18/01/1930:

TOTALISATOR REGULATIONS, 1930.

TOTALISATOR REGULATIONS, 1930.

WHEREAS it is enacted by sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Totalisator Act, 1929 (No. 22 of 1929), that the Minister for Finance may by order make regulations for controlling and regulating the setting up, maintenance and working of totalisators under totalisator licences :

NOW I, EARNÁN DE BLAGHD, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Totalisator Act, 1929 (No. 22 of 1929), and of every and any other power me in this behalf enabling do by this Order make the following regulations, that is to say :—

1. These Regulations may be cited for all purposes as the Totalisator Regulations, 1930.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1923 (No. 46 of 1923), applies to the interpretation of these Regulations in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.

3. In these Regulations,

the expression " the Act " means the Totalisator Act, 1929 (No. 22 of 1929),

the expression " the licensees " means the persons licensed under the Act to set up, maintain and work the totalisator in relation to which that expression is used.

4. No person shall injure or tamper with or attempt to injure or tamper with any totalisator.

5. No person shall wilfully obstruct or interfere with any other person in staking money by means of a totalisator.

6. No sum of less than two shillings nor any sum which is not an even multiple of sixpence shall be staked by means of a totalisator.

7. No sum shall be staked by means of a totalisator at any place other than at the totalisator itself.

8. No sum shall be staked by means of a totalisator upon a race after such race has started.

9. No person employed by the licensees in or about the working of a totalisator shall stake any sum by means of such totalisator.

10. Whenever a sum is staked by means of a totalisator, a ticket (in these Regulations referred to as a totalisator ticket) shall forthwith be issued from or by such totalisator to the person by whom such sum was so staked.

11. Every totalisator ticket shall have stated thereon the date and place of the issue thereof, the race, the name or number of the horse, and the sum staked in respect of which it is issued, and shall also have clearly printed thereon a statement that it is issued subject to the regulations made by the Minister for Finance under sub-section (1) of section 6 of the act and for the time being in force.

12. No stake made by means of a totalisator shall be retracted or withdrawn after the issue from such totalisator of a totalisator ticket in respect of such stake.

13. The following provisions shall, so far as they extend, regulate the application by the licensees of money staked by means of a totalisator in respect of a race, that is to say—

(a) not less than ninety per cent. of the total amount staked by means of a totalisator in respect of a race (exclusive of sums so staked on horses which did not come under the starter's orders for such race) shall be distributable amongst the holders of successful totalisator tickets issued from such totalisator in respect of such race ;

(b) where there are no successful totalisator tickets issued from a totalisator in respect of a race, ninety per cent. and no more of every sum staked by means of such totalisator in respect of such race on a horse which came under the starter's orders for such race shall be repayable to the holder of the totalisator ticket issued in respect of such sum ;

(c) every sum staked by means of a totalisator in respect of a race on a horse which did not come under the starter's orders for such race shall be repayable in full to the holder of the totalisator ticket issued in respect of such sum ;

(d) every sum staked by means of a totalisator in respect of a race which is declared void or is not held at all or is postponed to a subsequent race meeting shall (notwithstanding anything contained in this regulation) be repayable in full to the holder of the totalisator ticket issued in respect of such sum ;

(e) where money is distributable amongst the holders of successful totalisator tickets issued from a totalisator in respect of a race but, by reason of an act of God, unlawful act of any person, riot, civil commotion, fire, strike, mechanical breakdown of the totalisator or any part thereof, or any other cause it is not possible to ascertain the individual amounts so distributable to such holders respectively, every sum staked by means of such totalisator in respect of such race shall, notwithstanding anything contained in this regulation, be repayable in full to the holder of the totalisator ticket issued in respect of such sum ;

(f) every sum distributable or repayable to the holder of a totalisator ticket shall be calculated to a multiple of sixpence and for that purpose every fraction of sixpence shall, as the licensees may think proper in respect of each such fraction, be treated as a complete sixpence or be disregarded.

14. Every sum distributable or repayable to the holder of a totalisator ticket shall be payable only to the bearer of such ticket on presentation by him of such ticket either at the totalisator from which such ticket was issued while such totalisator is working on the day of such issue or at the offices of the licensees during office hours on any day after and not more than three months after the said day of such issue, but where a totalisator ticket has been lost or destroyed the licensees may, upon being furnished with such evidence of the ownership and of the loss or destruction of such ticket and with such indemnity as they think fit to require, pay the sum distributable or repayable in respect of such ticket to the person who appears to them to be the owner of such ticket.

15. Whenever a totalisator ticket, to the holder of which a sum would be distributable or repayable under these Regulations, is not presented for payment at the place prescribed and within the time limited by these Regulations, such sum shall, unless it has been previously paid by the licensees on evidence of the loss or destruction of such totalisator ticket, become the property of the licensees at the expiration of the said time so limited.

16. No person shall, by presentation of a forged or false totalisator ticket or by falsely representing himself to be the holder of a totalisator ticket lawfully issued from a totalisator or by any other fraud or misrepresentation, obtain or attempt to obtain payment to himself or any other person by a licensee under a licence granted under the Act of any moneys payable on or in respect of a totalisator ticket.

17. No person shall obtain or attempt to obtain money or money's worth by selling, exchanging, or offering for sale or exchange as a totalisator ticket lawfully issued from a totalisator any document which is not a totalisator ticket so issued or by falsely representing a document to be a totalisator ticket so issued.

18. The following provisions shall apply whenever the licensees set up a totalisator on a race course with the previous consent of the owner (as the case may be) of such race course or of the portion of such race course on which such totalisator is set up, that is to say—

(a) such owner shall not be entitled to demand or receive from the licensees in respect of the setting up, maintenance, or working of such totalisator any rent, fee, or other payment save the sums which are required by this regulation to be paid by the licensees to such owner :

(b) subject to the subsequent provisions of this regulation, the licensees shall, on every occasion on which such totalisator is worked, pay to such owner a sum equal to two and one-half per cent. of the total of all sums staked by means of such totalisator on that occasion, exclusive of such of those sums as are under these Regulations repayable in full to the holders of the totalisator tickets issued in respect thereof ;

(c) where the licensees at their own expense erect on such race course permanent buildings for the purpose of or in connection with such race course the licensees may deduct and retain from the percentage mentioned in the foregoing clause such amount as they think fit, not exceeding two-fifths of such percentage, until by means of such deduction the amount expended by the licensees on the erecting of such buildings (including surveyor's and architect's fees) shall have been repaid to the licensees with interest at such rate as shall be agreed upon by the licensees and such owner ;

(d) the licensees shall keep separate accounts of all such deductions and shall allow such owner at all reasonable times to inspect and take copies of or extracts from such accounts ;

(e) every sum payable by the licensees to such owner in respect of such percentage shall be so paid within one month after the occasion in respect of which the same is payable;

(f) sums paid to such owner in respect of the said percentage shall not be treated by such owner as ordinary receipts from such race course or be applied in discharging ordinary expenses of such race course but shall be applied by such owners in such proportions as shall be approved of by the licensees to one or more of the following purposes, that is to say—

(i) the increase of stake-money and prizes at races on such race course,

(ii) the reduction of entrance fees and similar charges in respect of races on such race course,

(iii) the reduction of the charges for admission to such race course,

(iv) any other purpose tending to the promotion of horse-racing which is specifically approved of by the Minister for Finance ;

(g) such owner shall, whenever so required by the licensees or by the Minister for Finance, furnish to the licensees or to the said Minister (as the case may be) an account of the expenditure by him of all moneys received by him in respect of the said percentage and shall furnish to the licensees or the said Minister (as the case may be) on demand all such information in relation to such account as they or he may require ;

(h) all persons duly authorised in this behalf by the Revenue Commissioners shall be entitled to enter free of charge upon such race course at all reasonable times for the purpose of having access to and inspecting such totalisator.

19. No person shall, without the authority of a licensee under a licence granted under the Act, print or cause to be printed or import or cause to be imported a totalisator ticket, or knowingly have in his possession a totalisator ticket which has not been duly issued from a totalisator, or import or cause to be imported or knowingly have in his possession any die, plate, instrument, or material for making totalisator tickets.

20. No person shall print or cause to be printed, import or cause to be imported, or knowingly have in his possession any ticket, docket, or other document which falsely purports to be a totalisator ticket duly issued or lawfully prepared for issue from a totalisator or which so closely resembles a totalisator ticket so issued or prepared as to be calculated to deceive, or import or cause to be imported or knowingly have in his possession any die, plate, instrument, or materials for making any such ticket, docket, or other document as aforesaid.

21. No person shall obstruct or impede the Revenue Commissioners or any person duly authorised by them in the exercise of any right or power vested in them or him by virtue of a licence or the conditions attached to a licence granted under the Act.

22. The licensees shall cause a printed copy of these Regulations to be kept posted up in a prominent place on or near every totalisator worked by them at all times while such totalisator is being worked, and every sum staked by means of a totalisator on a race shall be deemed to be so staked subject to and on the terms of these Regulations so far as the same are relevant.

Given under the Official Seal of the Minister for Finance this 18th day of January, 1930.

(Signed) J. J. McELLIGOTT.

Seal of the Minister for Finance.