Civil Defence Act, 2002

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 16/2002
• Year: 2002

Number 16 of 2002
CIVIL DEFENCE ACT, 2002
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
Section 1. Short title and commencement. 2. Interpretation. 3. Expenses. 4. Regulations and orders. 5. Offences.
PART 2
Civil Defence Board
Chapter 1
The Board: General Provisions
6. Establishment day. 7. Establishment of Board. 8. Functions of Board. 9. Transfer of functions. 10. Transfer of functions to Minister by Government order. 11. Membership of Board. 12. Chairperson. 13. Removal of members of Board from office. 14. Director general. 15. Consultants and advisers. 16. Membership of Houses of Oireachtas or European Parliament. 17. Disclosure of certain interests by members of Board. 18. Disclosure of certain interests by members of staff of Board. 19. Unauthorised disclosure of confidential information. 20. Grants paid by Minister to Board. 21. Charges. 22. Gifts. 23. Accounts and audits. 24. Accountability of secretary general to Public Accounts Committee. 25. Accountability of secretary general to other Oireachtas Committees. 26. Reports and information to Minister. 27. Directions of Minister with regard to equipment.
Chapter 2
Committees of Board
28. Committees of Board. 29. Membership of committees specified in section 28(4).
Chapter 3
Plan of Board
30. Strategic plan of Board.
PART 3
Local Authorities
31. Civil defence plans. 32. Grants paid by Board to local authorities for civil defence purposes. 33. Annual report of local authority.
PART 4
Recruitment and Registration
34. Recruitment of civil defence members. 35. The register.
PART 5
Staff of Board
36. Staff of Board.
PART 6
Transitional Provisions
37. Continuance of pending legal proceedings. 38. Transfer of property other than land. 39. Transfer of rights and liabilities.
PART 7
Amendments To Act of 1939
40. Amendments to Act of 1939.
SCHEDULE 1
Definition of Civil Defence
SCHEDULE 2
The Board
SCHEDULE 3
Programmes
SCHEDULE 4
The Director General
Acts Referred to Air-Raid Precautions Act, 1939 1939, No. 21 Air-Raid Precautions Acts, 1939 and 1946 Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956 1956, No. 45 Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956 1956, No. 46 Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 to 1996 Companies Acts, 1963 to 2001 Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993 1993, No. 8 European Parliament Elections Act, 1997 1997, No. 2 Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act, 1998 1998, No. 35 Geneva Conventions Act, 1962 1962, No. 11 Local Government Act, 2001 2001, No. 37 Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 14 & 15 Vic., c. 93
Number 16 of 2002
CIVIL DEFENCE ACT, 2002
AN ACT TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL DEFENCE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT AND TO FACILITATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CIVIL DEFENCE MEASURES; TO PROMOTE, DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN CIVIL DEFENCE AS AN EFFECTIVE SERVICE IN SUPPORT OF THE EMERGENCY SERVICES; TO PROVIDE FOR THE RECRUITMENT AND REGISTRATION OF CIVIL DEFENCE MEMBERS, AND FOR THOSE PURPOSES TO ESTABLISH A BODY TO BE KNOWN AS THE CIVIL DEFENCE BOARD OR, IN THE IRISH LANGUAGE, AN BORD COSANTA SIBHIALTA; TO TRANSFER FUNCTIONS FROM THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE TO THAT BODY; TO AMEND THE AIR-RAID PRECAUTIONS ACT, 1939, AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [10th April, 2002]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
PART 1 Preliminary and General
	Short title and commencement.	1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Civil Defence Act, 2002.
	(2) This Act and the Air-Raid Precautions Acts, 1939 and 1946, may be cited together as the Civil Defence Acts, 1939 to 2002.
	(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
	Interpretation.	2.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—
	“Act of 1939” means the Air-Raid Precautions Act, 1939 ;
	“Act of 2001” means the Local Government Act, 2001 ;
	“Board” means the Civil Defence Board established under section 7 ;
	“chairperson” means a member of the Board designated under section 11 (4);
	“civil defence” has the same meaning as in the Protocol, additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) adopted at Geneva on 8 June 1977—
	(a) the text of which Protocol is set out in the Fifth Schedule (inserted by the Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act, 1998 ) to the Geneva Conventions Act, 1962 , and
	(b) the definition of civil defence in that Protocol is set out for convenience of reference in Schedule 1;
	“civil defence plan” means a civil defence plan prepared by a local authority under section 31 ;
	“civil defence member” means a person who is registered in the Register of Civil Defence Members under section 35 ;
	“committee” means a committee established under section 28 ;
	“director general” means the chief executive officer of the Board appointed under section 14 ;
	“emergency services” includes the Gardaí Síochána, the Irish Coast Guard, local authorities and the health services of the State;
	“establishment day” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 6 to be the establishment day for the purposes of this Act;
	“equipment” means all or part of—
	(a) any ship, boat or other vessel,
	(b) stores, vehicles or appliances,
	(c) clothing, or
	(d) any material, constructed, designed or intended for use for the purposes of civil defence;
	“local authority” means a county council or a city council which performs functions relating to civil defence;
	“Minister” means the Minister for Defence;
	“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;
	“register” means the Civil Defence Register established under section 35 ;
	“strategic plan” means the strategic plan of the Board under section 30 .
	(2) The financial year of the Board shall be the period of 12 months ending on 31 December in any year and for the purposes of this Act the period commencing on the establishment day and ending on the following 31 December is deemed to be a financial year.
	(3) In this Act—
	(a) a reference to a Chapter, section or Schedule is a reference to a Chapter or section of, or Schedule to, this Act, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other enactment is intended,
	(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended,
	(c) a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including this Act, and
	(d) a reference to the performance of functions includes, with respect to powers and duties, a reference to the exercise of powers and the carrying out of duties.
	Expenses.	3.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in administering this Act, shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
	Regulations and orders.	4.—(1) The Minister may make regulations—
	(a) prescribing any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed or in relation to any matter referred to in this Act as the subject of regulations, and
	(b) for the purposes of, and for the purposes of giving full effect to, this Act.
	(2) Regulations under this Act may—
	(a) include any incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions that appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient,
	(b) apply either generally or to a specified class or classes of persons or to any other matter that the Minister may consider to be appropriate, or
	(c) include different provisions in relation to different classes of person.
	(3) Every regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the regulation.
	(4) The Minister may be order amend or revoke an order made by him or her under this Act (other than an order under section 1 (3) or 6), including an order under this subsection.
	(5) Where it is proposed to make an order under section 8 (4) or 13 (5), or an order amending or revoking such an order, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made unless a resolution approving of the draft order has been passed by each House.
	Offences.	5.—(1) A person guilty of an offence under section 18 or 19 shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,900.
	(2) Proceedings for an offence under section 18 or 19 may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister.
	(3) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent, connivance or approval of, or to be attributable...