No. 401/1939:

AIR-RAID PRECAUTIONS (APPROVAL OF EXPENDITURE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES) REGULATIONS, 1939.

AIR-RAID PRECAUTIONS (APPROVAL OF EXPENDITURE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES) REGULATIONS, 1939.

WHEREAS it is enacted by section 35 of the Air-raid Precautions Act, 1939 (No. 21 of 1939), that the Minister for Defence with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance shall, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, pay, towards such expenditure by a local authority under Part II of the said Act as may be approved by him in accordance with regulations to be made under the said Part II grants not exceeding 70 per cent. of such approved expenditure :

AND WHEREAS it is enacted by section 36 of the said Act that the Minister for Defence may, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, make regulations in relation to (amongst other matters) the approval by the Minister for Defence of expenditure of local authorities incurred for the purposes of air-raid precautions schemes, or incurred, with the concurrence of the Minister for Defence, otherwise than in pursuance of air-raid precautions schemes, for the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of attack from the air, and in particular as to the manner in which any such expenditure is to be estimated for the purpose of being so approved, and such regulations may permit the approval of expenditure incurred after the 30th day of September, 1938 :

NOW, THEREFORE, I SEÁN MOYLAN, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, in exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister for Defence by section 36 of the Air-raid Precautions Act, 1939 (No. 21 of 1939), and delegated to me under section 6 of the Emergency Powers Act, 1939 (No. 28 of 1939), and of every and any other power me in this behalf enabling, do hereby, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance testified by his signature hereto, make the following regulations, that is to say :—

1.—These Regulations may be cited as the Air-raid Precautions (Approval of Expenditure by Local Authorities) Regulations, 1939.

2.—In these Regulations—

the expression " the Act " means the Air-raid Precautions Act, 1939 (No. 21 of 1939);

the expression " the Minister " means the Minister for Defence ;

the expression " air-raid precautions arrangements " means arrangements made by a local authority in pursuance of an air-raid precautions scheme approved by the Minister under the Act or, with the concurrence of the Minister, otherwise than in pursuance of such a scheme, for the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of attack from the air ;

the expression " air-raid precautions services " means services in connection with air-raid precautions arrangements.

3.—Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, the Minister may approve, for the purposes of section 35 of the Act, of expenditure of a local authority incurred for the purposes of air-raid precautions arrangements.

4.—Expenditure incurred for the purposes of air-raid precautions arrangements shall not be approved for the purposes of section 35 of the Act unless it represents expenditure incurred actually and specifically for the purposes of air-raid precautions arrangements and does not include any expenditure which would have had to be incurred had not air-raid precautions arrangements been made.

5.—(1) Expenditure of a capital nature incurred on or after the date of these Regulations by a local authority shall not be approved for the purposes of section 35 of the Act unless the previous sanction of the Minister to such expenditure was obtained.

(2) The Minister may, if he thinks fit, permit any local authority to incur expenditure of a capital nature as regards any specified item or items, the cost of which or each of which does not exceed five pounds, and in that case any expenditure incurred by such local authority, in accordance with such permission, shall be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (1) of this Regulation to have been incurred with the previous sanction of the Minister.

(3) The Minister may at any time withdraw any permission granted under paragraph (2) of this Regulation

6.—(1) Where a local authority proposes to incur expenditure of a non-capital nature during a particular period, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say :—

(a) such local authority shall submit to the Minister an estimate of such proposed expenditure ;

(b) on receipt of such estimate the Minister may either sanction such estimate, with or without modification, or refuse to sanction such estimate ;

(c) if the Minister refuses to sanction such estimate, such local authority shall submit a new estimate ;

(d) the provisions of clauses (b) and (c) of this paragraph shall apply in respect of any such new estimate.

(2) Expenditure of a non-capital nature incurred on or after the date of these Regulations by a local authority shall not be approved for the purposes of section 35 of the Act unless the Minister has sanctioned an estimate for such expenditure under this Regulation.

(3) Where an estimate of expenditure of a non-capital nature has been sanctioned by the Minister under this Regulation, the Minister may approve, for the purposes of section 35 of the Act, of the expenditure to such amount as appears to him to be reasonable not exceeding the amount of such estimate as so sanctioned.

7.—The fact that the Minister has approved, under section 13 of the Act of an air-raid precautions scheme or has concurred in proposals for the purpose of making provision, otherwise than in pursuance of such a scheme, for the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of hostile attack from the air, shall not be treated as implying the approval, for the purposes of section 35 of the Act, of the expenditure of any particular sum on any matter included in or connected with such scheme or proposals.

8.—Notwithstanding anything contained in these Regulations, expenditure on salaries, wages or other remuneration of persons, being officers, servants, or employees of a local authority, shall be approved for the purposes of section 35 of the Act only in so far as—

(a) such persons were appointed to the service of such local authority for the purpose of air-raid precautions services and are wholly employed on air-raid precautions services, or

(b) such expenditure represents additional cost incurred by reason of the fact that some person originally appointed to the service of such local authority for other purposes is employed on air-raid precautions services, or

(c) such expenditure represents additional remuneration which has been paid to any such person in respect of additional duties performed by that person in connection with air-raid precautions arrangements, or

(d) such remuneration represents the appropriate proportion of the remuneration of a person appointed to the service of such local authority for the purposes of air-raid precautions services who is partly employed on other duties.

9.—Expenditure in the nature of loan charges, rent and other like payments in respect of property used or appropriated (whether in whole or in part) for air-raid precautions arrangements shall only be approved for the purposes of section 35 of the Act in so far as it represents expenditure which would not have been incurred if such property had not been so appropriated or used.

10.—Expenditure which has been incurred at any time after the 30th September, 1938, but before the date of these Regulations, for the purpose of making provision for the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of hostile attack from the air, may be approved for the purposes of section 35 of the Act notwithstanding that the prior concurrence of the Minister was not obtained to the making of such provision, if and in so far as the Minister is satisfied that such provision was in all the circumstances reasoanble and proper.

11.—Any question which may arise under these Regulations as to the inclusion or exclusion of any item of expenditure or receipt or as to the manner in which such item is to be estimated or as to the amount to be approved for the purposes of section 35 of the Act shall be decided by the Minister and his decision shall be final.

Given under my hand this 17th day of November, 1939.

SEÁN MOYLAN,

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence.

I concur in the making of the foregoing Regulations. Dated this 23rd day of November, 1939.

SEÁN T. O CEALLAIGH,

Minister for Finance.