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PUBLIC WORKS (IRELAND) ACT 1839
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CHAPTER L.
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An Act to extend and amend the Provisions of the Acts for the Extension and Promotion of Public Works in Ireland; and for the Recovery of Public Monies advanced for the Use of Counties, Parishes, and other Districts in Ireland on the Faith of Grand Jury Presentments and Parochial Assessments.[1]
[17th August 1839.]
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[Preamble recites 1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 33.; 6 & 7 Will. 4, c. 108; 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 21; 1 & 2 Vict. c. 88.]
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[Ss. 1, 2 rep. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96. (S.L.R.) ]
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Recited enactment to be construed as referring to 1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 33.
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3. [Recital of 4 & 5 Will 4. c. 61. s. 8.] The said recited enactment shall be deemed, construed, and taken to have such and the same effect, to all intents and purposes, as if the words “appointed under and acting in execution of an Act made in the session of Parliament holden in the first and second years of the reign of his late Majesty, intituled ‘An Act for the extension and promotion of public works in Ireland,’” had been originally inserted therein between the word “being” and the words “and that.”
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Lord lieutenant may direct commissioners of public works to inquire into memorials under recited Act. &c.
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4. [Recital of 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 61. s. 2., empowering lord lieutenant to appoint persons to inquire into and report upon memorials presented by grand juries under that Act.] It shall be lawful for the lord lieutenant, if he shall so think fit, to direct the said commissioners of public works to inquire into and report upon the circumstances of any such memorial as aforesaid, and to do all other matters and things by the said Act directed to be done by any persons appointed for such purposes under the provisions thereof; and in case the said lord lieutenant shall so direct, the said commissioners of public works shall have all and every the like powers and authorities as any other person or persons so appointed might or would have had under the provisions of the said Act; and in case of such direction, all and every the matters and things directed to be done by or to or in respect of the person or persons appointed for the purposes aforesaid shall be done by or to or in respect of the said commissioners; and all the provisions of the said Act applying to any person or persons so appointed shall in the case aforesaid apply and extend to the said commissioners, as if they had been named in the said Act in conjunction with or instead of the person or persons so to be appointed.
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Provisions as to expences in 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 61. shall extend to expences under this Act.
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5. All provisions in the said last-recited Act contained in respect of the expences which may become necessary by the appointment of any person or persons for the purposes aforesaid, shall apply and extend to all expences which may become necessary by the appointment of the said commissioners for the like purpose; and all expences attendant upon the examination, survey, and report to be made by such person or persons, or by the said commissioners, as the case may be, shall be deemed and taken to be expences become necessary by his or their appointment.
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Provisions in said Act referring to 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 78. shall refer to 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 116.
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6. Wheresoever in the said last-recited Act reference is made to an Act passed in the third and fourth years of his late Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act to amend the laws relating to grand juries in Ireland,” the provision shall refer and extend to an Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the sixth and seventh years of his late Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the presentment of public money by grand juries in Ireland,” and to any Act amending the same.
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[S. 7 (as to presentments of money by grand juries for the purposes of 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 61.) rep. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96. (S.L.R.)]
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Upon presentments being made, commissioners, with consent of Treasury, may advance the money required; and the same shall be issued under the provisions of the recited Acts and this Act, &c. and be repaid by county treasurers.
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8. Upon such presentments being made as in the said Act mentioned it shall be lawful for the said commissioners of public works, by and with the sanction and consent of the Treasury, to advance, and apply to the execution of the works to which such presentment shall relate, all such sums of money as shall be from time to time required for that purpose; and all such sums of money, (or the residue thereof in case of any grant being made in aid of such work as in the said Act mentioned,) shall and may be issued and advanced in like manner as any other money authorized to be issued and advanced by way of loan under the provisions of the said recited Acts or this Act; and all and every the provisions of the said recited Acts and this Act authorizing and regulating the issue and advance of Exchequer bills or money by way of loan shall apply and extend to authorize and regulate the issue and advance of such monies to the said commissioners of public works for the purpose aforesaid; and all sums so advanced (or, in case of any such grant being made as aforesaid, the residue thereof) shall be repaid, in the proportions prescribed by any such order as by the said Act the lord lieutenant is authorized to make in that behalf, by the treasurers of the respective counties, to such bank or person as the Treasury shall direct.
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Presentments to be made under said Act for interest on sums outstanding and unpaid.
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9. Provided always, that, together with and in addition to the principal sums to be levied off the respective counties chargeable therewith under the provisions of the said Act, the said respective grand juries shall present to be levied and paid thereout the interest on the sum chargeable on each county respectively, or on so much thereof as shall be from time to time outstanding and unpaid, at such rate per centum per annum as the Treasury shall direct; and all and every the provisions of the said recited Act in respect of such principal sums shall apply and extend to the interest thereon, and the same shall be paid therewith.
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Commissioners of public works in Ireland shall mean commissioners under 1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 33; and two of them may act, &c.
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10. In this Act, and in any other Act passed or which may be hereafter passed, the expression “commissioners of public works in Ireland” shall be construed to mean the commissioners for the time being appointed under and acting in execution of the said recited Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the first and second years of his late Majesty’s reign and the other Acts amending the same; and all acts, matters, and things, which by this Act, or any other act passed or which may be hereafter passed, the said commissioners may be required or authorized to do or execute, shall and may be done and executed by any two of such commissioners; and any contract, deed, or instrument made with or executed by any two of the said commissioners, shall be good, valid, and effectual, as if made with or executed by all the said commissioners; any thing in any Act passed or to be passed to the contrary notwithstanding.
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Commissioners may purchase sites for court houses under 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 116., &c.
7 Geo. 4. c. 74.
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11. In order to enable the said commissioners of public works in Ireland to purchase the ground necessary as the site for the building of any court or sessions house to be built or provided by them by direction of the lord lieutenant under the provisions of the said recited Act of the sixth and seventh years of his late Majesty’s reign, it shall and may be lawful for the said commissioners to contract and agree with any person or persons or body or bodies corporate or politic for the purchase or renting of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments required for the site of such sessions house; and the lands, tenements, or hereditaments so contracted and agreed for shall be demised or conveyed to such commissioners, their successors and assigns, in trust for the uses and purposes aforesaid; and such demise or conveyance shall be made in such manner and under such regulations (so far as the same may be applicable) as are provided in an Act passed in the seventh year of the reign of his Majesty George the Fourth, intituled “An Act for consolidating and amending the laws relating to prisons in Ireland,” with respect to the demising and conveying of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments to commissioners under that Act[1]
; provided always, that in case the said commissioners of public works in Ireland shall be unable to agree with the owners of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments proper or necessary to be purchased for the purpose aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for the said commissioners to issue their warrant to the sheriff in the manner directed by the said Act of the seventh year of the reign of his Majesty King George the Fourth, and thereupon such and the like proceedings shall and may be had and taken for summoning, impannelling, and swearing juries, and valuing the premises so to be purchased or rented, and each and every part thereof respectively, and for obtaining the full possession and seisin thereof, and a good title thereto, in the said commissioners, and with and subject to the same rules, regulations, conditions, and jurisdictions, as in the said Act is provided concerning any lands, tenements, or hereditaments to be purchased by such valuation under the said last-mentioned Act, and the said commissioners shall in that behalf possess and exercise all and every the powers and authorities by that Act granted to and vested in the commissioners therein mentioned; and the grand jury of every such county, upon the production at any assizes of the certificate of the secretary of such commissioners of the amount of such purchase money and the costs attending such purchase and the expence of building such sessions house, shall and they are hereby authorized and required to present the sum so agreed upon or fixed as the purchase money of such premises and the costs attending such purchase, together with the expence of building such sessions house, provided that the whole sum so to be presented shall not exceed one thousand pounds, as in the said Act limited.
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[S. 12 rep. 56 & 57 Vict. c. 14. (S.L.R,)]
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Commissioners may make grants of more or less than 1,000l. for small harbours, &c., and of an amount less than or equal to a moiety of the estimated expence for roads or bridges.
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13. [Recital of power under recited Acts to make grants for roads and bridges equal to one-half the estimated expence, and for small harbours, piers, and quays up to one thousand pounds.] Notwithstanding any thing in the said Acts or any of them contained to the contrary, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said commissioners, out of the funds thereby or hereafter to be placed at their disposal for that purpose, to make grants in aid of the construction and erection of small harbours, piers, and quays on the sea coasts, and on navigable lakes and rivers, to such amount respectively, either more or less than the said sum of one thousand pounds, as they shall think expedient, and as shall be from time to time sanctioned by the Treasury, and also to make grants in aid of the construction or erection of any road or bridge to such amount as the Treasury shall from time to time sanction, whether the same be less than or equal to a moiety of the estimated expence of such road or bridge.
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Provisions of recited Acts and this Act as to roads, &c. shall apply where grants of less than a moiety or more than 1,000l. are made.
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14. All and every the provisions of the said recited Acts or this Act for the constructing and erecting of such roads or bridges, or maintaining and repairing the same, and advancing money for such purposes, and requiring and enforcing repayment from the grand juries of counties, counties of cities and towns, of the sums from time to time expended in the construction, erection, maintenance, or repair of such roads or bridges, shall and may be applied for the purposes of such roads and bridges towards which grants less than a moiety or exceeding one thousand pounds shall have been or may be made as aforesaid.
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Grand juries may repair roads and bridges made with the aid of grants.
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15. [Recital.] It shall and may be lawful for any grand jury to make presentments for gravelling or repairing any such road or bridge in like manner and subject in all respects to the like provisions and regulations as any other public road or bridge: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall limit or affect the power, duty, and authority of the said commissioners of public works to repair the same, in any case where they shall deem it necessary or expedient so to do; and that nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate any contract for the repair of any such road or bridge heretofore made by or with the said commissioners of public works.
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Corporations, &c. under private Acts, charters, &c. may transfer their powers, absolutely or for a term, to commissioners of public works for the purpose of obtaining a loan or grant, &c.
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16. [Recital of 1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 33. s. 41.] It shall and may be lawful for any body politic and corporate, company, trustees, commissioners, proprietors, or other persons acting under the authority of Parliament or charter, or any deed of settlement, in the execution and making of any road, bridge, canal, harbour, pier, railway, drainage, or embankment or other work, for the promotion of which advances may be made under the authority of the said recited Acts or this Act, if they shall so think fit, and if the said commissioners of public works shall so require, to transfer and assign, either absolutely or for such term and subject to such conditions as may be agreed upon, to the said commissioners of public works, for the purpose of obtaining any loan or grant and carrying such work into execution, all and every the powers and authorities belonging to or anywise vested in such corporation, company, trustees, commissioners, proprietors, or other persons for the execution of any such work as aforesaid; and every such transfer and assignment shall be good, valid, and effectual, and the said commissioners of public works shall by virtue thereof be and become invested, either absolutely or for such term as may be therein mentioned, with all such powers and authorities in respect of the execution of such work (but subject nevertheless to the like duties and obligations) as by such Act, charter, or deed of settlement the body politic and corporate, company, trustees, commissioners, proprietors, or other persons making such transfer and assignment might lawfully use and exercise, any thing in such Act, charter, or deed to the contrary notwithstanding, and although such body corporate or politic, commissioners, trustees, company, proprietors, or other persons may not or have not otherwise than by this Act right, power, or authority to make such transfer and assignment; and from and after such transfer and assignment all and every the powers and authorities in respect to the execution of such work theretofore vested in or belonging to such body politic or corporate, company, trustees, commissioners, proprietors, or other persons making such transfer and assignment, shall cease and determine absolutely, or be suspended during the term specified in such transfer and assignment: Provided always, that no such transfer or assignment shall prejudice or affect the said commissioners of public works, or any of them, their or any of their estates, real or personal.
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Unpaid sums of public money repayable by grand jury presentment under repealed or expired Acts shall be recovered as herein-after mentioned.
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17. [Recital.] All arrears and instalments and sums of money now unpaid of any monies whatsoever which at any time or times heretofore have been advanced out of the consolidated fund or any other of the public funds or monies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to or for the use of any county, barony, parish, or other district or place in Ireland, under the authority of any Act or Acts which directed or provided that the same should be replaced or repaid by means of grand jury presentment or parochial assessment, and which Act or Acts, or the provisions therein contained relating to such advances, and providing for the repayment thereof, have been repealed or have expired, shall and may be recovered, raised, levied, and repaid by the means and in the manner herein-after mentioned.
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Recovery of such monies repayable by grand jury presentment.
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18. With respect to all such advances of public money as aforesaid which, by the Act or Acts under the authority of which the same were made, were to be repaid by grand jury presentment, the chief or under secretary of the lord lieutenant shall, one week at least before each assizes or presenting term, certify to the secretary of the grand jury for every county to or for the use of which, or of any part of which, any such advance as aforesaid was made, the amount of the sum remaining due on account of such advance, specifying in such certificate the purpose or object on account of which, and also the Act or Acts under the authority of which, such advance was made, and whether the same, or any and what part thereof, is chargeable against the whole or any and what division or part of such county, and if so authorized by the Treasury, the instalment or portion of such sum or sums which it is considered just or necessary to call for at the time of giving such certificate; and every such secretary as aforesaid is hereby required, in the case of the county or city of Dublin at the presenting term, and in the case of any other county at the assizes next ensuing the receipt of such certificate, to lay the same before the grand jury of the county of which he is such secretary; and thereupon each such grand jury is hereby empowered and required to present the sum therein stated to be due and owing by such county, or any district or part thereof, on account of such advance, or such instalment or portion thereof, as may be so required by such certificate to be then presented, if the whole shall not be then called for, to be raised and levied off the whole or some particular division or part of such county accordingly, as the same respectively shall be stated in such certificate to be chargeable therewith; and every sum so presented shall be raised and levied accordingly in like manner as other monies presented at the same presenting term or assizes respectively; and every such presentment shall be made without any previous application to presentment sessions; and the money so levied shall be paid over in such manner and to such bank or person as the Treasury shall direct.
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Proceedings in case of default of presentment.
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19. In case any grand jury at any presenting term or assizes, as the case may be, shall neglect or refuse duly to present any money which, under the provisions of this Act or any other Act or Acts, such grand jury is or may be required to present upon the certificate of such chief or under secretary as aforesaid, or which by any Act or Acts is directed to be raised by grand jury presentment, the court at any such presenting term and the judge at any such assizes may and shall make an order directing the sum or sums which ought to have been so presented to be raised and levied as if the same had been so presented, and such order shall have the force and effect of a presentment; and the treasurer of the county shall insert the sum mentioned in such order in his warrant, and the same shall be applotted, raised, levied, and applied in like manner to all intents and purposes as if the same had been duly presented by such grand jury.
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[ Ss. 20, 21 rep. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96. (S.L.R.)]
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Monies repayable by grand jury presentment, if lost by default of county treasurer, &c. shall be presented again, &c.
1 & 2 Vict. c. 53.
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22. [Recital.] In every case in which money has been or shall be issued out of the consolidated fund or any other of the public funds or monies of the United Kingdom to or for the use of any county in Ireland, or any part or division of the same respectively, under the authority of any Act or Acts which did or do or shall require such money to be replaced or repaid by means of grand jury presentment, and in pursuance thereof such money has been or shall be presented or ordered to be levied accordingly, but nevertheless the same is or shall be unpaid by reason of the absconding or insolvency or default of the treasurer of such county, or of any collector or other person empowered to collect or receive public money therein, then and in every such case the amount of the sum so remaining unpaid as aforesaid shall be certified to the secretary of the grand jury for such county by the chief or under secretary of the lord lieutenant, and thereupon the like presentment or order shall be made, the like proceedings taken, the like powers exercised, and acts and matters and things whatsoever done and executed, for rendering effectual the levy and repayment of every sum so certified as last aforesaid, as are herein-before directed, authorized, and required for rendering effectual the levy and repayment of any other sum certified to be due by such chief or under secretary to any such secretary of the grand jury as aforesaid pursuant to the provisions herein-before in that behalf contained: Provided always, that before taking any such proceedings as aforesaid for procuring the repayment of any money which may have been or be so presented, but which shall remain unpaid by reason of the absconding, insolvency, or default of any such treasurer, collector, or other person empowered to collect or receive the same as aforesaid, the Treasury shall cause the accounts relating to such issues or advances and repayments to be audited and the balances remaining due to be ascertained by the officer charged for the time being with the duty of auditing the accounts of the treasurers of counties and counties of cities and towns in Ireland under an Act passed in the first year of the reign of her present Majesty, intituled “An Act to provide more effectual means to make treasurers of counties and counties of cities in Ireland account for public monies, and to secure the same”; and such officer is hereby authorized and required to audit the said accounts and ascertain such balancies, and shall for that purpose have all such powers and authorities as he may now by law have for the audit of the said treasurers accounts; and the said officer shall cause a notice of the time appointed for the audit of such accounts as regards each county respectively to be given to the secretary of the grand jury of such county, who shall lay the same before the grand jury of such county at the next ensuing assizes; and they shall have power, if they shall so think fit, to direct the treasurer of the county to attend such audit with all proper vouchers and documents; and the expence of the attendance of such treasurer, and of any other person whom such officer shall deem it necessary to examine on the matters aforesaid, shall be defrayed to the extent that shall be approved of by such officer and not otherwise, out of the fee fund in the said last-recited Act mentioned, and the amount so disbursed in respect of the audit of the accounts of each county shall be levied off each such county by grand jury presentments, together with and in addition to the amount of the fee by the said last-mentioned Act directed to be so levied.
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Penalty on secretaries of grand juries, &c. neglecting or refusing to perform duties required by this Act.
Treasurers, &c. to be accountable to the crown for monies received under this Act.
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23. If any secretary of a grand jury, treasurer of any county, or any churchwarden of any parish in Ireland, or any collector of grand jury or parish cess, or other person, shall neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties which by this Act he is required to perform, he shall for every such offence forfeit and pay to the Queen’s most excellent Majesty the sum of fifty pounds, to be recovered by information in any one of her Majesty’s superior courts of record in Ireland, in addition to any other liabilities which may attach on him or them, or his or their sureties, lands, and tenements, by reason of such neglect or default, or by reason of the receipt of any moneys under this Act; all which monies, when received by any such treasurer, churchwarden, collector, or other person, shall be deemed to be received by him or them to the use of her Majesty, and to be recoverable and accounted for accordingly as in other cases of debtors and accountants to the crown.
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Officers and collectors, &c. to be accountable for monies levied under this Act.
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24. All and every such officers as aforesaid, and all persons respectively employed in the collection, receipt, or custody of grand jury or parish cess, shall be answerable for, and all securities entered into by such persons in respect of such employment shall respectively extend to, all monies to be levied by grand jury presentment, parochial assessment, or otherwise under this Act.
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Amount of money to be presented, &c. shall be certified by the paymaster of civil services in Ireland, unless otherwise provided.
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25. In every case in which the grand jury of any county at any assizes is or may, by this Act or any other Act or Acts passed or to be passed, be required to present any money, and in default of its being by such Act or Acts provided that some other officer or person shall certify to the secretary of the grand jury for such county the amount so to be presented, it shall be lawful for the paymaster of civil services in Ireland, or for the secretary of the said commissioners of public works in the case of any presentment required to be made for the purpose of reimbursing or repaying any monies advanced or expended by the said commissioners, to certify to such secretary of the grand jury the amount to be so presented, specifying in such certificate the Act or Acts under the authority of which such presentment is required to be made, and whether such money is chargeable against the whole or any and what division and part of such county; and thereupon the like presentment or order shall be made, the like proceedings taken, the like powers exercised, and acts and matters and things whatsoever done and executed for rendering effectual the levy and payment or repayment of every sum so certified as last aforesaid, as are herein-before directed, authorized, and required for rendering effectual the levy and repayment of any sum certified to be due by such chief or under secretary to any such secretary of the grand jury as aforesaid pursuant to the provisions herein-before in that behalf contained.
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Construction of the word “county.”
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26. Wherever the word “county” occurs in this Act, the same shall be construed to extend to and comprehend a county of a city or a county of a town, as well as a county at large.
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[S. 27 rep. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96. (S.L.R.)]
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[1 Short title, “The Public Works (Ireland) Act, 1839.” See 55 & 56 Vict. c. 10.]
[1 The provisions here incorporated are printed in the Appendix to Vol. V. of this edition, pp. 1056–1063.] |
