Slaughter of Cattle and Sheep (Amendment) Act, 1935

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Number 37 of 1935.

SLAUGHTER OF CATTLE AND SHEEP (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1935.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

SCHEDULE.

Consequential amendments of Part IX of the Principal Act.

Number 37 of 1935.

SLAUGHTER OF CATTLE AND SHEEP (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1935.

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SLAUGHTER OF CATTLE AND SHEEP ACT, 1934 , IN DIVERS RESPECTS AND, IN PARTICULAR, TO IMPOSE A LEVY ON CATTLE AND SHEEP SLAUGHTERED ELSEWHERE THAN IN REGISTERED PREMISES AND TO AMEND PART IX OF THE SAID ACT BY SUBSTITUTING THE SUPPLY OF BEEF BY MEANS OF A SALE AT A PRESCRIBED PRICE FOR THE SUPPLY OF BEEF BY MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION FREE OF CHARGE. [6th August, 1935.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—

Short title, citation, and duration.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Slaughter of Cattle and Sheep (Amendment) Act, 1935.

(2) The Principal Act and this Act may be cited together as the Slaughter of Cattle and Sheep Acts, 1934 and 1935.

(3) This Act shall remain in force so long as the Principal Act continues to be in force and shall expire if and when the Principal Act expires.

Definitions and construction.

2.—(1) In this Act the expression “the Principal Act” means the Slaughter of Cattle and Sheep Act, 1934 (No. 42 of 1934).

(2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Principal Act, and accordingly every expression and word to which a particular meaning is given by the Principal Act for the purposes of that Act shall, in and for the purposes of this Act, have the meaning so given.

Regulations.

3.—The power of making regulations conferred on the Minister by section 4 of the Principal Act shall extend and apply to the making of regulations for the purpose of prescribing any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed, and sub-section (2) of the said section 4 shall apply to every such regulation and also to regulations made under any other section of this Act.

Expenses, fees and offences.

4.— Sections 6 , 7 and 8 of the Principal Act shall respectively apply and have effect in relation to expenses incurred and fees payable under this Act and offences under any section or sub-section of this Act in like manner as they respectively apply and have effect in relation to expenses incurred and fees payable under the Principal Act and offences under any section of the Principal Act.

Amendment of Section 12 of the Principal Act.

5.—Sub-section (2) of section 12 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the deletion therefrom of the words “Prima Facie” and the insertion therein of the word “Conclusive” in lieu of the said words so deleted, and the said sub-section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

Amendment of Section 14 of the Principal Act.

6.— Section 14 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion therein, after the word “lamb” in sub-section (1) thereof, of the words “offals, skins, and hides,” and the said section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

Amendment of Section 18 of the Principal Act.

7.— Section 18 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in the following respects and shall be construed and have effect accordingly, that is to say—

(a) by the insertion therein of the words “offals, skins, or hides” after the word “meat,” wherever that word occurs in sub-section (1) of the said section; and

(b) by the deletion, in paragraph (c) of the said sub-section (1), of the words “to ask of any person having,” and the insertion in the said paragraph of the words “at any time or place to ask of any person who has or at any time had” in lieu of the said words so deleted; and

(c) by the insertion of the following paragraph at the end of sub-section (1) of the said section that is to say:—

“(d) at any time or place to demand of any person who has or at any time had the custody or possession of any meat, offals, skins, or hides found in the course of the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this section, the production of all records, invoices, consignment notes, receipts, and other documents (including copies thereof where the originals are not available) relating to such meat, offals, skins, or hides, and to take copies of and make extracts from any such documents including as aforesaid)”; and

(d) by the insertion of the following word and paragraph at the end of sub-section (3) of the said section, that is to say:—

“or

(e) fail or refuse to produce any document the production of which is lawfully demanded of him by any such member or inspector in exercise of any of the powers in that behalf conferred by this section, or fail or refuse to permit any such member or inspector to take copies of or to make extracts from any such document”.

Weighing facilities in registered premises.

8.—(1) Every registered proprietor shall provide and maintain in good working order in every registered premises of which he is the registered proprietor such lawful machines, instruments, and other facilities for weighing meat as shall be suitable to such premises and sufficient for the volume of the business carried on in such premises.

(2) Whenever the Minister is satisfied, in respect of any registered premises, that no such weighing facilities as are required by this section are provided in such premises, the Minister may serve on the registered proprietor of such premises a notice in writing requiring him within a specified time to provide in such premises suitable and sufficient weighing facilities in accordance with this section, and, if the Minister so thinks proper, specifying the machines, instruments, and other facilities to be so provided.

(3) Whenever the Minister is satisfied, in respect of any registered premises, that the weighing facilities provided in such premises do not comply with the requirements of this section, the Minister may serve on the registered proprietor of such premises a notice in writing informing him that the said weighing facilities do not comply with the said requirements and stating the particulars of such non-compliance, and requiring such registered proprietor within a specified time to bring such weighing facilities into compliance with the said requirements and, if the Minister so thinks proper, specifying the things to be done for that purpose by such registered proprietor.

(4) Every registered proprietor who shall fail to comply with a notice served on him under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first such offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and, in the case of a second or any subsequent such offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(5) A notice under this section may be served on a registered proprietor by being sent by prepaid registered post addressed to such registered proprietor at the registered premises to which such notice relates.

Weighing of meat, etc.

9.—(1) Every inspector of the Minister is hereby authorised and empowered to demand of any person having the custody of any meat, offals, skins, or hides found by such inspector in the course of the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him by the Principal Act or this Act that such person shall in the presence of such inspector weigh any such meat, offals, skins or hides, and shall, if so demanded by such inspector, cut or divide any such meat into such portions as may be directed by such inspector for the purpose of the convenient weighing thereof having regard to the weighing facilities available in the premises or place where such meat, offals, skins or hides are found by such inspector.

(2) Every person who, on demand made of him under this section by an inspector of the Minister, fails or refuses to weigh in the presence of such inspector any meat, offals, skins or hides, or fails or refuses to cut or divide any such meat into such portions as may be directed by such inspector shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Power to require registered proprietor to purchase cattle, etc., only from the Minister.

10.—(1) The Minister may, if and whenever he so thinks fit, serve on any particular registered proprietor a notice (in this section referred to as a prohibitory notice) in writing in the prescribed form prohibiting such registered proprietor, on and after a day (not less than fourteen days after the service of such notice on such registered proprietor) named in such notice, from purchasing or otherwise acquiring any cattle or sheep from any person except an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister and from purchasing or otherwise acquiring for the purposes of his business as such registered proprietor any meat from any person whatever.

(2) Whenever the Minister serves a prohibitory notice on a registered proprietor, the Minister shall consider any representations made within seven days after the service of such notice by such registered proprietor.

(3) Whenever the Minister serves a prohibitory notice on a registered proprietor, the Minister shall make such arrangements as he shall think proper for making such supply of cattle and sheep as such registered proprietor shall reasonably require for the purposes of his business available for purchase by such registered proprietor from an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister.

(4) All cattle and sheep sold under this section by an officer of the Minister to a registered proprietor shall be so sold at such price and upon such terms as the Minister shall from time to time direct.

(5) When the Minister has served a prohibitory notice on a registered proprietor, the Minister may, if and when he thinks proper, serve on such registered proprietor a notice (in this section referred to as a withdrawal notice) in writing in the prescribed form withdrawing such prohibitory notice as on and from a day named in such withdrawal notice.

(6) When a prohibitory notice has been served on a registered proprietor, it shall not be lawful for such registered proprietor, on or after the day named in this behalf in such prohibitory notice and before the withdrawal of such prohibitory notice by a withdrawal notice, to purchase or otherwise acquire any cattle or sheep from any person other than an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister or to purchase or otherwise acquire any meat from any person whatever.

(7) Every registered proprietor who shall purchase or otherwise acquire any cattle or sheep or any meat in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first such offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and, in the case of a second or any subsequent such offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(8) A notice under this section may be served on a registered proprietor by being sent by prepaid registered post addressed to such registered proprietor at the registered premises or any of the registered premises of which he is the registered proprietor.

Power to require registered proprietor to give notice of slaughterings.

11.—(1) The Minister may, whenever he thinks fit so to do, serve on a registered proprietor of registered slaughtering premises a notice in writing requiring such registered proprietor, at least twenty-four hours before slaughtering any cattle or sheep for sale for human consumption in Saorstát Eireann, to communicate to the Minister, in the form and manner stated in such notice, the intention of such registered proprietor so to slaughter such cattle or sheep (as the case may be) and the time and place at which such slaughtering is intended to be done.

(2) Whenever a notice under the next preceding sub-section of this section has been served on a registered proprietor of registered slaughtering premises, it shall not be lawful for such registered proprietor to slaughter for sale for human consumption in Saorstát Eireann any cattle or sheep unless such registered proprietor has, in respect of such slaughter, complied in all respects with such notice.

(3) Every registered proprietor of registered slaughtering premises who slaughters for sale for human consumption in Saorstát Eireann any cattle or any sheep in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds in respect of each animal slaughtered.

(4) Where a registered proprietor of registered slaughtering premises is charged with an offence under this section, it shall be a good defence to such charge for such registered proprietor to prove that the animal the slaughter of which is alleged to constitute such offence was suffering pain caused by injury or disease and was slaughtered in order to avoid the unnecessary suffering to which such animal would have been subjected by deferring the slaughter thereof until after compliance with the provisions of this section.

Powers of search for and examination of cattle and sheep.

12.—(1) Every inspector of the Minister is hereby authorised and empowered to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) at all reasonable times to enter any lands or premises in which cattle or sheep are or are believed by him to be or to be kept;

(b) to inspect and examine all cattle and sheep found in any lands or premises entered by him under this sub-section;

(c) to ask of any person in charge of or having the custody or possession of any cattle or sheep found in the course of the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this sub-section such questions in relation to such cattle and sheep as such inspector shall think proper, and to demand and take the name and address of such person and also to demand and take from such person the name and address of the owner of all or any of such cattle and sheep;

(d) to demand of any person in charge of or having the custody or possession of any such cattle or sheep the production of all records, invoices, consignment notes, receipts, and other documents (including copies thereof where the originals are not available) relating to such cattle or sheep and to take copies of and make extracts from any such documents (including as aforesaid).

(2) Every person who shall do any of the following things, that is to say—

(a) obstruct or impede any inspector of the Minister in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on such inspector by this section, or

(b) fail or refuse to answer to the best of his knowledge and ability any question asked of him by any such inspector in exercise of any such power, or

(c) give an answer to any such question which is to his knowledge false or misleading, or

(d) when his own or any other name or address is demanded of him by any such inspector in exercise of any such power, fail or refuse to give such address, or give a name or an address which is false or misleading, or

(e) fail or refuse to produce any document the production of which is lawfully demanded of him by such inspector in exercise of any such power or fail or refuse to permit any such inspector to take copies of or to make extracts from any such document,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Recovery of levy under Section 19 of the Principal Act.

13.—In any proceedings against a registered proprietor brought by the Minister to recover from such registered proprietor the amount of a levy payable by him to the Minister under section 19 of the Principal Act, a certificate sealed with the official seal of the Minister and certifying the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) the amount of the levy payable by such registered proprietor to the Minister under section 19 of the Principal Act in respect of specified registered premises of such registered proprietor for a specified month, and

(b) that the Minister duly made a certificate in pursuance of sub-section (3) of the said section 19 certifying that the said amount was the amount of the said levy so payable by such registered proprietor, and

(c) that a copy of such certificate was duly served on such registered proprietor in accordance with sub-section (3) of the said section 19 , and

(d) that the said amount so payable, by such registered proprietor is unpaid,

shall, until the contrary is proved, be accepted as sufficient evidence of the said matters so stated in such certificate.

Levy in respect of cattle and sheep slaughtered in unregistered premises.

14.—(1) Every person who, after the commencement of Part II of the Principal Act and either before or after the passing of this Act, slaughters in any premises which, at the time of such slaughter, were or are not registered in the register of slaughtering premises, any cattle or sheep for human consumption in Saorstát Eireann, shall, if the said non-registration of the said premises was or is a contravention of the said Part II, be liable to pay to the Minister on demand made by the Minister a levy on all cattle and sheep so slaughtered.

(2) Every person who is liable or is believed by the Minister to be liable under this section to pay to the Minister a levy shall, if and whenever he is required in writing by the Minister so to do, make and send in the prescribed manner to the Minister, at such time as to reach the Minister not later than the seventh day after such requisition is received by such person, a return in the prescribed form showing the number of cattle and the number of sheep slaughtered in premises other than registered premises for human consumption in Saorstát Eireann by such person during any period specified in such requisition.

(3) Every levy payable under this section in respect of any cattle or sheep shall be so payable at the rate at which the levy under section 19 of the Principal Act is payable at the time of the slaughter of such cattle or sheep.

(4) The amount of any levy payable to the Minister by any person under this section may be recovered by the Minister from such person as a civil debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(5) In any proceedings brought by the Minister to recover from any person the amount of a levy payable by such person under this section, a certificate sealed with the official seal of the Minister and certifying the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) the amount of the levy payable by such person to the Minister under this section for any specified period, and

(b) that the Minister duly made a demand in accordance with this section for the amount of such levy, and

(c) that such demand was duly served on such person in accordance with this section, and

(d) that the said amount so payable by such person is unpaid,

shall, until the contrary is proved, be accepted as sufficient evidence of the said matters so stated in such certificate.

(6) Every person required by this section to send a return to the Minister who fails to make and send such return in accordance with this section or who makes any such return which is false or misleading in any material respect shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

(7) Every sum paid to or recovered by the Minister under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

Restrictions on time of slaughter.

15.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to slaughter on Sunday any cattle or sheep for sale for human consumption in Saorstát Eireann.

(2) Every person who slaughters any cattle or sheep in contravention of the next preceding sub-section of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds for each animal in respect of which such offence is committed.

(3) The Minister may by order, whenever he thinks fit so to do, prohibit, either generally or in such areas as may be specified in such order, the slaughter of cattle or sheep at any hours or times other than such hours or times as shall be specified in that behalf in such order.

(4) Every person who slaughters any cattle or sheep in contravention of an order made under the next preceding sub-section of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds for each animal in respect of which such offence is committed.

(5) Where a person is charged with an offence under any sub-section of this section, it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to prove that the animal in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed was suffering pain caused by injury or disease and was slaughtered in order to avoid the unnecessary suffering to which such animal would have been subjected by deferring its slaughter until a time at which such slaughter would not be a contravention of this section.

Amendment of section 25 of the Principal Act.

16.— Section 25 of the Principal Act is hereby amended as follows, that is to say:—

(a) by the insertion therein, after the word “buy” in sub-section (2) thereof, of the words “or offer or agree or contract to buy,” and

(b) by the deletion from sub-section (3) thereof of the words “sell or” and “to sell or” where those words occur in the said sub-section,

and the said section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

Amendment of section 34 of the Principal Act.

17.— Section 34 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion therein of the following sub-section in lieu of sub-section (4) now contained therein and the said section shall be construed and have effect accordingly, that is to say:—

“(4) The Minister may, whenever he thinks fit so to do, revoke, subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section of this section, a manufacturing licence.”

Power of exemption of holders of manufacturing licences.

18.—(1) The Minister may, whenever he so thinks proper, by order (in this section referred to as an exemption order) made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, exempt all or any specified holders of manufacturing licences from all or any specified provisions of the Principal Act as amended by this Act or of this Act.

(2) The Minister may whenever he so thinks proper, by order made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, amend or revoke an exemption order.

(3) Whenever and so long as an exemption order is in force, the provisions of the Principal Act or of this Act specified in this behalf in such order shall not apply to any holder of a manufacturing licence who is exempted by such order from such provisions.

Amendment of Part IX of the Principal Act by substitution of sale for free distribution.

19.—(1) The Minister may by order appoint a day to be the appointed day for the purposes of this section and accordingly in this section the expression “the appointed day” means the day so appointed.

(2) On the appointed day, Part IX of the Principal Act as amended by this Act, in so far as it is an enactment providing for the distribution of beef free of charge to recipients, shall cease to have effect, and the said Part IX as so amended shall, on the appointed day, become and be an enactment providing for the sale of beef to recipients at a price calculated at the prescribed rate per pound, and shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(3) For the purpose of giving full effect to the next preceding sub-section of this section, the following provisions shall have effect on and after the appointed day, that is to say:—

(a) the word “supply” wherever it occurs in Part IX of the Principal Act (as amended by this Act) as a verb shall, in relation to the supply of beef to recipients, be construed and have effect as if it were defined as meaning “supply by means of a sale to and purchase by recipients at a price calculated at the prescribed rate per pound,” and all cognate words (including the said word when used as a noun) occurring in the said Part IX as so amended in the relation aforesaid shall be construed and have effect accordingly;

(b) the word “obtain” wherever it occurs in the said Part IX as so amended shall be construed as meaning obtain by purchase at a price calculated at the prescribed rate per pound, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

(c) references in the said Part IX as so amended to the price payable or to be paid by the Minister to a registered proprietor of registered victualling premises for beef supplied under the said Part IX as so amended by such registered proprietor to recipients shall be construed as referring to the price so payable or to be paid in addition to the price paid in pursuance of the said Part IX as so amended to such registered proprietor for such beef by the recipients thereof;

(d) the several sections and sub-sections of the Principal Act mentioned in the first column of the Schedule to this Act shall be and are hereby respectively amended in the manner stated in the second column of the said Schedule opposite the mention of such section or sub-section in the said first column.

(4) Regulations prescribing the rate per pound at which the price payable (under Part IX of the Principal Act as amended by this Act) by recipients for beef is to be calculated shall not be made without the consent of the Minister for Finance.

Amendment and partial repeal of Sections 46 and 47 of the Principal Act.

20.—(1) Regulations made by the Minister under sub-section (1) of section 46 of the Principal Act shall, if and in so far as they are made under paragraph (c) of that sub-section, require the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(2) Paragraph (b) of sub-section (3) of section 46 of the Principal Act and the whole of sub-section (4) of that section are hereby repealed.

(3) So much of sub-section (1) of section 47 of the Principal Act as requires a beef voucher to be presented at the premises named therein shall cease to have effect.

Supply of canned beef for the purposes of Part IX of the Principal Act.

21.—(1) The Minister may by order, if and whenever he so thinks proper, authorise, as on and from a specified day, the supply, by way of sale to and purchase by recipients in pursuance of Part IX of the Principal Act as amended by this Act, of canned beef in lieu of fresh beef, and may by such order or any subsequent order do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) appoint the persons by whom and the places at which canned beef is to be so supplied;

(b) fix, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, the maximum weekly quantity of canned beef to be supplied by any such person at any such place;

(c) fix, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, the quantity of canned beef which shall, for the purposes of Part IX of the Principal Act as amended by this Act, be equivalent to any particular quantity of beef specified in a beef voucher;

(d) fix, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, the rate per pound on which the price payable by the recipient for such canned beef is to be calculated;

(e) make such provision by way of adaptation or modification of all or any of the provisions (other than penal provisions) of Part IX of the Principal Act (as amended by this Act) as may, in the opinion of the Minister, be necessary to secure the full and proper application of such provisions to the supply of canned beef in accordance with such order.

(2) Whenever and so long as any order or orders made by the Minister under the next preceding sub-section of this section is or are in force, Part IX of the Principal Act as amended by this Act shall have effect subject to the provisions of such order or orders.

(3) Save as may be otherwise provided by an order made by the Minister under this section, the word “beef” when used without qualification shall be construed and have effect, for the purposes of Part IX of the Principal Act as amended by this Act, as meaning fresh beef only.

(4) The Minister may at any time by order revoke or amend any order previously made by him under this section, including an order made under this sub-section.

Contracts for supply of canned beef.

22.—(1) The Minister may with the consent of the Minister for Finance, contract with any person for the supply, in pursuance of Part IX of the Principal Act as amended by this Act, of canned beef by such person to recipients and for the payment by the Minister to such person of a specified price (in addition to the price paid under the said Part IX as so amended by the recipients) for all canned beef so supplied.

(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, agree with any person with whom he has made a contract under this section for any alteration of the terms and provisions of such contract or for the extension or termination of such contract.

(3) Every contract made under this section may contain such terms and provisions ancillary or incidental to the main object thereof as the Minister shall, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, think proper.

Obligation to supply beef of proper quality.

23.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any registered proprietor of registered victualling premises or other person lawfully entitled to give or sell beef or canned beef to recipients in exchange for beef vouchers to give or sell or offer to give or sell, in exchange for a beef voucher, any beef or canned beef of a kind or quality different from the kind or quality of beef or canned beef (as the case may be) which he is required by the Principal Act as amended by this Act or any order, contract, or regulation made thereunder so to give or sell.

(2) Every registered proprietor or other person who gives or sells or offers to give or sell any beef or canned beef in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

Obligation to comply with terms of beef vouchers.

24.—(1) Every registered proprietor of registered victualling premises or other person lawfully entitled to give or sell beef or canned beef to recipients in exchange for beef vouchers who gives or sells or offers to give or sell in exchange for a beef voucher a quantity of beef less than the quantity of beef stated in such beef voucher or a quantity of canned beef less than the quantity which is by virtue of an order under this Act equivalent to the quantity of beef so stated or gives or sells or offers to give or sell in exchange for a beef voucher any goods other than the quantity of beef stated in such beef voucher or the quantity of canned beef equivalent as aforesaid thereto shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

(2) Every person who accepts or purchases or offers to accept or purchase in exchange for a beef voucher a quantity of beef less than the quantity of beef stated in such beef voucher or a quantity of canned beef less than the quantity which is by virtue of an order under this Act equivalent to the quantity of beef so stated or any goods other than the quantity of beef stated in such beef voucher or the quantity of canned beef equivalent as aforesaid thereto shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

SCHEDULE.

Consequential amendments of Part IX of the Principal Act.