I move the following amendment:—
NEW SECTION.
Before Section 4 to insert the following new section:—
4.—Section 19 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution therein for sub-section (2) of the following sub-section:—
(2) a member of the harbour authority who is absent from more than six consecutive meetings of such harbour authority shall vacate his office unless the harbour authority decides that there is good reason for such absence
and the said section shall have effect accordingly.
I hope, Sir, I am not interfering with the atmosphere of the House in asking that this small amendment be inserted in the Bill. The amendment is of rather trifling importance but it seeks to deal with a matter which has caused some difficulty in the case of harbour authorities and I take it the Minister will not have any strong feeling against accepting it. I want to draw attention in the first place to the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 19 of the Harbours Act, 1946. That sub-section provides that if a member of a harbour authority is absent from more than half the meetings of the harbour authority during any period of six consecutive months he shall vacate his office unless the harbour authority decides that there is good reason for such absence. Normally, one would say that that would not create much hardship but in fact it creates a rather undesirable situation, both from the point of view of the officials of the harbour authority and from the point of view of members of the harbour authority.
You will observe that disqualification arises where a member is absent during any period of six consecutive months from the majority of the meetings of the harbour authority. In order to keep track of the attendance of members, the secretary of the harbour authority after every meeting has to check the attendances to see whether during the past six months a particular member was absent from the majority of the meetings. Let us say there were nine meetings in six months. If the particular member was absent from five he is automatically disqualified from membership unless, of course, the harbour authority decides that there were adequate reasons for his absence. In practice, what has happened in the case brought to my notice is that a member of a harbour authority who was absent from more than half the meetings over a period of six consecutive months was notified that he was no longer a member. It is true that his absences were due to his interest in other public works. He was attending meetings of Dáil Eireann. If he were to write a letter to the harbour authority explaining that his absences were due to that cause there is no doubt, of course, that the harbour authority would be entitled to reinstate him to membership. But it is an unsatisfactory position that a man who is performing public duties as a public representative should be notified in these circumstances that he has ceased to be a member and should have to make that appeal. I am not quite sure but I know that at one stage he decided that he would not make any appeal to be restored to membership.
It seems to me the amendment is simple and straightforward and is in keeping with the practice in respect of most local authorities. It seems to me much more intelligible that the absences should refer to absences from consecutive meetings rather than to isolated absences spread over any six consecutive months because, bear in mind, the six months period does not necessarily run from the 1st January or the 1st July. For the purpose of the Act it has been held that the six consecutive months may run from any date. It may be the 1st January, the 1st April, or the 1st November. It is obvious that the arrangement I suggest is preferable and more easily understood. It is easy, too, for a person who has occasion to absent himself from meetings of this kind for good and sufficient reason, to follow his position in relation to attendances and to know when in fact he has missed six consecutive meetings. That is preferable to the position of not knowing at any time how he stands in relation to attendances until he is told by an official of the harbour authority that he has ceased to be a member.