S.I. No. 22/1966:

LOCAL OFFICES (GAELTACHT) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1966.

LOCAL OFFICES (GAELTACHT) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1966.

The Minister for Local Government, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on each of them by sections 13 , 14 and 19 of the Local Government Act, 1941 , hereby orders as follows :--

1. This Order may be cited as the Local Offices (Gaeltacht) (Amendment) Order, 1966.

2. The Local Offices (Gaeltacht) (Amendment) Order, 1943 (S.R. and O. 1943 No. 97) as amended by the Local Offices (Gaeltacht) (Amendment) Order, 1965 ( S.I. No. 20 of 1965 ) shall be amended by the deletion of sub-article (2) of article 3 and the substitution therefor of the following :--

" (2) Article 3 of the Principal Order, as amended by subsequent orders, shall, in its application to a person to whom this article applies, be amended so as to provide that such person may continue in office until the 30th day of September, 1966 but shall thereupon cease to hold office unless he has theretofore satisfied the appropriate Minister in relation to the office that he possesses the knowledge of the Irish language mentioned in article 3 of the Principal Order."

3. This Order shall be read and construed as one with the Local Offices (Gaeltacht) Orders, 1928 to 1965 and may be collectively cited therewith as the Local Offices (Gaeltacht) Orders, 1928 to 1966.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Local Government this 31st day of January, 1966.

NEIL T. BLANEY,

Minister for Local Government.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Health this 31st day of January, 1966.

DONOGH O'MALLEY,

Minister for Health.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare this 31st day of January, 1966

CAOIMHGHIN O BEOLAIN,

Minister for Social Welfare.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Local Offices and Employments (Gaeltacht) Order, 1928, as amended by the Local Offices (Gaeltacht) (Amendment) Order, 1965 provides that any person who is appointed to an office to which those orders apply the duties of which are to be performed in or in relation to any part of the Gaeltacht and who, at the time of such appointment, does not possess a competent knowledge of the Irish language shall cease to hold such office at the expiration of three years from such appointment or on the 31st day of January, 1966 (whichever is the later) unless he theretofore satisfies the appropriate Minister in relation to such office that he possesses such a knowledge of the Irish language.

The effect of this Order is to substitute the 30th day of September, 1966, for the 31st day of January, 1966 in the said Order.

Pending the implementation of Government policy in relation to offices under local authorities as set out in the White Paper on the Restoration of the Irish Language this further extension of the Order is necessary to safeguard the position of local authority officers who would otherwise be liable to dismissal on the expiry date i.e. 31st January, 1966, specified in the 1965 amending Order.