S.I. No. 83/1956:

LAND (FINANCE) RULES, 1956.

LAND (FINANCE) RULES, 1956.

I, GERARD SWEETMAN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 30 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, section 17 of the Land Act, 1923 , section 7 of the Land Bond Act, 1925 , section 57 of the Land Act, 1927 , section 53 of the Land Act, 1931 , section 11 of the Land Bond Act, 1933 , section 3 of the Land Act, 1933 , section 10 of the Land Bond Act, 1934 , section 3 of the Land Act, 1939 , section 7 of the Land Reclamation Act, 1949 , section 3 of the Land Act, 1950 , and section 2 of the Land Act, 1953 , hereby make the following Rules and Regulations (hereinafter referred to as Rules) :

1. These Rules may be cited as the Land (Finance) Rules, 1956.

2. (1) The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to these Rules.

(2) In these Rules, save where the context otherwise requires--

every reference to (as the case may be) advance, purchase annuity, annuity, holding or land, whether or not subject to consolidation, shall be construed as including a reference to part or parts of an advance, purchase annuity, annuity, holding or land respectively (whether or not so subject) ;

every reference to purchase annuity or annuity shall be construed as including a reference to annual sum equivalent to a purchase annuity or to part or parts of such an annual sum or to additional sum or to part or parts of an additional sum ;

every reference to consolidated annuity shall be construed as including a reference to part or parts of a consolidated annuity; and

every reference to land shall be construed as including a reference to an interest or right in or over land.

3.--(1) The Land Commission may keep accounts showing how much of all purchase annuities appertaining to the resale of land and payable (exclusive of arrears) in every half-year to the Land Commission is attributable to the excess from time to time of the total resale prices over the total advances to which such resale prices are referable, and so much as may be shown as aforesaid of those purchase annuities shall be treated for the purposes of these Rules as excess annuities, whether or not included in any consolidated annuities.

(2) Each of the following (whether or not included in any consolidated annuity) shall also be treated for the purposes of these Rules as an excess annuity :

(a) an additional annuity payable pursuant to section 30 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, or that section as amended or extended by any other Act ;

(b) an annuity charged under subsection (5) of section 44 of the Land Act, 1923 , or subsection (2) of section 22 of the Land Act, 1927 ;

(c) a purchase annuity payable or charged pursuant to section 4 of the Land Act, 1931 ;

(d) so much of a purchase annuity as is referable to the sum added to the purchase money pursuant to subsection (2) of section 14 or subsection (2) of section 16 of the Land Act, 1933 ;

(e) a purchase annuity in repayment of an advance made--

(i) under section 43 of the Land Act, 1939 , or

(ii) on the sale of a turbary right, or

(iii) on the resale of any land whatever (whether or not discharged under section 11 of the Land Act, 1950 , from a payment) acquired by, purchased by, transferred to or vested in the Land Commission under the Land Act, 1923 , or any subsequent Act, without any issue of land bonds.

(3) The Land Commission shall, in the case of the respective total amounts treated as excess annuities and payable (exclusive of arrears) in every half-year ending on the 31st day of January and the 31st day of July into the Purchase Annuities Fund and the Land Bond Fund, certify those amounts to the Minister for Finance, and that Minister shall, in every financial year, pay to the Land Commission out of the said Funds sums equal to those amounts so certified in that financial year.

(4) All moneys paid by the Minister for Finance to the Land Commission under paragraph (3) of this rule shall be applied as appropriations-in-aid of the Vote from which the expenses of the Land Commission are defrayed.

4.--(1) The following payments shall be applied as appropriations-in-aid of the Vote from which the expenses of the Land Commission are defrayed :

(a) every payment (other than a payment into the Purchase Annuities Fund) which is applied in or towards the redemption of any sum treated for the purposes of these Rules as an excess annuity ;

(b) every payment made to the Land Commission (which is not applied in or towards the payment of interest, purchase annuity or annuity or the redemption of purchase annuity or annuity)--

(i) on the resale of land (whether or not discharged under section 11 of the Land Act, 1950 , from a payment) which has been or shall be--

(I) transferred to the Land Commission pursuant to section 46 of the Land Act, 1923 , or

(II) vested pursuant to section 37 of the Land Act, 1927 , except in so far as the payment may extend for disposal by the Land Commission as if it were a sum advanced within the meaning of paragraph (1) of rule 4 of the Land (Finance) Rules, 1944, or

(III) purchased by or vested in the Land Commission pursuant to section 27 , 28 or 30 of the Land Act, 1950 , or

(ii) on the resale of turbary pursuant to section 40 of the Land Act, 1927 , where compensation has been or shall be payable in cash, or

(iii) applied in or towards the recoupment of moneys expended by the Land Commission for the benefit or improvement of land.

(2) Every payment into the Purchase Annuities Fund which is applied in or towards the redemption of any sum treated for the purposes of these Rules as an excess annuity shall be disposed of in the same manner as other moneys standing to the credit of that Fund.

(3) Where a holding, the resumption price of which has been or shall be payable in land bonds, is resold wholly or partly for cash under a scheme approved of after the making of these Rules, the amount of the cash shall be paid into the Land Bond Fund and shall be brought to credit against an equal amount of land bonds of the same series as those in respect of the resumption price, provided that, where the rate of interest on such land bonds is lower than that on the land bonds in respect of the standard price of the holding, the amount of the cash shall be brought to credit against an equal amount of land bonds of the same series as those in respect of the standard price.

5. (1) For the purposes of this Rule, a consolidated annuity shall be deemed to include in any particular case a cottage purchase annuity (if any) within the meaning of section 27 of the Labourers Act, 1936 .

(2) So far as it may extend, every sum received in or towards the redemption of a consolidated annuity shall be applied in redemption of the component parts in the following order :

(a) firstly, a cottage purchase annuity within the meaning of section 27 of the Labourers Act, 1936 ,

(b) secondly, a reclamation annuity within the meaning of the Land Reclamation Act (Finance) Regulations, 1952,

(c) thirdly, a funding annuity,

and thereafter, unless the person making the payment specifies to the contrary,

(d) fourthly, so much of a purchase annuity as is referable to the sum added to the purchase money pursuant to subsection (2) of section 14 or subsection (2) of section 16 of the Land Act, 1933 ,

(e) fifthly, a purchase annuity in repayment of an advance made under section 43 of the Land Act, 1939 ,

(f) sixthly, a purchase annuity in repayment of an advance made on the sale of a turbary right,

(g) seventhly, an annuity in repayment of any moneys expended by the Land Commission for the benefit or improvement of land,

(h) lastly, any other purchase annuity in repayment of an advance made for the purchase of the land,

provided that, where there are two or more component parts in the same category, they shall, for the purpose of this rule, be deemed to have priority in the order in which they became payable subject, in the case of a reclamation annuity, to the Land Commission's right of selection pursuant to paragraph (4) of regulation 5 of the Land Reclamation Act (Finance) Regulations, 1952.

6. Where the Land Commission enter into or get possession of a holding--

(a) before the fixing of the resumption price, payable in cash, of the holding, the interest payable under paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 39 of the Land Act, 1939 , shall be calculated at the rate which would be applicable under paragraph (a) of that subsection if the price had been payable in land bonds,

(b) after the lodging in cash of the resumption price of the holding, the interest payable under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 14 of the Land Act, 1953 , shall be calculated at--

(i) the rate of the purchase annuity which would be applicable on resale if the resumption price had been payable in land bonds, in case that rate is lower than six per cent., and

(ii) in any other case, the rate of six per cent. per annum.

7. The following are hereby revoked :

(a) the Land Commission (Excess Annuities) Regulations, 1930 ;

(b) paragraphs (4), (5) and (6) of rule 4 of the Land (Finance) Rules, 1944.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 29th day of March, 1956.

GERARD SWEETMAN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The main object of these Rules is to simplify accounting procedure in the Land Commission for certain payments particularly " excess annuities " such as arise when resale advances, made to tenant-purchasers, exceed the purchase moneys paid for the lands. The Rules also lay down in the case of resumed holdings paid for in cash, the rate of interest payable by the Land Commission where they enter into possession before the resumption price is fixed and payable to the Land Commission where they are delayed in getting possession after the resumption price is lodged.