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19 1945

MENTAL TREATMENT ACT, 1945

PART VI.

Financial Provisions Relating to Mental Hospital Authorities.

Expenses of mental hospital authorities.

43. —(1) Where a mental hospital district consists of an administrative county, the expenses incurred by the mental hospital authority for the district shall be defrayed by that authority and shall be raised by means of the poor rate equally over the whole of such county.

(2) Where a mental hospital district consists of a county borough, the expenses incurred by the mental hospital authority for the district shall be defrayed by that authority.

(3) Where a mental hospital district consists of two or more administrative counties, the sum required to defray the expenses incurred by the mental hospital authority for the district during every year ending on the 31st day of March shall be supplied by the councils of the counties severally in proportion to the net cost of maintenance, determined by the prescribed method, of the chargeable patients from their respective functional areas maintained by the mental hospital authority during such year, and the proportionate part of that sum of each such council of a county shall be raised by means of the poor rate equally over the whole of the county.

(4) Where a mental hospital district consists of a county borough and one or more administrative counties, the sum required to defray the expenses incurred by the mental hospital authority for the district during every year ending on the 31st day of March shall be supplied by the corporation of such borough and the council of such county or the councils of such counties severally in proportion to the net cost of maintenance, determined by the prescribed method, of the chargeable patients from their respective functional areas maintained by the mental hospital authority during such year, and the proportionate part of that sum of such council of a county or of each such council of a county shall be raised by means of the poor rate equally over the whole of the county.

(5) All moneys required by this section to be supplied by the council of a county or the corporation of a county borough shall be supplied on demand made by the relevant joint board in the prescribed form and manner and at the prescribed time.

Borrowing.

44. —(1) A mental hospital authority may borrow for the purposes of defraying any expenses incurred by them in the same manner in which a sanitary authority may borrow for the purposes of defraying expenses under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931.

(2) The provisions of the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931, in relation to borrowing by a sanitary authority (except sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 238 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878) shall, with the necessary modifications, apply in relation to any borrowing under this section.

(3) Money borrowed under this section may be lent by means of an issue from the local loans fund as if such loan constituted a local loan within the meaning of the Local Loans Fund Acts, 1935 to 1940, and was authorised by an Act of the Oireachtas.

Limit on borrowing.

45. —(1) The amount standing at any particular time borrowed by a mental hospital authority which is a joint board, or by a council of a county or corporation of a county borough as a mental hospital authority, shall not exceed one-fourth of the total amount of the valuations appearing in the valuation lists for the time being in force under the Valuation Acts in the mental hospital district of such mental hospital authority.

(2) The amount standing at any particular time borrowed by a council of a county as a mental hospital authority shall not be reckoned as part of the total debt of the council for the purpose of the limitation on borrowing imposed by Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898.

Treasurer of joint board.

46. —A joint board shall appoint a banking company to act as their treasurer.

Amounts received by joint board.

47. —(1) All amounts payable to a joint board shall be paid to and received by their treasurer and, when so received, shall be placed by the treasurer to the credit of the board.

(2) The receipt of the treasurer of a joint board shall be the only good discharge to a person paying money to the board.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section, the receipt of an officer of a joint board, duly authorised by them or by or under any enactment to receive payments of a particular class, shall be a good discharge to a person making a payment of that class to that officer.

Amounts paid by joint board.

48. —(1) All amounts payable by a joint board shall be paid by their treasurer.

(2) The treasurer of a joint board shall not make any payment out of their funds except—

(a) in pursuance of an order of a Court, or

(b) with an authority given under section 21 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940).

Audit of accounts of joint board.

49. —Section 12 and sections 14, 15, 17, and 18 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1871, sub-section (2) of section 63 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, sections 19 to 22 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1902, and paragraph (3) of Article 19 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, shall (subject to the provisions of Part VII of the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941)) apply to the audit of the accounts of the receipts and payments of a joint board and to the auditor appointed to audit such accounts.