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19 1945

MENTAL TREATMENT ACT, 1945

PART I.

Preliminary and General.

Short title.

1. —This Act may be cited as the Mental Treatment Act, 1945.

Commencement.

2. —This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by order or orders of the Minister either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for- different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

Definitions.

3. —In this Act—

the word “addict” means a person who—

(a) by reason of his addiction to drugs or intoxicants is either dangerous to himself or others or incapable of managing himself or his affairs or of ordinary proper conduct, or

(b) by reason of his addiction to drugs, intoxicants or perverted conduct is in serious danger of mental disorder;

the expression “the appropriate assistance officer” means—

(a) when used in relation to a person boarded out under this Act—the assistance officer for the assistance officer's district in which the person is boarded-out, and

(b) when used in relation to any other person—the assistance officer for the assistance officer's district in which the person ordinarily resides;

the expression “approved institution” means an institution or premises approved of by order of the Minister under section 158 of this Act;

the expression “assistance officer” means an officer employed by a public assistance authority to administer home assistance under the Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939);

the expression “assistance officer's district” means the district within which the duties of an assistance officer are to be performed;

the expression “assistant inspector of mental hospitals” means an assistant inspector of mental hospitals appointed under section 13 of this Act;

the expression “authorised institution” means an institution authorised by special Act or other enactment (including a charter) for the care, maintenance, and treatment of persons of unsound mind, not being the Dundrum Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum;

the expression “authorised medical officer” has the meaning given to it by section 5 of this Act;

the expression “auxiliary mental hospital” means a mental hospital provided under section 22 of this Act by a mental hospital authority;

the expression “chargeable patient” means a patient who is receiving mental hospital assistance and who (with the persons, if any, liable to maintain him) is unable to provide the whole of the cost of such assistance;

the expression “chargeable patient reception order”means a chargeable patient reception order under Chapter I of Part XIV of this Act;

the expression “district mental hospital” means a mental hospital provided under section 21 of this Act by a mental hospital authority;

the expression “the Dundrum Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum” means the central criminal lunatic asylum established in pursuance of the Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum (Ireland) Act, 1845;

the expression “the Inspector of Mental Hospitals” means primarily the Inspector of Mental Hospitals appointed under section 12 of this Act, but the said expression also includes a substitute for the Inspector of Mental Hospitals appointed under the said section 12 and an assistant inspector of mental hospitals;

the expression “joint authority” means an authority set up by order under section 98 of this Act,

the expression “joint board” means a board appointed jointly in pursuance of section 15 of this Act;

the expression “local authority” means—

(a) a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941), or

(b) a sub-committee appointed by a local pensions committee under section 8 of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908, or

(c) a vocational education committee, or

(d) a committee of agriculture;

the expression “mental hospital assistance”, when used in relation to a person, includes—

(a) any treatment, maintenance, advice, or service given to or arranged for such person by a mental hospital authority, and

(b) any payment made to or in respect of such person by a mental hospital authority;

the expression “mental hospital authority” means a local administrative authority under section 15 of this Act for a mental hospital district;

the expression “mental hospital district” means a district specified in the Second Schedule to this Act as so specified or as for the time being changed by order under this Act;

the expression “mental institution” means a district mental hospital or other institution maintained by a mental hospital authority, a private institution, a private charitable institution, an authorised institution, or an approved institution;

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;

the expression “person in charge” has the meaning given to it by section 4 of this Act;

the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

the expression “private charitable institution” means an institution for the care of persons of unsound mind which is supported wholly or in part by voluntary contributions and which is not kept for profit by any private individual, not being—

(a) a district mental hospital or other institution maintained by a mental hospital authority, or

(b) an authorised institution;

the expression “private institution” means an institution or premises in which one or more than one person of unsound mind is or are taken care of for profit, not being—

(a) a district mental hospital or other institution maintained by a mental hospital authority,

(b) a private charitable institution, or

(c) an authorised institution;

the expression “private patient” means a patient other than a chargeable patient;

the expression “private patient reception order” means a private patient reception order under Chapter II of Part XIV of this Act;

the expression “public assistance authority” means a public assistance authority under the Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939);

the expression “public assistance district” means a public assistance district under the Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939);

the expression “reception order” means a chargeable patient reception order, a private patient reception order, a temporary chargeable patient reception order, or a temporary private patient reception order;

the expression “recommendation for reception” means a recommendation for reception under Chapter I of Part XIV of this Act;

the word “relative” means—

(a) a lineal ancestor, or

(b) a lineal descendant, or

(c) a lineal descendant of an ancestor not more remote than a great-grandfather or great-grandmother;

the expression “resident medical superintendent” means a chief medical officer under section 94 of this Act for-a district mental hospital;

the expression “temporary patient” means a patient either—

(a) who is—

(i) suffering from mental illness, and

(ii) is believed to require, for his recovery, not more than six months suitable treatment, and

(iii) is unfit on account of his mental state for treatment as a voluntary patient, or

(b) who is—

(i) an addict, and

(ii) is believed to require, for his recovery, at least six months preventive and curative treatment;

the expression “temporary chargeable patient reception order” means a temporary chargeable patient reception order under Chapter III of Part XIV of this Act;

the expression “temporary private patient reception order” means a temporary private patient reception order under Chapter III of Part XIV of this Act;

the expression “visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital” means a committee appointed under section 97 of this Act to visit an auxiliary mental hospital;

the expression “visiting committee of a district mental hospital” means a committee appointed under section 96 of this Act to visit a district mental hospital and the other institutions and accommodation maintained by a mental hospital authority;

the expression “voluntary patient” means a person who, acting by himself or, in the case of a person less than sixteen years of age, by his parent or guardian, submits himself voluntarily for treatment for illness of a mental or kindred nature.

Person in charge.

4. —In this Act, the expression “person in charge” means—

(a) in relation to a district mental hospital—the resident medical superintendent of the hospital,

(b) in relation to any other institution maintained by a mental hospital authority—the medical officer of the institution,

(c) in relation to a private institution for the reception of more than one patient, a private charitable institution, an authorised institution, or an approved institution (not being a district mental hospital or other institution maintained by a mental hospital authority)—the person for the time being managing the institution.

(d) in relation to a private institution for the reception of one patient only—the person in whose charge the patient is for the time being.

Authorised medical officer.

5. —(1) In this Act, the expression “the authorised medical officer”, when used with respect to a person to whom an application under this Act relates, means—

(a) if the person ordinarily resides in a dispensary district for which there is one medical officer only, either—

(i) if that medical officer is not disqualified in relation to the person—that medical officer, or

(ii) if that medical officer is disqualified in relation to the person—the nearest available of the medical officers of dispensary districts who are not disqualified in relation to the person,

(b) if the person ordinarily resides in a dispensary district for which there are more medical officers than one, either—

(i) the nearest available of such of those medical officers as are not disqualified in relation to the person, or

(ii) in case none of those medical officers is available or all of them are disqualified in relation to the person, or some are not available and the remainder are disqualified in relation to the person—the nearest available of the medical officers of dispensary districts who are not disqualified in relation to the person.

(2) A medical officer for a dispensary district shall, for the purposes of sub-section (1) of this section, be disqualified in relation to a person—

(a) if such officer is interested in the payments (if any) to be made on account of the taking care of the person, or

(b) if such officer is the husband or wife, father, step-father or father-in-law, mother, step-mother or mother-in-law, son, step-son or son-in-law, daughter, stepdaughter or daughter-in-law, brother, step-brother or brother-in-law, sister, step-sister or sister-in-law, or guardian or trustee of the person.

Place of ordinary residence of person of no fixed residence.

6. —For the purposes of this Act, a person of no fixed residence shall be regarded as being ordinarily resident at the place where he is for the time being.

Applicant for reception order in case of private patient.

7. —In this Act, any reference to the applicant for a reception order shall, in the case of a private patient on account of whom payments are made, be construed as a reference to the person who made the last payment on account of the patient.

Regulations.

8. —The Minister may make regulations in relation to any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed or as being the subject of regulations, but no such regulation which includes provision in respect of a payment to be made to or by the Minister shall be made without the consent of the Minister for Finance.

Collection and disposal of moneys payable to the Minister.

9. —(1) All moneys payable under this Act to the Minister shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the said Minister.

(2) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of any moneys payable under this Act to the Minister.

Expenses of the Minister.

10. —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Repeals.

11. —(1) The enactments mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that schedule.

(2) The repeal by this section of the Asylum Officers' Superannuation Act, 1909, shall be subject to the following qualifications:—

(a) the said Act shall continue to have effect so far as may be necessary for the purposes of paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) and paragraph (b) of sub-section (2) of section 64 of this Act;

(b) the repeal shall not affect the payment of any super-annuation allowance granted before the repeal comes into operation.