48 / 364
to the South Eastern Circuit; County Sligo is
transferred from the North East Circuit to the
Midland Circuit.
PENSION ADVISORY SERVICE FOR
MEMBERS
The attention of members is drawn to a service
in respect of a Permanent Sickness and Accident
Scheme and a Personal Pension Policy Scheme. To
date the total amount in premiums paid in respect
of personal pensions exceeds £10,800. To the self-
employed these schemes should commend themselves
and details relating to same will be willingly furnished
by
the
Irish Pensions Trust Limited,
38/39
Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2.
ADOPTION ACT, 1964
The Adoption Act of 1952 provides that a child
cannot be adopted under the Act unless it is illegiti
mate or an orphan. The amendments in this Act
obviate the need for last minute enquiries by the
Adoption Board as to whether the mother who had
consented to the adoption had married between the
time of consent and the time of the adoption Board's
Order.
Section 2 provides that in certain cases where an
illegitimate child has been
legitimated by
the
subsequent marriage of its parents, it may be legally
adopted.
However, the general rule does not
permit adoption if the child's birth has been re
registered in accordance with the Legitimacy Act,
1931. Existing law provided that the consent of the
mother was unnecessary in the case of an illegitimate
child about to be adopted if the mother was incapable
by reason ofmental infirmity, of giving consent. The
present Act makes a like provision for the father as
well.
Section 2, subsection (3) provides that where the
mother of an illegitimate is incapable of giving
consent because of mental infirmity or because she
cannot be found and the Board has no evidence that
the child's natural parents have
subsequently
married, the Board may lawfully act on the assump
tion that the child is still illegitimate at the time
that the order falls to be made and
they may
proceed accordingly without
reference
to
the
possibility of there being a legally recognised father.
The 1952 Act provides that adoption can only be
made in cases of children wtyo are over six months
and under seven years. The 1964 Act provides that
the upper age limit be extended by two years but
only where the child has been with the family since
before its seventh birthday. Section 3 of subsection 3
retrospectively enables the decisions of the Board
made in the terms of the section generally to be
confirmed. The provisions of the 1952 Act were
such that only a tnarried couple who had reached
the age of 30 years could adopt a child, but sub
section (i) of section 5 proposes to allow adoption
by a married couple if they are at least three years
married and if each of them has reached the age of
twenty-five years.
Subsection (2) of the section
proposes to delete the requirement in the 1952 Act
that a person in order to be capable of adopting
a child must be an Irish citizen. However, this does
not delete
the provision that the applicant or
applicants must reside in the State.
Section
6
of the Act alters the provisions of
section 12 of the 1952 Act in that the religion of the
applicant need not be the same as that of the child
proposed to be adopted.
(The Act (No. 2 of 1964) is available from the
Government Publications
Sale Office, G.P.O.
Arcade, Dublin i, price 1/6.)
TOWN PLANNING
Members please note that the following Orders
and Regulations have been made by the Minister for
Local Government in respect of the new Town
Planning Act:
(i) S.I. No. 211 of 1964, the Local Government
(Planning and Development) Act,
1963,
(Appointed Day) Order, 1964,
fixing
ist
October, 1964, for the coming into operation
of the Act.
(ii) S.I. No. 216 of 1964, the Local Government
(Planning and Development) Act,
1963,
(Appeals and References) Regulations, 1964,
regulating the procedure on appeals to the
Minister.
(iii) S.I. No. 217 of 1964, the Local Government
(Planning and Development) Act,
1963,
(Compensation) Regulations, 1964, prescrib
ing the procedure for claiming compensation
under the Act.
(iv) S.I. No. 218 of 1964, the Local Government
(Planning and Development) Act,
1963,
(Licensing) Regulations, 1964, controlling
the granting by Planning Authorities of
licences for the erecting of appliances or
structures on a public road,
(v) S.I. No. 219 of 1964, the Local Government
(Planning and Development) Act,
1963,
(Miscellaneous Regulations) 1964, prescribe
the documents which a Planning Authority
must have in preparing a development plan,
(vi) S.I. No. 221 of 1964, the Local Government
(Planning and
.Development) Act,
1963
(Permission) Regulations, 1964, regulating
the granting of Planning Permissions for
44