Health Act, 1970

Chapter IV

Dissolution of Certain Bodies, etc.

Dissolutions of certain health authorities and consequential provisions.

34.—(1) The Minister shall by order provide for the dissolution of the Dublin Health Authority, the Cork Health Authority, the Limerick Health Authority and the Waterford Health Authority.

(2) An order under this section may include provisions for—

(a) the transfer of any of the property, rights and liabilities of the Authority (in this section and in the Third Schedule referred to as the dissolved body) to the relevant health board or to a relevant local authority,

(b) the preservation of continuing contracts made by the dissolved body,

(c) the continuance of pending legal proceedings,

(d) the transfer of the holder of any health office under the dissolved body to an office under the relevant health board which, in the opinion of the Minister, is similar to that health office,

(e) the transfer, with the consent of the Minister for Social Welfare, of the holder of any public assistance office under the dissolved body to an office under the relevant health board or a relevant local authority which, in the opinion of that Minister, is similar to that public assistance office.

(3) The Third Schedule shall have effect in relation to a dissolution under this section, and to any transfers of property, rights and liabilities, preservation of contracts, continuance of legal proceedings or transfers of officers provided for by an order under this section, and in that Schedule references to the commencement shall be construed as references to the commencement of the order.

(4) Where, immediately before the commencement of an order under this section, the Local Appointments Commissioners were engaged in the selection of a person or persons to be recommended for appointment to an office of which a holder would be transferred to a health board or local authority in accordance with the order, the selection shall be completed in such manner as the Commissioners think proper, and the person or one of the persons so selected and recommended by the Commissioners for appointment shall be appointed by the health board or local authority as if the selection and recommendation were made on a request made under section 6 of the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 , by the chief executive officer to the health board after its establishment or by the local authority.

(5) In this section—

“health office” means an office in relation to which ministerial functions under the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1968, were, immediately before the commencement of the appropriate order, performable by the Minister;

“public assistance office” means an office in relation to which ministerial functions under the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1968, were, immediately before the commencement of the appropriate order, performable by the Minister for Social Welfare;

“relevant health board” means, in relation to a particular dissolved body, the health board the functional area of which includes the area which, before the commencement of the appropriate order under this section, was the functional area of the dissolved body;

“relevant local authority” means, in relation to a particular dissolved body, a local authority specified in section 84, the functional area of which, before the commencement of the appropriate order under this section, was included in the functional area of the dissolved body.