John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 5:

In page 8, to delete lines 33 and 34, and in page 9, to delete lines 1 to 5 and substitute the following: “9. (1) On the transfer day and subject to sections 10and 11, all lands situated in the relevant area that, immediately before the transfer day, were vested in the county council and all rights, powers and privileges relating to or connected with such lands shall, without any conveyance or assignment, stand vested in the city council for all the estate or interest therein that, immediately before the transfer day, was vested in the county council, but subject to all trusts and equities affecting the lands continuing to subsist and being capable of being performed.”.

Amendment No. 5 substitutes section 9(1) with a provision that is to the same effect, but which is subject to two new sections proposed for insertion by amendments Nos. 8 and 9, rather than subject to subsection (5), the content of which will now be in a separate section if amendment No. 9 is accepted. Amendment No. 7 deletes sections 9(5) and 9(6), the content of which will be in the second new section.

Amendment No. 6 is a drafting change that amends section 9(4) to provide that the functions connected with the transferring land shall after the transfer day be "performable by or on behalf of the city council only" whereas the published version provides that the functions are "performable by the city council".

Amendments Nos. 8 and 9 create two additional sections, the first of which deals with the delayed transfer of land. Its purpose is to allow the Cork local authorities to agree that the transfer of certain land should not occur on the transfer day, which is the default position under section 9, but instead should happen at a later specified date. For drafting reasons, it was not possible to include the provision as an additional subsection due to associated performance of functions and vesting of related chose-in-action provisions needing to apply from the deferred dates rather than the transfer day. Accordingly, the content of the new section is very similar to section 9 as proposed for amendment. This provision to enable the authorities to agree the deferral of some land transfers is proposed for inclusion in the Bill at the suggestion of the implementation oversight group. The associated amendment No. 24 inserts into the published section 12(5) an additional reference to the new section 10 that is proposed for insertion into the Bill by amendment No. 8.

The second new section created by amendment No. 9 deals with other agreements regarding land situated in the relevant area, subsection (1) of which restates the content of the published section 9(5), but also allows for the authorities to agree to share the use of land transferred to the city council under section 9(1). Subsection (2) restates the content of the published section 9(6). This material is being moved to a separate section for drafting reasons to facilitate the changes to the references in section 9(1) that will be made by amendment No. 5 if accepted.

Amendment No. 10 replaces section 10(1)(a) with two new paragraphs, the effect of which is to impose an earlier date than the transfer day of 30 April 2019 by which to make a designation and to require the local authorities to have regard to the implementation plan in so doing. This and the other changes contained in amendments Nos. 12 and 13 arose from discussions with the implementation group on how section 10 should best operate in practice.

Amendment No. 11 is a drafting change to the wording of section 10(1)(d) that provides that the functions connected with the transferring property shall, after the transfer day and in relation to such property, be "performable by or on behalf of the city council only" whereas the published version provides that the functions are "performable by the city council".

Amendment No. 12 inserts two new subsections (2) and (3), the first of which provides that the oversight committee may make a recommendation to the two local authorities that they should jointly make a designation on such property or property of such a class as may be specified in the recommendation.

The second new subsection requires the two authorities to notify the oversight committee of the making of a designation under section 10. The non-receipt of a notification will trigger the oversight committee deciding whether to issue a recommendation under subsection (2) and, if a recommendation has issued, will indicate that the recommendation has not resulted in a designation being made. This is relevant to what would become subsection (4)(b) if amendment No. 13, proposing the insertion of a new subsection, is accepted.

Amendment No. 13 replaces the existing subsection (2)(a) with two new paragraphs. The first of these empowers the Minister to also make designations of property by order for the purposes of the Act and the second provides that where the local authorities have failed to make a designation within one month of the oversight committee making a recommendation referred to in the preceding amendment, the Minister shall make the designation within the following two months. Amendment No. 14 is a consequential amendment inserting into the published paragraph (b) of subsection (2) a reference to the additional new preceding paragraph.

Amendment No. 15 is a drafting change to the wording of subsection (2)(d) to the same effect as amendment No. 11 and also inserts a further subsection clarifying that multiple designations may be made under the section and may be made in respect of different property and different classes of property.

In section 11, amendment No. 18 inserts a new subsection before the current subsection (2) in section 11. Similarly to the current subsection (2) provision in respect of property, which will become subsection (3) if this amendment is accepted, this subsection is essentially repeating the subsection (1) paragraphs to apply in circumstances where land is transferred on a date or dates specified in an agreement for the delayed transfer of land. Amendment No. 20 inserts a new subsection to clarify that the transfer of rights and liabilities arising by virtue of contracts or commitments includes those arising from development bonds that arise under the planning and development legislation.