I move:—
That the Cobh (Queenstown) Gas Order, proposed to be made by the Minister for Industry and Commerce and laid in draft before the Dáil on Friday, the 5th day of July, 1929, under sub-section (4) of Section 10 of the Gas Regulation Act, 1920, be approved.
The Cobh (Queenstown) Gas Order, 1929, is for the purpose of authorising a reconstruction of the existing capital and the raising of additional capital. The Queenstown Gas Company operated under a private Act passed in 1879, the capital of the Company and its borrowing powers being defined by that Act and by the Capital Issues Consent Order made in 1921. The financial powers were confined to the issue of shares to the amount of £25,000 and to borrowings to the additional amount of £12,500. The Company appears to have been hampered in its development by the financial restrictions imposed, and accordingly it is proposed to make an Order in the form submitted, with the object of conferring revised financial powers within the following limits:—(a) To convert the existing shares into £20,500 Consolidated Stock; (b) to create and issue additional stock from time to time as required up to the maximum amount of £25,000; (c) to raise by borrowing, for special purposes up to an amount not exceeding one-half the value of the paid-up stock. The opportunity has been taken to include in the Order a number of general provisions which appear in practically all modern private Acts and Orders for the purpose of defining the powers of and the obligations on the Company. The prices chargeable by the Company for gas supplied are required by the Order to be those prescribed for the time being by the Minister for Industry and Commerce under the provisions of Section 1 of the Gas Regulation Act, 1920.