require any person
in receipt of profits from a trade, profession or
vocation to produce accounts and books relating
thereto, or to make them available for inspection
and copying.
"MR. SWEETMAN :
I move amendment No. 8 :
To add to the section a new sub-section as
follows :
' (3) Nothing in this section shall oblige a
solicitor to disclose, contrary
to professional
privilege, any information concerning the affairs
of any client of his or to produce any book or
account from which any information concerning
any client can be obtained.'