An Analysis of Irish Transport Acts, 1944 195-0, and of the financial and operating statistics of Coras Iompair Eireann and the Great Northern Railway

by which a chairman with exceptional powers was appointed by the Government, and four directors were elected by the stockholders. With the experience thus gained of the new system of management, it was decided to introduce a Transport Bill, which became an Act in 1944. As a result, it was considered that adequate plans could be made for the reorganisation of public transport in the postwar period. In introducing the Bill, the Minister for Industry and Commerce stated the main principles on which the new transport organisation should be based : it should be able to procure easily and cheaply a sufficient amount of new capital; effective measures should be taken for the management to be conducted in accordance with public policy ; and there should be a public authority to control charges for public transport. Transport Act, 1944.—By this Act the two large public transport organisations operating entirely within the State, the G.S. Rys. Co. and Dublin United Transport Co., were amalgamated into a new company , Coras Iompair Eireann (C.I.E.). A system of directorial control similar to that prevailing in the G.S. Rys. Co. was established. The board of the Company was to consist of a chairman with special powers to be appointed by the Minister for Industry and Commerce, and a number of other directors to be elected by the stockholders. It was provided that no meeting of the board could be held in the absence of the chairman, and that no decision at the board could be reached without his approval, while the chairman alone would constitute a quorum at a board meeting. The Railway Tribunal, established by the Irish Railways Act, 1924, was abolished, and its powers were mainly transferred to the Minister for Industry and Commerce , and in some part to the High Court. With a view to lessening the evasions and infringements of the Road Transport Act, 1933, a stricter interpretation was placed on the definition of carriage for reward by mechanically propelled vehicles , and heavier penalties could be imposed in the event of the violation of the Act. The annual payments of way leaves by C.I.E.