Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1988

What is this act about?

This law amends and expands the existing Electricity (Supply) Acts, 1927 to 1985, primarily by giving the Electricity Supply Board (the Board) new powers related to company formation, product distribution and sale, and by-products of electricity generation. It also makes changes to financial and administrative aspects concerning the Board.

Who it applies to: The Electricity Supply Board (the Board); The Minister for Energy and the Minister for Finance.

At a glance

Country: Ireland
Area of law: Commercial and corporate law
Articles: 16
Source: irishstatutebook.ie
Text retrieved: 2026-06-17
Explanation updated: 2026-07-07

What does this act regulate?

The Board's ability to establish, acquire interests in, and control companies.
The Board's power to distribute and sell coal and other specified products, particularly those imported at Moneypoint.
The Board's power to manufacture, distribute, and sell coal-based products and by-products of electricity generation.
The terms of office for the chairman of the Board and the remuneration of its chief executive.

Who does this act apply to?

The Electricity Supply Board (the Board).
The Minister for Energy and the Minister for Finance.

What are the key points?

The Board can form or acquire interests in companies, lend money to them, and guarantee their borrowings, subject to ministerial consent.
The Board can distribute and sell coal imported at Moneypoint and other products specified by the Minister, with transportation within the State from Moneypoint requiring cargo vessel use to a port or harbour.
The Board can manufacture, distribute, and sell coal-based products at Moneypoint, also requiring cargo vessel transport for internal distribution from Moneypoint.
The Board can engage in the distribution, sale, and manufacturing of by-products from electricity generation.

Commercial and corporate law

Registry of Friendly Societies Act, 1936

Transport Act, 1966

Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited (Amendment) Act, 1989

Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) (Neuchatel Agreement) Act, 1947

Irish Shipping Limited (Amendment) Act, 1984

Industrial Development Act 2009

European Communities and Swiss Confederation Act, 2001

Industrial Grants (Amendment) Act, 1964

Commercial and corporate law

Legal text

Contents (16)

Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Section 9
Section 10
Section 11
Section 12
Section 13
Section 14
Section 15
Section 16

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Section 1

Definitions.

Section 2

Establishment and acquisition of companies and interests in companies by Board.

Section 3

Power of Board to distribute and sell substances and products.

Section 4

Power of Board to manufacture, sell, etc., coal-based products.

Section 5

Powers of Board in relation to by-products of electricity generation.

Section 6

Terms and conditions of tenure of office of chairman of Board.

Section 7

Chief executive's remuneration, etc.

Section 8

Payments by Board to Minister for the Environment.

Section 9

Rating of property of Board.

Section 10

Confirmation of payments by Board in lieu of rates.

Section 11

Amendment of section 4 of Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1954.

Section 12

Amendment of section 4 of Act of 1982.

Section 13

Repeals.

Section 14

Laying of orders and regulations before Houses of Oireachtas.

Section 15

Expenses.

Section 16

Short title, collective citation and construction.

Acts Referred to Companies Act, 1963 1963, No. 33 Electricity (Supply) Act, 1927 1927, No. 27 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1930 1930, No. 19 Liffey Reservoir Act, 1936 1936, No. 54 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1945 1945, No. 12 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1954 1954, No. 17 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1958 1958, No. 35 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1961 1961, No. 2 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1962 1962, No. 24 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1971 1971, No. 18 Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1982 1982, No. 22 Number 17 of 1988 ELECTRICITY (SUPPLY) (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1988 AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE ELECTRICITY (SUPPLY) ACTS, 1927 to 1985. [27th June, 1988] BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Definitions.

1.—In this Act— “the Act of 1982” means the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1982 ; “the Board” means the Electricity Supply Board; “the Minister” means the Minister for Energy; “Moneypoint” means the property of the Board at Moneypoint, in the county of Clare; “the Principal Act” means the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1927 .

Establishment and acquisition of companies and interests in companies by Board.

2.—(1) In this section “company” means— (a) a company within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1963 , or (b) a body formed or established under the laws of a state other than the State and corresponding to a body referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(2)The Board may promote and take part in the formation or establishment of a company.

(3)The Board may acquire, hold and dispose of shares or other interests in a company and become a member of a company.

(4)The Board may exercise total or partial control of the composition of the board of directors of, or other authority, by whatever name called, that controls or manages, a company.

(5)The Board may— (a) lend money, upon such terms and conditions as it may determine, to a company, and (b) guarantee, in such form and manner and on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, the due repayment by a company of the principal of any moneys (including moneys in a currency other than the currency of the State) borrowed by the company or the payment of interest on such moneys or both the repayment of the principal and the payment of the interest and any such guarantee may include a guarantee of payment of incidental expenses arising in connection with such borrowings and may be a guarantee of payment of a promissory note made by a company or a bill of exchange drawn or accepted by a company.

(6)The exercise by the Board of any power conferred by this section shall be subject to the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance given after consultation with any other Minister of the Government who, in the opinion of the Minister, having regard to the functions of that Minister of the Government, ought to be consulted.

Power of Board to distribute and sell substances and products.

3.—(1) The Board may engage in the business of the distribution and sale, in or outside the State, of coal imported into the State at Moneypoint and any other substance or product specified by the Minister by regulations and shall have all such powers as may be necessary or expedient for that purpose.

(2)Where, for the purposes of such distribution or sale within the State, transportation from Moneypoint of any such substance or product by or on behalf of a purchaser thereof or the Board is required, the substance or product shall be transported therefrom by cargo vessel to a port or harbour in the State.

Power of Board to manufacture, sell, etc., coal-based products.

4.—(1) The Board may engage in the business of the manufacture at Moneypoint and the distribution and sale by wholesale, in or outside the State, of any substance or product manufactured wholly or mainly from coal and shall have all such powers as may be necessary or expedient for that purpose.

(2)Where for the purposes of such distribution or sale within the State, transportation from Moneypoint of any such substance or product by or on behalf of a purchaser thereof or the Board is required, the substance or product shall be transported therefrom by cargo vessel to a port or harbour in the State.

Powers of Board in relation to by-products of electricity generation.

5.—The Board may engage in—— (a) the business of the distribution and sale, in or outside the State, of any by-product produced in the generation by the Board of electricity, and (b) the business of the manufacture, distribution and sale, in or outside the State, of any substance or product manufactured wholly or mainly from such a by-product as aforesaid, and shall have all such powers as may be necessary or expedient for those purposes.

Terms and conditions of tenure of office of chairman of Board.

6.—(1) Subject to subsections (4) and (7) of section 2 of the Principal Act and section 9 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1958 , a chairman of the Board to whom this section applies shall hold office as such chairman upon such terms and subject to such conditions as may be determined from time to time by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(2)Subsection (6) of section 2 of the Principal Act shall not apply in relation to a chairman of the Board to whom this section applies.

(3)This section applies to a chairman of the Board appointed to be such chairman after the passing of this Act.

Chief executive's remuneration, etc.

7.—There shall be paid by the Board to its chief executive (whether he is so described or otherwise) such remuneration and allowances as the Board, with the approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall determine.

Payments by Board to Minister for the Environment.

8.—(1) The Board shall pay to the Minister for the Environment, for each year beginning with the year 1988, such sum as the Government may determine.

(2)A payment under this section shall be made in three equal instalments, an instalment being payable not later than the 1st day of May (or, in the year 1988, the 1st day of August), the 1st day of September and the 1st day of November in each year.

(3)A payment under this section shall be regarded as an outgoing properly chargeable to the income of the Board for the purposes of section 21 of the Principal Act.

Rating of property of Board.

9.—(1) The exemption from assessment for poor rate and any other rate made by a local authority of works referred to in the following sections, namely— (i) section 96 of the Principal Act, (ii) section 12 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1930 , (iii) section 13 of the Liffey Reservoir Act, 1936 , and (iv) section 14 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1945 , shall cease in respect of local financial years beginning on or after such day as the Minister may appoint by order and, accordingly, the sections aforesaid are hereby repealed as on and from the day so appointed.

(2)A payment under section 8 of this Act shall not be made in any local financial year in respect of which the rates aforesaid are payable on property of the Board by virtue of subsection (1) of this section.

Confirmation of payments by Board in lieu of rates.

10.—For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that notwithstanding anything in the Electricity Supply Acts, 1927 to 1985, or any other enactment, the sums paid by the Board under section 7 of the Act of 1982 for the years 1983 to 1987, were properly due and payable by virtue of that section by the Board to the Minister for the Environment.

Amendment of section 4 of Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1954.

11.—The power conferred on the Board by section 4 (as amended by section 3 of the Act of 1982) of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1954 , to borrow money shall be deemed to include, and always to have included, power to raise money on foot of a promissory note made by the Board or a bill of exchange drawn or accepted by the Board.

Amendment of section 4 of Act of 1982.

12.—The power conferred on the Minister for Finance by section 4 of the Act of 1982 to guarantee the due repayment by the Board of the principal of any moneys borrowed by the Board or the payment of interest on such moneys or both the repayment of the principal and the payment of the interest and of the payment of incidental expenses arising in connection with any such borrowings shall be deemed to include, and always to have included, power to guarantee in such form and manner and in such money (including money in a currency other than the currency of the State) and on such terms and conditions as the Minister for Finance thinks fit the due payment of a promissory note made by the Board or a bill of exchange drawn or accepted by the Board and “principal” and “borrowings” shall be deemed, for the purposes of the said section, to include, and always to have included, amounts payable under such promissory notes and bills of exchange.

Repeals.

13.—(1) The following provisions are hereby repealed: (a) section 3 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1961 , and (b) section 7 of the Act of 1982.

(2)The following provisions, that is to say: (a) section 3

(4)of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1958 , (b) section 4

(3)of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1962 , (c) section 1

(3)of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1971 , are hereby repealed as respects any of the moneys advanced to the Board under those sections that, on the 31st day of December, 1988, have not been repaid to the Central Fund.

Laying of orders and regulations before Houses of Oireachtas.

14.—Every order or regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order or regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order or regulation is laid before it, the order or regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Expenses.

15.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Short title, collective citation and construction.

16.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1988.

(2)The Electricity (Supply) Acts, 1927 to 1985, and this Act may be cited together as the Electricity (Supply) Acts, 1927 to 1988.

(3)The Electricity (Supply) Acts, 1927 to 1985, and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.

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