PART III.

Acquisition of Existing Mining Businesses by the State.

18. —Whenever it appears to the Minister:—

(a) that, for the purposes of obtaining in adequate quantities commodities essential to the life of the community, the common good requires that the working of any particular deposit of minerals should be controlled by the State, and

(b) that, to secure to the State effective control of the said deposit of minerals, it is necessary that the Minister should acquire a particular existing mining business engaged in working the said deposit or a portion of the said deposit,

the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, either acquire the said existing mining business by agreement with the proprietor thereof, or, in default of agreement, by order (in this Act referred to as a mining business acquisition order) compulsorily acquire the said business.

19. —Whenever the Minister acquires under this Part of this Act an existing mining business by agreement with the proprietor thereof, the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the Minister shall acquire the said business, so far as respects minerals for the benefit of the State and, in all other respects, for the benefit of the Company; and

(b) the price payable to the proprietor of the business on account of such acquisition (including so much of such price as relates to minerals) shall be paid by the Company;

(c) the minerals so acquired (if and in so far as they are not already State minerals) shall, on such acquisition, become and be for all purposes State acquired minerals within the meaning of the Act of 1940, and the provisions of that Act in relation to State acquired minerals shall, so far as they are applicable, apply accordingly.

20. —(1) Whenever the Minister proposes to make a mining business acquisition order he shall—

(a) give to the proprietor of the existing mining business which it is proposed to acquire by the order at least one month's notice in writing of the proposal, and

(b) publish in the Iris Oifigiúil and in such newspapers as the Minister thinks fit including newspapers circulating in the locality notice of the proposal, indicating with reasonable particularity the situation, nature and extent of the minerals, buildings and plant which are the subject matter of the said business, and containing such other information as the Minister considers expedient, and

(c) deposit in the office of the Geological Survey, Dublin, a map (on a suitable scale and showing all relevant detail) of the area in which are situate the minerals which it is proposed to acquire by the order.

(2) A notice of a proposal to acquire an existing mining business given under paragraph (a) of the foregoing sub-section may be so given by sending it by registered post addressed to the person who appears to the Minister to be the proprietor of the business at the principal office at which the business is carried on.

(3) Every map deposited in the office of the Geological Survey, Dublin, under sub-section (1) of this section shall be available at all reasonable times in that office for inspection by any person desiring to inspect the same.

21. —The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every mining business acquisition order- that is to say:—

(a) the order shall specify the name of the existing mining business acquired thereby and the name of the person appearing to the Minister to be the proprietor of that business;

(b) the order shall specify the nature, situation and extent of the minerals (in this Act referred to as the acquired minerals) acquired by the order;

(c) if the acquired minerals are (in whole or in part) State minerals worked by the proprietor of the said business under a lease from the Minister, the order shall, as respects those State minerals, be expressed and operate to vest in the State the lessee's interest under such lease and to merge the said lease in the reversion expectant thereon;

(d) if the acquired minerals are (in whole or in part) State minerals worked by the proprietor of the said business under a licence from the Minister, the order shall, as respects those State minerals, be expressed and operate to terminate such licence;

(e) if the acquired minerals are (in whole or in part) not State minerals, the order shall, as respects those minerals, have the same operation in all respects as a minerals acquisition order under the Act of 1940, and shall accordingly be expressed and shall operate to vest the said minerals in fee simple in the Minister, and those minerals shall, when so vested, become and be for all purposes State acquired minerals within the meaning of the Act of 1940 and the provisions of that Act in relation to State acquired minerals shall, so far as they are applicable, apply accordingly;

(f) the order shall also be expressed and shall operate to transfer to and vest in the Company, free from all charges and encumbrances, the goodwill of the existing mining business acquired thereby and all the property and assets (other than the acquired minerals) which on the relevant date were owned or used by the proprietor of the said business for the purposes thereof, and also all book debts and other moneys owing to the said proprietor on account of the said business and the right to sue for, recover and give good receipts for those debts and moneys;

(g) the expression “the relevant date” in the next preceding paragraph of this section shall, where the order is made within four months after the date of the passing of this Act, mean the 1st day of March, 1941, and shall, in every other case, mean the date on which notice of the proposal to acquire the said business was published in the Iris Oifigiúil in pursuance of this Act;

(h) the order shall not be expressed and shall not operate to impose on or transfer to the Minister or the Company any liability for any of the debts and other liabilities of the proprietor of the existing mining business in relation to or on account of the said business;

(i) the order may contain all or any such supplemental or ancillary provisions as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall think proper.

22. —(1) Whenever the Minister makes a mining business acquisition order, the Company shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be liable to pay compensation in accordance with this Act in respect of the existing mining business (including the acquired minerals) acquired by the order.

(2) No compensation shall be payable in respect of so much (if any) of the acquired minerals as are State minerals.

23. —(1) Any person claiming to be the proprietor of an existing mining business acquired by a mining business acquisition order may apply to the Company for compensation in respect of the said existing mining business and any person claiming to be interested in the said business as an incumbrancer may apply to the Company for the assessment of such compensation.

(2) The Minister may make regulations prescribing the form of application for compensation and the form of application for the assessment of compensation under this section, and the particulars to be specified in those forms respectively, and every application for compensation or for the assessment of compensation under this section shall be made in the appropriate form so prescribed, and contain the particulars required by that form.

(3) No application for compensation or for the assessment of compensation under this section shall be considered unless lodged with the Company within four months (or such longer period, not exceeding altogether six months, as the Minister may in any particular case allow) from the date upon which the notice of the proposal to acquire the existing mining business which is the subject of such application was published in the Iris Oifigiúil in pursuance of this Act.

(4) Every application under this section for the assessment of compensation and also every application under this section for compensation in respect of which the applicant and the Company fail to reach agreement shall be referred by the Company to the Mining Board, and thereupon the Mining Board shall assess the compensation payable in accordance with the next succeeding section.

24. —(1) Compensation in respect of the minerals (other than State minerals) acquired by a mining business acquisition order shall be assessed by the Mining Board in the same manner and on the same basis in all respects and shall be awarded in the same form as if it were compensation for State acquired minerals under the Act of 1940, and the provisions of that Act and of the regulations made thereunder relating to compensation for State acquired minerals shall apply accordingly.

(2) Compensation in respect of an existing mining business (excluding the minerals the subject matter of the said business) shall be assessed by the Mining Board in accordance with the following principles, that is to say:—

(a) the fair value of the existing mining business as a going concern shall be assessed as at the date of acquisition;

(b) the fair value of the goodwill of the said business and of all property and assets (excluding as aforesaid) owned and used by the proprietor of the said business for the purposes thereof on the date of acquisition shall be taken into account in assessing the fair value of the said business as a going concern;

(c) in assessing the fair value mentioned in the next preceding paragraph, account shall be taken of all sums granted out of public moneys to the proprietor of the business for the purposes or any particular purpose of the business;

(d) for the purposes of the foregoing paragraphs, account shall be taken of all book debts and other moneys which are owing to the proprietor of the said business on account thereof on the date of acquisition, and also of the continuing benefit of existing contracts, but account shall not be taken of debts and other liabilities owing by the said proprietor in respect of the said business on that date;

(e) interest at five per cent, per annum shall be allowed as from the date of acquisition.

(3) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in regard to all debts and other liabilities which are by this section prohibited from being taken account of in the assessing of compensation under this section in respect of an existing mining business, that is to say:—

(a) the Company shall not be liable for any such debt or other liability;

(b) the acquisition of the said business by the Company shall not affect the liability of the proprietor of the said business for such debts and other liabilities;

(c) all securities for any of such debts and other liabilities which, immediately before the date of acquisition, attached to the said business shall on the said date cease to affect the said business and shall, in lieu thereof, attach to and be enforceable against the compensation awarded under this section in respect of the said business.

(4) For the purposes of this section, the date of acquisition shall, where the relevant mining business acquisition order is made within four months after the date of the passing of this Act, be taken to be the 1st day of March, 1941, and shall, in every other case, be taken to be the date on which notice of the proposal to acquire the relevant existing mining business was published in the Iris Oifigiúil in pursuance of this Act.

(5) Every assessment of compensation made by the Mining Board under this section shall be final, conclusive and unappealable, and shall be binding on the parties appearing before the Board on the assessment and their privies as if it were a judgment in personam.

(6) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, Parts V and VII of the Act of 1940 shall apply, with such modifications as may be necessary, to the practice and procedure of the Mining Board in assessing compensation under this section, and the power of the Minister to make regulations under section 34 of that Act shall be extended accordingly.

25. —Where the amount of compensation payable under this Part of this Act by the Company to any person is assessed by the Mining Board, and the Company is notified, before payment of such compensation, that a debt is due and owing by that person to any Minister of State or to the Central Fund, the Company may deduct the amount of the debt from the compensation, and may direct that the amount so deducted be (as the case may require) either paid to the appropriate Minister of State or paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

26. —Whenever the Minister acquires (whether by agreement or compulsorily) an existing mining business under this Part of this Act, the Minister shall, as soon as conveniently may be after such acquisition, make to the Company under the Act of 1940 and the Company shall take either (as the Minister shall think proper) a State mining lease of the minerals included in such acquisition or a State acquired minerals licence in respect of those minerals.

27. —(1) As soon as may be after the end of every year, the Company shall furnish to the Minister a report giving, in respect of that year, particulars of all existing mining businesses acquired by the Company, either by agreement or by means of mining business acquisition orders, and such particulars of minerals worked or prospected by the Company as the Minister may consider it expedient in the public interest that the Company should be required to furnish.

(2) Every annual report furnished to the Minister in pursuance of this section shall, within one month after it is so furnished, be laid by the Minister before each House of the Oireachtas.