Finance Act, 1941

• Permanent Page URL

PART VII.

Miscellaneous and General.

The foreign exchange account.

49.—(1) In this section—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

the word “gold” means gold coin and gold bullion;

the expression “foreign exchange” means any currency other than Irish currency and any credit or balance not in Irish currency;

the word “security” includes shares, stock, bonds, debentures, and debenture stock and also deposit receipts in respect of the deposit of any shares, stock, bonds, debentures, or debenture stock;

the expression “foreign security” means a security which confers the right to receive a payment otherwise than in Irish currency.

(2) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act the Minister shall establish and (subject to the provisions of this section) thereafter maintain under his control an account (in this section referred to as the Account) to be known as the Foreign Exchange Account and to be used for the purposes specified in this section.

(3) All sums payable by the Minister from time to time for the purchase, under the Emergency Powers Act, 1939 (No. 28 of 1939), and orders made thereunder, of gold, foreign exchange, or foreign securities shall be paid out of the Account, and all gold, foreign exchange, and foreign securities so purchased shall be held by the Minister for the credit of the Account.

(4) The Minister may, as and when he thinks proper, sell or otherwise dispose of any gold, foreign exchange, or foreign security for the time being held for the credit of the Account.

(5) The net proceeds of every sale or disposal of any gold, foreign exchange, or foreign security under the next preceding sub-section of this section shall be paid into the Account and shall then be available for the making of further payments under this section from the Account.

(6) For the purpose of making under this section payments from the Account, the Minister may, as and when he thinks proper, make advances to the Account out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof, and for the purpose of making such advances the Minister may borrow money by the creation and issue of such securities bearing interest at such rates and subject to such conditions as to repayment, redemption, or otherwise as he may determine.

(7) The principal of and interest on all securities created and issued under the next preceding sub-section of this section shall be charged on and payable out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof, and the moneys borrowed by means of such securities shall be paid into the Exchequer.

(8) Moneys advanced to the Account out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof in pursuance of this section shall be repaid to the Exchequer out of the Account at such times and in such amounts as the Minister shall determine.

(9) The Minister shall wind-up the Account at such time, not later than six months after the Emergency Powers Act, 1939 (No. 28 of 1939), ceases to be in force, as he shall think proper, and the Minister shall, for the purpose of such winding-up, sell or otherwise dispose of all gold, foreign exchange, and foreign securities then held for the credit of the Account and shall apply the net proceeds of such sale or disposal and all (if any) other moneys then to the credit of the Account in repayment in accordance with this section of advances made to the Account from the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof and shall pay into or otherwise dispose of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as he shall think proper any surplus of such proceeds and moneys not required for such repayment of the said advances.

(10) The Minister shall cause to be prepared and to be submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor-General accounts in respect of the Account for each financial year during which or any part of which the Account is maintained, and the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall examine all such accounts in such manner as he in his discretion thinks proper with a view to determining whether the operations on and the transactions in connection with the Account have or have not been conducted and effected in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section, and the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall, after every such examination, report to Dáil Eireann whether in his opinion the operations and transactions coming within the purview of such examination have or have not been conducted and effected in accordance with the said foregoing provisions.

(11) As soon as may be after the Account has been wound-up, the Minister shall lay before each House of the Oireachtas a statement showing the total amount of the sums advanced to the Account out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof, the total amount paid into the Exchequer from the Account in repayment of those advances, and the amount (if any) paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer from the Account otherwise than in repayment of the said advances.