Enforcement of Law (Occasional Powers) Act, 1923.

Appointment of Under-Sheriffs.

1.—(1) For the purpose of the application of section 11 of the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 (No. 2 of 1922) to section 1 of the Sheriffs (Ireland) Act, 1920 , (10 & 11 Geo. V., ch. 26), the member of the Executive Council for the time being Minister for Home Affairs shall be deemed to be the Minister or authority exercising in Saorstát Eireann functions the same as or corresponding to the functions which prior to the 6th day of December, 1921, were in the area now comprised in Saorstát Eireann exercised by the Lord Lieutenant under the said section 1 of the Sheriffs (Ireland) Act, 1920 , and accordingly all the powers conferred by the said section 1 shall be vested in and exercisable by such member of the Executive Council and the expression “the Minister” wherever the same occurs in this Act means such member of the Executive Council.

(2) No oath of office or other oath shall be administered to or required to be taken by any person appointed after the passing of this Act to be Under-Sheriff but in lieu thereof every person so appointed shall before entering on his office subscribe and make a solemn declaration in a form to be prescribed by an order of the Minister that he will duly perform the duties of his office, and section 14 of the Statute 12 George I., c. 4 (Irish), shall be read as if the making by every Under-Sheriff of the Declaration so to be prescribed were substituted for the taking of the Oath prescribed by that section and for the making of the Declaration prescribed by the Sheriffs (Ireland) Adaptation of Enactments Order, 1922.

(3) If the Minister shall be at any time satisfied that any Under-Sheriff is by reason of illness, unavoidable absence, or for any cause whatever unable, or is unwilling, to perform the functions or properly to discharge the duties of his office for the time being, then and in that case the Minister may appoint any person (whether a person possessing the qualifications prescribed by sub-section (3) of section 1 of the Sheriffs (Ireland) Act, 1920 , or not) to act as deputy for such Under-Sheriff during such time at such remuneration (to be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas) and upon such terms as the Minister may by Order specify and the person so appointed shall for the purposes of any and every power authority immunity and protection given by law to the Under-Sheriff be deemed to be the Under-Sheriff for the same bailiwick, and all writs decrees and other documents in the hands of the Under-Sheriff for execution shall be forthwith handed over to such deputy who shall deal with the same in all respects as if he were a lawfully appointed Under-Sheriff