Merchant Shipping (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1998

Amendment of Merchant Shipping (Commissioners of Irish Lights) Act, 1997.

5.—The Merchant Shipping (Commissioners of Irish Lights) Act, 1997 , is hereby amended by the insertion after section 6 of the following section:

“Borrowing by Commissioners.

6A. (1) The Commissioners may, for the purpose of providing for current or capital expenditure, from time to time raise or borrow money (whether on the security of the assets of the Commissioners or otherwise), including money in a currency other than the currency of the State, but shall not do so without the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance and upon such terms and conditions as may be approved by the Minister for Finance.

(2) The aggregate at any one time of moneys raised or borrowed under this section shall not exceed £25 million.

(3) The Minister may pay to the Commissioners, in respect of moneys raised or borrowed by the Commissioners under this section, such sums as the Minister determines from time to time, subject to the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(4) All moneys required by the Minister to meet sums which may become payable by him or her under subsection (3) shall be paid from moneys voted by the Oireachtas.

(5) For the purposes of this section moneys raised or borrowed in a currency other than the currency of the State shall be deemed to be the equivalent in the currency of the State of the actual moneys raised or borrowed, such equivalent being calculated according to the rate of exchange at the time of the raising or borrowing for that currency and the currency of the State.”.