Health Authorities Act, 1960

Dissolutions and consequential provisions.

15.—(1) (a) The Dublin Board of Assistance, the Rathdown Board of Assistance, the Balrothery Board of Assistance, the Grangegorman Mental Hospital Board and the Dublin Fever Hospital Board shall, by virtue of this subsection, be dissolved and cease to exist.

(b) The provisions contained in the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the dissolutions under this subsection and, for that purpose, in that Schedule—

(i) “the Board” shall be construed as referring to any body dissolved by this subsection,.

(ii) “the authority” shall, in the case of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) of paragraph 1 in their application in relation to the reserved property, be construed as referring to the Electorate and, in any other case, be construed as referring to the Dublin Health Authority, and

(iii) “the commencement” shall be construed as referring to the commencement of this subsection.

(2) (a) The Board of Public Assistance for the South Cork Public Assistance District, the Cork Sanatoria Board and the Cork Mental Hospital Board shall, by virtue of this subsection, be dissolved and cease to exist.

(b) The provisions contained in the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the dissolutions under this subsection and, for that purpose, in that Schedule—

(i) “the board” shall be construed as referring to any body dissolved by this subsection,

(ii) “the authority” shall be construed as referring to the Cork Health Authority, and

(iii) “the commencement” shall be construed as referring to the commencement of this subsection.

(3) (a) The Limerick Mental Hospital Board shall, by virtue of this subsection, be dissolved and cease to exist.

(b) The provisions contained in the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the dissolution under this subsection and, for that purpose, in that Schedule—

(i) “the board” shall be construed as referring to the Limerick Mental Hospital Board,

(ii) “the authority” shall be construed as referring to the Limerick Health Authority, and

(iii) “the commencement” shall be construed as referring to the commencement of this subsection.

(4) (a) The Board of Public Assistance for the Waterford Public Assistance District and the Waterford Mental Hospital Board shall, by virtue of this subsection, be dissolved and cease to exist.

(b) The provisions contained in the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the dissolutions under this subsection and, for that purpose, in that Schedule—

(i) “the board” shall be construed as referring to any body dissolved by this subsection,

(ii) “the authority” shall be construed as referring to the Waterford Health Authority, and

(iii) “the commencement” shall be construed as referring to the commencement of this subsection.

(5) An institution which, immediately before its transfer to the Dublin Health Authority, was maintained and operated by the Dublin Fever Hospital Board may, notwithstanding anything contained in the Dublin Fever Hospital Act, 1936 , and the scheme thereunder, be used by the Dublin Health Authority otherwise than for the treatment and care of persons suffering from infectious diseases and shall be deemed to have been provided as a health institution by the Dublin Health Authority under section 10 of the Health Act, 1947 .

(6) Where, immediately before the establishment of a health authority established by this Act, 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 the health authority pursuant to paragraph 9 of the Third Schedule to this Act, 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 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 health authority after their establishment.

(7) (a) There shall be established a committee to advise the Dublin Health Authority on matters relating to the Hospital.

(b) The advisory committee shall consist of seven members nominated by the Electorate and seven members nominated by the Dublin Health Authority. Of the members nominated by the Dublin Health Authority, not less than four shall, notwithstanding anything in any other Act, be members of that Authority.

(c) (i) Nominations to the advisory committee shall be made as soon as may be after the establishment of the Dublin Health Authority and after each quinquennial appointment of members of that Authority.

(ii) A casual vacancy among the members of the advisory committee nominated by the Electorate may be filled by nomination by the Electorate.

(iii) A casual vacancy among the members of the advisory committee nominated by the Dublin Health Authority may be filled by nomination by that Authority.

(d) (i) Every person nominated to be a member of the advisory committee shall, subject to the subsequent subparagraphs of this paragraph and unless he sooner dies, hold office as such member until the day after his successor is nominated.

(ii) Where a person nominated by the Dublin Health Authority to be a member of the advisory committee ceases to be, or is disqualified for being, a member of that Authority, he shall cease to be a member of the advisory committee.

(iii) A member of the advisory committee may resign by giving notice in writing, signed by him, to the person acting as secretary to the committee, but the resignation shall not become effective until the meeting of the committee held next after the receipt of the notice given to the person acting as secretary to the committee.

(e) The advisory committee may elect their own chairman and regulate their own procedure.

(f) (i) The Chief Executive Officer of the Dublin Health Authority shall, so far as is not inconsistent with the due performance of his duties, attend such meetings of the advisory committee as that committee may request him to attend or as he may wish to attend.

(ii) The Chief Executive Officer of the Dublin Health Authority shall make available for inspection by members of the advisory committee copies of such of the orders of the Dublin Health Authority as relate specifically to the Hospital.

(g) Section 2 of the City and County Management (Amendment) Act, 1955 , shall, with respect to functions as performable in relation specifically to the Hospital and with respect to works (other than works of maintenance or repair) proposed to be undertaken at the Hospital and expenditure in connection with any such works, apply to the advisory committee as well as to the Dublin Health Authority.

(h) The advisory committee may request the Dublin Health Authority to direct that any works proposed to be undertaken at the Hospital (not being works which the Dublin Health Authority are required by or under statute or by order of a court to undertake) shall not be undertaken, and where on such a request the Dublin Health Authority by resolution direct that the works to which the request relates shall not be undertaken, those works shall not be undertaken.

(8) (a) The Electorate shall, by virtue of this paragraph, become a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal which shall be judicially noticed.

(b) The Electorate shall make the income from the reserved property (including any property for the time being representing that property) available for expenditure for such purposes in connection with the Hospital as may be agreed upon between the advisory committee and the Dublin Health Authority.

(c) The Electorate may, at a meeting which, at any time after the expiration of one year from the establishment of the Dublin Health Authority, is specially called for the purpose, decide, by resolution for which not less than eight of the members of the Electorate vote, to cancel their nomination of members of the advisory committee.

(d) Where a resolution is passed in accordance with the foregoing paragraph—

(i) the advisory committee shall cease to exist,

(ii) the Electorate may use so much of the reserved property (including any property for the time being representing that property) as is held by the Electorate and all income from the reserved property (including as aforesaid) for any charitable purposes which may be chosen by them and approved of by the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests in Ireland or for any public purposes which may be so chosen and approved of by the High Court.

(e) If, at any time within the period of fifty years beginning on the establishment of the Dublin Health Authority, that Authority dispose of the Institution by way of sale, otherwise than to an authority who undertake that it will not be used otherwise than for a public purpose, the Dublin Health Authority shall pay to the Electorate—

(i) the proceeds of the sale, less a sum in respect of any improvements made to the Institution by the Dublin Board of Assistance or the Dublin Health Authority agreed with the Electorate or, in the absence of agreement, determined by arbitration,

or

(ii) £30,000,

whichever is the less, and any amount so paid shall, for the purposes of this section, form part of the reserved property.

(f) In applying section 83 of the Local Government Act, 1946 , in relation to the disposal of the Institution or any part thereof, that section shall have effect subject to the following modifications:

(i) the reference in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) to members of the local authority shall be construed as including a reference to the members of the advisory committee, and

(ii) “one month” shall be substituted for “ten clear days” in paragraph (b) of subsection (1).

(g) The advisory committee may, in relation to any proposal to dispose of the Institution or any part thereof, make such representations as they think fit to the Dublin Health Authority or the Minister.

(h) Any income of the Dublin Fever Hospital Board from the reserved property which was received on or after the day of the passing of this Act and before the day of the establishment of the Dublin Health Authority shall, on such establishment, be paid to the Electorate and shall then be regarded as income of the Electorate from the reserved property.

(9) In this section—

“the advisory committee” means the committee established under paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of this section;

“the Electorate” means the Dublin Fever Hospital Board (Extraordinary Members) Electorate;

“the Hospital” means Cherry Orchard Hospital, Dublin;

“the Institution” means Brú Chaoimhín, Cork Street, Dublin;

“the reserved property” means the property specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act.