No. 180/1940:

AIR-RAID PRECAUTIONS (APPROVAL OF EXPENDITURE BY ESSENTIAL UNDERTAKERS) REGULATIONS, 1940.

AIR-RAID PRECAUTIONS (APPROVAL OF EXPENDITURE BY ESSENTIAL UNDERTAKERS) REGULATIONS, 1940.

WHEREAS it is enacted by section 46 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 an essential undertaker under Part III of the said Act as may be approved by the Minister for Defence in accordance with regulations to be made under the said Part III grants not exceeding fifty per cent. of such approved expenditure :

AND WHEREAS it it enacted by section 48 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 essential undertakers incurred for the purposes of air-raid precautions (essential undertaker's) 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 48 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 Essential Undertakers) Regulations, 1940.

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.

3. Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, the Minister may approve, for the purposes of section 46 of the act, of expenditure of an essential undertaker incurred for the purposes of air-raid precautions (essential undertaker's) schemes.

4. Expenditure incurred by an essential undertaker shall not be approved, for the purposes of section 46 of the act, unless it represents net expenditure incurred actually and specifically in respect of a matter included, in pursuance of regulations made by the Minister under Part III of the Act for the purposes of section 37 of the act, in an air-raid precautions (essential undertaker's) scheme prepared by such essential undertaker and approved by the Minister under the Act, and it is otherwise admissible under these Regulations.

5.—(1) Expenditure of an essential undertaker in respect of the provision of shelter for employees in any county borough or in a scheduled urban area shall not be approved for the purposes of section 46 of the act.

(2) Expenditure of a capital nature incurred by an essential undertaker in respect of the provision of shelter for employees outside a county borough or a scheduled urban area may be approved for the purposes of section 46 of the act to an extent not exceeding fifty-five per cent. of so much of the said expenditure as the Minister considers reasonable.

(3) No expenditure shall be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (2) of this Regulation to be reasonable in so far as it exceeds such standard as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under section 58 of the act, unless it was incurred in circumstances so prescribed.

6. Expenditure in respect of restrictions and control of lighting shall not be approved for the purposes of section 46 of the act, unless the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall otherwise decide.

7.—(1) Expenditure of a capital nature incurred on or after the date of these Regulations by an essential undertaker shall not be approved for the purposes of section 46 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 essential undertaker 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 essential undertaker, 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.

8.—(1) Where an essential undertaker 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 essential undertaker 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 essential undertaker 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 an essential undertaker shall not be approved for the purposes of section 46 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 46 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.

9. The fact that the Minister has approved, under section 38 of the Act of an air-raid precautions (essential undertaker's) 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 46 of the Act, of the expenditure of any particular sum on any matter included in or connected with such scheme or proposals.

10. 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 the purposes of an air-raid precautions (essential undertaker's) scheme approved by the Minister under the Act shall only be approved for the purposes of section 46 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.

11. 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 continued functioning of the undertaking of an essential undertaker in the event of attack from the air, may be approved for the purposes of section 46 of the act, notwithstanding that the prior approval of the Minister was not obtained to the making of such provision and notwithstanding the provisions of Regulation 4 of these Regulations, if and in so far as the Minister is satisfied that such provision was in all the circumstances reasonable and proper.

12. Subject to the provisions of Regulation 6 of these Regulations, 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 46 of the act shall be decided by the Minister and his decision shall be final.

Given under my hand this 2nd day of July, 1940.

(Signed) SEÁN MOYLAN.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence.

I concur in the making of the foregoing Regulations.

Dated this 6th day of July, 1940.

(Signed) SEÁN T. Ó CEALLAIGH,

Minister for Finance.