S.I. No. 178/1982:

AN CHOMHAIRLE OILIÚNA TALMHAÍOCHTA (NOMINATION OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1982.

AN CHOMHAIRLE OILIÚNA TALMHAÍOCHTA (NOMINATION OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1982.

I, BRIAN LENIHAN, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 (2) of the National Agricultural Advisory, Education and Research Authority Act, 1977 (No. 13 of 1977), and by section 26 (3) of that Act as amended by section 11 of the Agriculture (An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta) Act, 1979 (No. 9 of 1979), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta (Nomination of Members of the Board) (Amendment) Order, 1982.

2. In this Order--

"the Act of 1979" means the Agriculture (An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta) Act, 1979 (No. 9 of 1979);

"An Chomhairle" means An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta established under section 5 of the Act of 1979;

"the Board" means Bord na Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta established under section 8 of the Act of 1979;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture;

"the Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

3. (1) For appointment by the Minister as members of the Board to represent the staff of An Chomhairle, there shall be selected for nomination not later than the 12th day of July, 1982, one person by the staff transferred from committees of agriculture to An Chomhairle and one person by the other staff of An Chomhairle.

(2) An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta (Nomination of Members of the Board) Order, 1979 ( S.I. No. 270 of 1979 ), shall not apply to the selection of the members to be representative of the staff of An Chomhairle.

(3) An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta (Nomination of Members of the Board) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order, 1980 ( S.I. No. 329 of 1980 ), is hereby revoked.

4. (1) The chairman of the Board or a person delegated by him for the purpose shall be the returning officer for the purposes of this Order.

(2) If the office of chairman is vacant or if, for any reason, the chairman is unable to act as the returning officer and also unable to make a delegation under paragraph (1) of this Article, a person delegated by the Board shall be the returning officer for the purposes of this Order.

5. (1) The returning officer shall cause a notice to be posted in a prominent place in each premises where members of the staff of An Chomhairle are employed inviting proposals for the selection of persons under this Order and the notice shall state the latest date for the receipt of proposals and the place where proposal forms may be obtained.

(2) The proposal form to be used by members of the staff transferred from committees of agriculture to An Chomhairle shall be in Form No. 1 set out in the Schedule to this Order and that to be used by the other members of the staff shall be in Form No. 2 set out in that Schedule.

(3) Each proposal form shall be signed by twelve members of the staff to which the form relates and shall be signed by the person being proposed.

(4) A member may propose only one person and may not propose himself.

6. (1) Each completed proposal form shall be sent by registered post or delivered by hand to the returning officer at the headquarters of An Chomhairle at Frascati Road, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, to reach him not later than 12 noon on the day specified on the proposal form.

(2) The returning officer shall scrutinise each proposal form and shall accept those which appear to him valid and reject as invalid those which do not comply with the requirements of this Order and his decision shall be final and unappealable.

7. (1) If, in respect of either category of staff only one valid proposal is received, the returning officer shall send the name and address of the person proposed to the Secretary so as to reach him not later than seven days after the last date for the receipt of proposals and shall certify that no other person in such category has been validly proposed. Upon receipt thereof by the Secretary the person so proposed shall be deemed to be selected for the purpose of Article 3 of this Order.

(2) If, in respect of either category of staff, more than one valid proposal is received, the returning officer shall arrange for the holding of an election by the members of the category to which the proposal relates.

8. (1) For the purposes of an election the returning officer shall cause to be prepared lists of the members of each of the two categories of the staff to constitute electoral rolls.

(2) Each list shall contain the name of each member of the staff to which the list relates and the address of the premises at which he is stationed for the purpose of his duties and the names shall be arranged in such order as the returning officer considers most convenient and shall be numbered consecutively.

9. (1) Where it is necessary to hold an election, the returning officer shall cause to be displayed, in a prominent place in each premises where members of the staff of An Chomhairle are employed, a notice indicating--

( a ) the arrangements for the supply of ballot papers and forms of declaration of identity for the relevant staff, and

( b ) the date and time (in this Order referred to as the election date) by which completed ballot papers and forms of declaration of identity must be received.

(2) The notice shall be displayed 10 days before the election date and for a period of at least 7 days.

(3) Where it is necessary to hold an election for each category of staff the ballot papers for each election shall be of different colours, and the forms of declaration of identity shall be of the same colour as the relevant ballot papers.

10. (1) The ballot papers to be used by the members of the staff transferred from committees of agriculture to An Chomhairle shall be in Form No. 3 set out in the Schedule to this Order and those to be used by the members of the other staff of An Chomhairle shall be in Form No. 4 set out in that Schedule.

(2) Each ballot paper shall--

( a ) contain a list of the names of the persons of the category to which the ballot paper relates who have been validly proposed and their addresses and descriptions and be arranged in alphabetical order of surnames and, where surnames are the same, of their other names, and

( b ) have a number printed on the back thereof.

(3) The declaration of identity shall be in Form No. 5 set out in the Schedule to this Order and shall be completed by the member in the presence of a witness who shall be either a clergyman, a peace commissioner or a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of sergeant. The member shall produce the ballot paper to the witness.

11. The returning officer shall arrange for the delivery, at least ten days before the election date, to each member of the staff of An Chomhairle on the relevant electoral roll referred to in Article 8 (1) of this Order of one ballot paper, one form of declaration of identity and two envelopes, one marked "Ballot Paper Envelope" and the other a larger envelope (hereinafter referred to as the outer envelope) bearing the name and address of the returning officer and capable of containing the ballot paper envelope and the form of declaration of identity, and shall deliver the same at the premises where the member is stationed for the purpose of his ordinary duties.

12. Each voter shall insert the completed ballot paper issued to him in the ballot paper envelope, seal the envelope and place it in the outer envelope together with the duly completed form of declaration of identity issued to him. He shall then seal the outer envelope and have it delivered by hand or sent through the post so as to reach the returning officer at the headquarters of An Chomhairle at Frascati Road, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, not later than 12 noon on the election date. If sent through the post the envelope shall have the appropriate postage stamp affixed.

13. (1) The returning officer shall, on the expiry of the time for the receipt by him of the completed ballot papers, open each outer envelope and, if he is satisfied that it contained a duly completed form of declaration of identity, he shall place the ballot paper envelope in a receptacle provided for the purpose and retain separately the forms of declarations of identity accepted by him as duly completed.

(2) If the returning officer is not satisfied that the form of declaration of identity has been duly completed, he shall endorse it "vote rejected" and attach thereto the ballot paper envelope unopened or, if there is no ballot paper envelope, the ballot paper.

(3) Where there is no declaration of identity with the ballot paper envelope, the returning officer shall open the ballot paper envelope and, if it contains the declaration of identity, he shall deal with the declaration and the ballot paper envelope (as if unopened) as provided in paragraph (1) or (2) of this Article, whichever is appropriate.

(4) The returning officer shall endorse "rejected" on every declaration of identity which is not accompanied by a ballot paper and on every ballot paper which is not accompanied by a declaration of identity.

(5) If, before the close of the ballot, the returning officer receives notice of the death of a candidate any votes cast for that candidate shall be disallowed.

(6) Where the outer envelope contains a ballot paper and a declaration of identity, the ballot paper shall not be rejected solely on the ground that it was not inserted in the ballot paper envelope.

(7) The returning officer shall keep in separate bundles all rejected ballot papers and declarations of identity and shall keep them separate from other documents.

(8) The returning officer shall then open all unopened ballot paper envelopes other than those to which paragraph (2) of this Article refers, scrutinise all ballot papers other than rejected or disallowed ballot papers, declare invalid any ballot paper in respect of which the requirements of this Order have not been complied with and disallow the vote marked on it.

14. (1) The returning officer shall count the number of votes given to each candidate on the valid ballot papers duly received by him and make a total of the number of votes given to each candidate.

(2) If two or more candidates receive an equal number of votes the returning officer shall determine the result of the ballot between them by lot.

15. The returning officer may, at the request of a candidate, permit him to be present at the opening and counting of the ballot papers.

16. (1) As soon as may be after the completion of the counting of the votes the returning officer shall prepare and sign a statement indicating the number of valid votes cast for each candidate, his address and description and, where the result of the ballot was required to be determined by lot, the result of the determination.

(2) The returning officer shall send by registered post to the Secretary or have delivered by hand at the office of the Department of Agriculture, Agriculture House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, a copy of the statement and, upon the receipt thereof, the selections for the purpose of Article 3 of this Order shall be deemed to be completed.

(3) The returning officer shall also send a copy of the statement to each candidate at his address as shown on the ballot paper.

17. Proposal forms, ballot papers and declarations of identity used under this Order shall be retained by the returning officer for the period of six months after the election date and then destroyed by him.

18. Every question arising at, or in relation to, an election shall be decided by the returning officer and his decision thereon shall be final and unappealable.

19. The provisions of this Order shall have effect, with the necessary modifications, for the purpose of filling a casual vacancy occurring among the members of the Board appointed by virtue of this Order.

SCHEDULE.

Form No. 1.

An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta.

Proposal of a person for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle to represent the interests of staff of An Chomhairle transferred from Committees of Agriculture.

Note: See Instructions overleaf at "A".

Consent to above proposal.

I, ............................................................ , being the person proposed above for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta to represent the interests of the staff specified above, hereby signify my consent to the said proposal.

Note:--See instructions overleaf at "B".

A

A proposal of a person for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle to represent the interests of the staff transferred from Committees of Agriculture must be made on this Form by any twelve other members of such staff.

A member of the staff may not propose more than one person for selection and may not propose himself.

This form when completed (including the form of consent by the proposed person duly witnessed) must be delivered to the returning officer in the manner and within the time already announced for the purpose by the returning officer.

B

The witness to the signature of the person completing the form of consent must be either a clergyman, a Peace Commissioner or a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of sergeant.

Form No. 2.

An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta.

Proposal of a person for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle to represent the interests of staff of An Chomhairle other than staff transferred from Committees of Agriculture.

Note: See Instructions overleaf at "A".

Consent to above proposal.

I, ............................................................ , being the person proposed above for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta to represent the interests of the staff specified above, hereby signify my consent to the said proposal.

Note:--See instructions overleaf at "B".

A

A proposal of a person for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle to represent the interests of the staff other than staff transferred from Committees of Agriculture must be made on this Form by any twelve other members of such first-mentioned staff

A member of the staff may not propose more than one person for selection and may not propose himself.

This form when completed (including the form of consent by the proposed person duly witnessed) must be delivered to the returning officer in the manner and within the time already announced for the purpose by the returning officer.

B

The witness to the signature of the person completing the form of consent must be either a clergyman or a Peace Commissioner or a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of sergeant.

Form No. 3.

An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta.

Ballot Paper.

Ballot for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle to represent the interests of staff of An Chomhairle transferred from Committees of Agriculture.

BEFORE MARKING THIS BALLOT PAPER THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BACK OF THE ACCOMPANYING FORM OF DECLARATION OF IDENTITY SHOULD BE READ.

Form No. 4.

An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta.

Ballot Paper.

Ballot for selection as a member of the Board of An Chomhairle to represent the interests of staff of An Chomhairle other than staff transferred from Committees of Agriculture.

BEFORE MARKING THIS BALLOT PAPER, THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BACK OF THE ACCOMPANYING FORM OF DECLARATION OF IDENTITY SHOULD BE READ.

Form No. 5.

An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta.

Form of Declaration of Identity.

I hereby declare that I am the voter to whom this Ballot Paper has been issued and that I am a member of the category of the staff of An Chomhairle specified in the heading to the Ballot Paper.

Instructions for completing the above Form

1. All the information requested on the Form must be given. Failure to complete the Form fully may invalidate the Vote.

2. The voter must sign this form in the presence of a witness who must also sign the form and state thereon his address and description.

3. The voter must produce the Ballot Paper issued to him to the witness.

4. The witness must be either a clergyman, a Peace Commissioner or member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of a sergeant.

Instructions to the Voter.

1. A person may vote for ONE candidate only.

2. Mark the Ballot Paper in the space provided in the column headed "Voter's mark" with the mark "X" opposite the name of the candidate for whom the person wishes to vote.

3. The identity of the person casting the vote must be declared on the Form of Declaration of Identity accompanying the Ballot Paper.

4. When the vote has been marked on the Ballot Paper and the Form of Declaration of Identity has been completed, place the Ballot Paper in the ballot paper envelope and seal it. Then place the ballot paper envelope, together with the Form of Declaration of Identity in the larger envelope addressed to the Returning Officer and have it delivered to him by hand or by prepaid post so as to reach him not later than 12 noon on the day of , 19 .

The votes on Ballot Papers received after that time will not be counted. Votes on Ballot Papers which are not accompanied by the duly completed Form of Declaration of Identity will not be counted.

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 17th day of June, 1982.

BRIAN LENIHAN,

Minister for Agriculture.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order provides for the selection of staff representatives for appointment by the Minister to the Board of An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta.