Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Feb 1990

Vol. 396 No. 2

Written Answers. - Departmental Legislation.

Proinsias De Rossa

Ceist:

91 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Finance, in respect of legislation passed under the aegis of his Department, which required (a) a ministerial order or (b) an order of the Oireachtas to implement (1) the entire Act or (2) any section of the Act, he will list any Act or section of an Act which has not yet been implemented; and the reason for any such non-implementation.

Minister for Finance (Mr. A. Reynolds)

The following is the position in relation to legislation for which I am responsible.

(i) Section 2 (1) of the Exchange Control Act, 1954, provided that the Act would come into operation "on such day or days as by order or orders made by the Minister for Finance might be fixed therefor". The Exchange Control (Commencement) Order, 1955 (S.I. No. 128 of 1955) fixed 1 July 1955 as the day on which the Act — other than section 14 and section 15(1) — came into operation. These sections dealt with a proposed system of authorised depositaries for reserved securities (section 14) and a prohibition on the import of such securities and of coupons (section 15 (1)). The reason for non-implementation of these sections is that the obligation to deposit bearer and foreign securities and the prohibition on their import has not been deemed necessary in view of other safeguards available.

(ii) The Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1976, made provision for the eventual repeal and amendment by ministerial order of sections of the superannuation code dating back to 1834. The Act provided this would be done in conjunction with the making of a consolidated principal civil service superannuation scheme. The scheme has been drafted and is with the parliamentary draftsman's office for clearance before being signed by me.

(iii) Section 4 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1987, and the repeals contained in section 26 thereof relating to section 21 of the National Monuments Act, 1930, and section 15 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1954, are not yet in force. These provisions would substitute the Historic Monuments Council for the National Monuments Advisory Council. The application of the provisions is still being considered in the light of the recent setting up of the National Heritage Council.

(iv) Section 13 of the Central Bank Act, 1989, dealing with fees in respect of supervision by the Central Bank has not yet been implemented as it is under examination by the bank. Section 27 of the Central Bank Act, 1989, dealing with investigation of complaints is currently being examined in consultation with the Central Bank.