Select Committee Town Planning Bill, 1929 debate -
Thursday, 28 Nov 1929

SECTION 15.

(1) For the purposes of this Act, the expression " local authority " means the council of any borough or district council of any urban district or rural district or the town commissioners of any town not being an urban district.

(2) Any expenses incurred by a local authority under this Act, or any scheme made thereunder, shall be defrayed as expenses of the authority under the Housing of the Working Classes (Ireland) Acts, 1890-1921, and the authority may borrow, for the purposes of this Act, or any scheme made thereunder, including the cost of the preparation or adoption of a scheme, in the same manner and subject to the same provisions as they may borrow for the purposes of those Acts.

(3) Money borrowed for the purposes of this Act, or any scheme made thereunder, shall not be reckoned as part of the debt of a local authority for the purposes of the limitations on borrowing contained in Section 238 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878.

Mr. Johnson

I move amendment 46:

Before Section 15 to insert a new section as follows:—

" 15. Every order or regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next subsequent twenty one days on which either House has sat annulling such order or regulation, such order or regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order or regulation."

This is a new section which I propose, because I think it is right and proper that every order made by the Minister should be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. I think it is right and proper that the Minister's power should be subject to that.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. Johnson

I move amendment 47:

To delete sub-section (1) of Section 15.

Chairman

This is consequential.

Amendment put and agreed to.

Mr. Linehan

I move amendment 48:

To delete sub-section (3) of Section 15.

This is consequential. This amendment or something like it appears in several Acts. Assuming that the local authorities' debt will not be increased by expenditure under this Act—that the borrowing power will not be affected by it——

Chairman

You mean that any money borrowed under this cannot be counted against their limit?

Mr. Linehan

I think that the entire sum ought to be cut down.

Chairman

Their audited accounts will have the entire sum. The local authorities are limited in the amount they can borrow.

Mr. Linehan

That Act did not take into consideration that they were to incur expense under some other Act by which they would not be bound to put down that original sum in their existing debt.

Chairman

That is not exactly so. They are bound to say that is the debt, but if their borrowing power is limited to say £30,000?

Mr. Linehan

Why not pass an Act?

Chairman

That is outside the scope of this Bill altogether.

Mr. Farren

This is a safeguard that any expense incurred in the carrying out of these schemes shall not be counted in the amount to be borrowed. It does not affect the borrowing powers of the council at all.

Mr. Linehan

Then any debt incurred from time to time need not be counted.

Chairman

I think there is another clause like this in the Bill.

Mr. Linehan

Well, as this principle is in other Bills I withdraw my amendment.

Amendment by leave withdrawn.

Section 15 put and agreed to.