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27 1950

NURSES ACT, 1950

PART II.

An Bord Altranais.

Establishment of the Board.

7. —(1) On the establishment date there shall be established by virtue of this section a board to be styled and known as An Bord Altranais.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued in their corporate name and to hold and dispose of land.

Seal of the Board.

8. —(1) The Board shall provide themselves with a seal, and such seal shall be authenticated by the signature of the president of the Board or some other member thereof authorised by the Board to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer of the Board authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

(2) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Board, and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenicated in accordance with this section) of the Board shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

Number of the members of the Board.

9. —The number of the members of the Board shall be twenty-three.

Election year.

10. —The election years for the purposes of this Act shall be—

(a) the second year after the year in which the establishment date falls; and

(b) each fifth successive year thereafter.

Temporary appointment by Minister of members of the Board.

11. —(1) Before the establishment date the Minister shall appoint ten persons (being persons whose names are included in the register kept in pursuance of the Nurses Registration (Ireland) Act, 1919, or persons registered under the Act of 1944) to be members of the Board in addition to the thirteen persons mentioned in section 12 of this Act.

(2) Of the persons appointed under subsection (1) of this section—

(a) one shall be experienced in public health nursing;

(b) two shall be persons registered under the Act of 1944;

(c) two shall be qualified in mental nursing;

(d) three shall be persons whose names are included in the general part of the register kept in pursuance of the Nurses Registration (Ireland) Act, 1919, with experience in training persons for nursing;

(e) one shall have experience in private nursing; and

(f) one shall be engaged in nursing in a hospital which is not a training hospital.

Appointment by Minister of members of the Board.

12. —(1) Before the establishment date and before the 1st day of December in each election year, the Minister shall appoint thirteen persons to be members of the Board.

(2) Where an appointment is made under this section of persons to be members of the Board—

(a) (i) one shall be a person who is or has been a master of a maternity hospital, or an assistant master of a maternity hospital,

(ii) two shall be medical practitioners who are engaged in the training of nurses in training hospitals,

(iii) one shall be a medical practitioner with experience in connection with mental nursing,

(iv) one shall be representative of general medical practitioners,

(v) one shall be a medical officer of health,

(vi) one shall be a person specially experienced in educational matters,

(vii) one shall be representative of councils of counties, and

(viii) one shall be representative of councils of county boroughs; and

(b) two shall be persons who are nurses, persons whose names are included in the register kept in pursuance of the Nurses Registration (Ireland) Act, 1919, or persons registered under the Act of 1944.

(3) Before appointing the persons referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section, the Minister shall consult such organisations or bodies as he considers suitable to advise him on the appointments, but if the Minister considers that there is no suitable organisation or body qualified to advise him on any particular appointment, he shall make that appointment without consultation.

Election of members of the Board.

13. —(1) Before the 1st day of December in each election year, ten persons (being nurses) shall be elected by nurses to be members of the Board.

(2) Of the persons elected under subsection (1) of this section—

(a) one shall be a person with such qualification or experience in public health nursing as may be prescribed;

(b) two shall be persons with such qualification or experience in midwifery as may be prescribed;

(c) two shall be persons with such qualification or experience in mental nursing as may be prescribed;

(d) three shall be general trained nurses with such experience in training nurses as may be prescribed;

(e) one shall have such experience in private nursing as may be prescribed;

(f) one shall be engaged in nursing in a hospital, which is not a training hospital.

(3) Every election under this section shall be carried out in accordance with rules.

Terms of office of members of the Board.

14. —(1) The term of office of a member of the Board shall commence—

(a) in the case of a first member, on the establishment date;

(b) in the case of a member filling a casual vacancy, on the day on which he is co-opted or appointed; and

(c) in every other case, on the 1st day of January in the year following the relevant election year.

(2) The term of office of a member of the Board shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or is removed from office, terminate on such 31st day of December in an election year as next follows the commencement of his term of office.

(3) An outgoing or former member of the Board shall be eligible for again becoming a member of the Board.

Resignation of members of the Board.

15. —A member of the Board may resign his office as member of the Board by letter sent by registered post to the Board, and the resignation shall take effect at the commencement of the meeting of the Board held next after the receipt of such letter if the resignation is not withdrawn in writing before such meeting.

President of the Board.

16. —(1) The Board shall, at their first meeting held after the 1st day of January in each year, elect one of their members to be president of the Board.

(2) Where the office of president of the Board becomes vacant otherwise than by the termination of the term of office of a president, the Board shall at their next meeting elect one of their members to be president of the Board.

(3) Every president of the Board shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns the office of president, or ceases to be president under subsection (5) of this section, hold office as president until the next election under subsection (1) of this section.

(4) The president of the Board may at any time resign his office as president by letter sent by registered post to the Board, and the resignation shall take effect at the commencement of the meeting of the Board held next after the receipt of such letter if the resignation is not withdrawn in writing before such meeting.

(5) Where the president of the Board ceases during his term of office as president to be a member of the Board, he shall be disqualified from being and shall forthwith cease to be such president.

(6) Where at an election of the president of the Board there is an equality of votes for two or more persons, it shall be determined by lot which of those persons shall be president of the Board.

Meetings and procedure of the Board.

17. —(1) The Board shall hold at least one meeting in each quarter of the year and shall also hold such other meetings as may be necessary for the due performance of their functions.

(2) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be nine.

(3) The president of the Board shall act as chairman of every meeting of the Board at which he is present.

(4) During the absence of the president of the Board from any meeting of the Board or if when any meeting of the Board is held there is no president of the Board in office, the members of the Board present shall elect one of themselves to be chairman of the meeting for the time being and, where at such election there is an equality of votes for two or more persons, it shall be determined by lot which of those persons shall be chairman of the meeting for the time being.

(5) Every question at a meeting of the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question and, in case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote save where the question is the election of the president of the Board.

(6) The Board may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies among their members.

(7) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall regulate, by rules, the procedure of the Board.

(8) The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Board.

Committees of the Board.

18. —The Board may by rules provide for the establishment, functions and procedure (including quorum) of committees of the Board and the rules may authorise the appointment of persons other than members of the Board to be members of the committees and may provide for the delegation, to a committee or committees of or under the Board, of any powers, functions or duties of the Board.

Casual vacancies in membership of the Board.

19. —(1) Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the Board by death, resignation or removal from office shall be filled—

(a) in case the member occasioning the vacancy was elected as a member of the Board, by co-option by the other persons elected as members of the Board subject to the like restriction as governed the election of the member occasioning the vacancy, and

(b) in any other case, by appointment by the Minister subject to the like restrictions (if any) as governed the appointment of the member occasioning the vacancy.

(2) Any person co-opted under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section shall be subsequently regarded for the purposes of that paragraph as a person elected as a member of the Board.

Removal of member of the Board.

20. —The Minister may at any time by order remove any member of the Board from office.

Power to make rules.

21. —(1) The Board may make rules—

(a) in relation to any matter or thing referred to in this Act as the subject matter of rules, and

(b) generally for carrying this Act into effect,

and any rules so made may prescribe forms to be used on the occasions specified therein.

(2) Rules under this section shall not have effect unless and until they are approved of by the Minister.

Annual report by the Board.

22. —(1) Before the 1st day of April in each year, the Board shall prepare and publish a report of their proceedings in the preceding year (in this section referred to as the report) and the report shall contain such particulars as the Minister may direct.

(2) The Board shall—

(a) keep copies of the report available for purchase or inspection at their principal office,

(b) furnish to the Minister such number of copies of the report as the Minister may require, and

(c) furnish to each health authority a copy of the report.

Removal from office of members of the Board.

23. —(1) The Minister, if he is satisfied that the Board have not performed any function which they are required by this Act to perform, may by order require the Board to perform such function and to comply with such directions as are given in the order.

(2) If the Board do not, within a period specified by the Minister, comply with an order made under subsection (1) of this section, the Minister may by order remove from office the members of the Board.

(3) An order under this section may contain such provisions as the Minister considers necessary for enabling the functions of the Board to be discharged notwithstanding the removal of the members and may, in particular, appoint a person or persons to discharge those functions.

(4) Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, an order under subsection (2) of this section shall not operate to remove a member of the Committee from his office as such unless the order so expressly removes him.

Charging of fees by the Board.

24. —The Board may, and if directed by the Minister shall, in accordance with rules, charge fees for any registration, certificate, courses of instruction, examinations or services which are authorised by or under this Act.

Expenses of members of the Board; the Committee or other committee of the Board.

25. —The Board may pay to a member attending a meeting of the Board, the Committee or other committee of the board his travelling and subsistence expenses and the payments shall be in accordance with a scale approved of by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Finance.