Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993

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Charges by company in respect of air navigation and aeronautical communications services.

43.—(1) (a) Subject to subsection (3), the company may by regulations require the payment to Eurocontrol, the company or the Minister of such charges, at such rates and in such currencies as may be prescribed by the company in respect of air navigation services and aeronautical communications services which, whether in pursuance of international arrangements or otherwise, are provided for aircraft by Eurocontrol, the company or the Minister and regulations under this section may provide for charges payable by virtue of such regulations to be so payable elsewhere than in the State and to be recoverable in the State wherever they are payable (without prejudice to their recovery elsewhere) and may include such incidental and supplementary provisions as the company considers appropriate for the purpose of the regulations.

(b) Charges prescribed by regulations under this section may relate to all or part of the period or to all or part of an area of airspace in or in relation to which air navigation services or aeronautical communications services are provided as aforesaid for aircraft.

(2) Liability for the payment of any charge payable by virtue of regulations under this section may be imposed upon the operators of aircraft for which the services concerned are made available which are being operated in a place where they are made available or upon the owners of such aircraft (whether or not, in either case, they are actually used or could be used with the equipment installed in the aircraft) or upon the managers of aerodromes used by such aircraft or upon any two of those persons or upon all of them.

(3) The rates of charge prescribed as aforesaid shall—

(a) in the case of charges payable to Eurocontrol, be such rates as may be specified in pursuance of tariffs approved under any international agreement to which the State is a party, and

(b) in the case of charges payable to the Minister, be such rates as the company may determine with the consent of the Minister,

and there may be so prescribed different rates of charge in respect of aircraft of different classes or descriptions or in respect of aircraft used in different circumstances, and the regulations may provide for the payment, with any charges or separately, of interest on the charges in respect of any period during which the charges were due but not paid and may dispense with the payment of charges or interest on charges in such cases as may be specified by or determined under the regulations.

(4) For the purpose of facilitating the assessment and collection of charges payable by virtue of regulations under this section and without prejudice to the generality of section 56 , the regulations may make provision for requiring operators of aircraft or managers of aerodromes—

(a) to make such records of the movements of aircraft, and of such other particulars relating to aircraft, as may be specified in the regulations and to preserve those records for such period as may be so specified,

(b) to produce for inspection at such times and by such officers of Eurocontrol as may be so specified or by authorised officers or authorised officers of the company records which are required by the regulations to be preserved by those operators or managers, and

(c) to furnish to Eurocontrol, the company or the Minister such particulars of any such records as may be so specified.

(5) (a) In any proceedings to which this subsection applies, any record made by any such person as may be designated by regulations under this section, or by a person acting under the control of such a person, being a record purporting to state—

(i) the position of any aircraft at any material time, or

(ii) the terms or contents of any message or signal transmitted to any aircraft, either alone or in common with other aircraft, or received from any aircraft, by the first-mentioned person, or by a person acting under the control of that person,

shall, if produced from the custody of the said first-mentioned person, be evidence of the matters stated in the record.

(b) This subsection applies to proceedings in a court for the recovery of any charges payable by virtue of regulations under this section or for an offence under this Act consisting of a contravention of regulations under subsection (4).

(c) The references in paragraph (a) of this subsection to a record made by or by a person acting under the control of any person include references to a document or article purporting to be a copy of a record so made, and certified to be a true copy by the person who made the record or a person acting under his control; and, in relation to such a copy, that paragraph shall have effect as if the words “if produced from the custody of the said first-mentioned person” were omitted.

(6) Notwithstanding section 5 (1), liability for compliance with regulations under this section may be imposed in relation to aircraft registered in the State and aircraft not so registered and whether or not the aircraft concerned are in or over the State at the time when the services to which charges prescribed by such regulations relate are provided and whether or not those services are provided from a place in the State.

(7) The Public Offices (Fees) Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of the charges payable to the Minister under this section.

(8) Charges payable to the Minister or the company under regulations under this section may be recovered by the Minister or the company, as the case may be, from the person by whom they are payable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(9) Until regulations under subsection (1) are in force providing for the payment by the users thereof of charges in respect of services provided by the company at State aerodromes, the amount of any costs incurred by the company in providing the services shall be paid by Aer Rianta, cuideachta phoiblí theoranta, to the company subject to the deduction by Aer Rianta, cuideachta phoiblí theoranta, of such amount as may be agreed on by it and the company in respect of the cost of the collection of those charges.

(10) Regulations under this section may make such provision as the company considers necessary or expedient for the purpose of complying with a direction under section 45 (1) (a) (ii).