The Gazette 1964/67

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

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