S.I. No. 194/1952:

WESTERN HEALTH INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE ORDER, 1952.

WESTERN HEALTH INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE ORDER, 1952.

The Minister for Health in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 101 of the Health Act, 1947 (No. 28 of 1947) hereby orders as follows :--

1.--(1) This Order may be cited as the Western Health Institutions Committee Order, 1952.

(2) This Order shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1952.

2. In this Order, the following words and expressions have the meanings respectively assigned to them--

" the Minister " means the Minister for Health ;

" the Councils " means the Councils of the Counties of Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo ;

" the Joint Committee " means the Western Health Institutions Committee established by Article 3 of this Order ;

" the institutions " means the Sanatorium established under the Tuberculosis (Establishment of Sanatoria) Act, 1945 (No. 4 of 1945) at Merlin Park, Galway, and such other health institutions as are for the time being provided by the Councils jointly under section 10 of the Health Act, 1947 , and

" the Manager " means the person through and by whom the executive functions of the Joint Committee are performed.

3. The institutions shall be controlled, managed and maintained by the Councils jointly and such control, management and maintenance shall be performed by a joint committee of the Councils to be known as the Western Health Institutions Committee.

4. The Councils shall contribute to the expenses of the Joint Committee during every year ending on 31st March in proportion to the net cost of maintenance, determined in the same manner as is prescribed for joint mental hospital boards under subsection (3) of section 43 of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 (No. 19 of 1945), of the patients from their respective functional areas maintained by the Committee during that year.

5.--(1) The Joint Committee shall consist of ten persons appointed in accordance with this Order by the Councils.

(2) Each of the Councils shall appoint two of their members to be members of the Joint Committee.

6. The appointment of members of the Joint Committee shall (subject to the provisions of Article 29 (1) of this Order) be made in each year at the annual meeting of each Council.

7. Every member of the Joint Committee shall hold office (unless he sooner dies, resigns or becomes disqualified) until his successor is appointed.

8. A person who has been appointed by a Council to be a member of the Joint Committee and who ceases to be, or is disqualified for being, a member of the Council shall also cease to be, or be disqualified for being, a member of the Joint Committee.

9. A member of the Joint Committee may resign his membership by giving notice in writing signed by him to the Secretary of the Council by whom he was appointed, but the resignation shall not become effective until the meeting of the Council held next after the receipt of the notice given to such Secretary.

10. A member of a Council may, with the consent of not less than one-fourth of the members of the Council, notify the Secretary of the Council in writing of his intention to propose that the membership of the members of the Joint Committee who were appointed by the Council shall be terminated and the Secretary shall thereupon summon a meeting of the Council for a date not later than one month after the receipt of the notification and shall give to every member of the Council at least fourteen days' notice thereof and, in the event of a resolution (for the passing of which not less than two-thirds of the members of the Council present vote) being passed at such meeting approving of such proposal, the membership of such members of the Joint Committee shall forthwith stand terminated and new members of the Joint Committee shall be appointed forthwith in lieu of those whose membership is terminated.

11.--(1) The membership of a member of the Joint Committee who, for a consecutive period of twelve months, has not attended a meeting of the Committee, shall thereupon terminate and at the meeting of the Council by whom such member was appointed held next after the expiration of such period, a new member shall be appointed to fill the vacancy so created in the membership of the Committee.

(2) Where a meeting of the Joint Committee is abandoned owing to a failure to obtain a quorum, the names of the members who attended at the time and place appointed for the holding of the meeting shall be recorded and such members shall be deemed to have attended a meeting of the Committee for the purposes of this Article.

12. A casual vacancy occurring in the membership of the Joint Committee, shall be filled by the Council by whom the member causing the vacancy was appointed, within one month after the occurrence of the vacancy or within such further time as the Minister may allow.

13. The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be three.

14. The Joint Committee shall hold meetings for the transaction of their business at least once in each quarter and at such other times as may be necessary for properly exercising their powers and performing their duties.

15.--(1) As soon as the elections of members of the Joint Committee pursuant to section 13 of the Local Elections Act, 1927 , have been completed in any year in which triennial elections of members of the Councils are held, a meeting of the Joint Committee shall be held at a time and place appointed by the Manager and such meeting shall be an annual meeting.

(2) In each year (not being a year in which triennial elections of members of the Councils are held) the Joint Committee shall hold an annual meeting at a time and place appointed by the Manager not being earlier than the 17th day of July nor later than the 17th day of August.

16. If any annual meeting of the Joint Committee is for any reason (including a quorum not being present) not held on the day appointed for the holding of such meeting, the Manager shall, as soon as may be, summon a meeting of the Committee for a convenient hour on a day which appears to him to be the earliest convenient day for the purpose, and the meeting held in pursuance of such summons shall be for all purposes an annual meeting.

17.--(1) At every annual meeting of the Joint Committee, the Committee shall elect one of their members to be chairman of the Committee and may elect another of their members to be vice-chairman of the Committee.

(2) Whenever the office of chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Committee becomes vacant otherwise than by the termination of the ordinary term of the office, the Committee shall at their next meeting after the vacancy occurs or, in the case of a resignation of office, at the meeting at which the resignation becomes effective, elect one of their members to be chairman or vice-chairman, as the case may be, of the Committee.

(3) A person elected to be chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Committee shall, unless he sooner resigns the office of chairman or vice-chairman or sooner ceases to be, or becomes disqualified for being, a member of the Committee, hold office as chairman or vice-chairman until his successor has been appointed.

(4) The chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Committee may at any time resign his office as chairman or vice-chairman by giving notice in writing signed by him to the Committee, but the resignation shall not become effective until the commencement of the meeting of the Committee held next after the receipt by them of the resignation.

(5) Whenever the chairman or vice-chairman of the Joint Committee ceases to be, or becomes disqualified for being a member of the Committee, he shall forthwith cease to be chairman or vice-chairman of the Committee.

(6) Whenever, at the election of chairman of the Joint Committee, 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 Joint Committee.

18. The proceedings of the Joint Committee shall not be invalidated by any vacancy or vacancies among their members or by any defect in the appointment of the Committee or in the appointment or qualification of any member thereof.

19. The chairman of the Joint Committee may call a meeting of the Committee.

20. If the chairman of the Joint Committee refuses to call a meeting of the Committee after a requisition for that purpose, signed by three members of the Committee has been presented to him, any three members of the Committee may forthwith, on that refusal, call a meeting of the Committee, and, if the chairman (without so refusing) does not, within seven days after the presentation of the requisition, call a meeting of the Committee any three members of the Committee may, on the expiration of those seven days, call a meeting of the Committee.

21. Three clear days, at least, before a meeting of the Joint Committee, a summons to attend the meeting, specifying the business proposed to be transacted thereat, shall be left or delivered by post at the usual place of abode of every member of the Committee but failure so to leave or deliver such summons for or to a member or some of the members of the Committee shall not affect the validity of a meeting. A copy of the said summons shall be sent at the same time to the Secretary of each of the Councils.

22. No business shall be transacted at a meeting of the Joint Committee other than that specified in the summons relating thereto, except (in case of an annual meeting) business required to be transacted thereat.

23. At a meeting of the Joint Committee--

(a) the chairman of the Committee shall, if he is present, be chairman of the meeting ;

(b) if and so long as the chairman of the Committee is not present or the office of chairman is vacant, the vice-chairman (if any), shall, if he is present, be chairman of the meeting ;

(c) if and so long as the chairman of the Committee is not present or the office of chairman is vacant and there is no office of vice-chairman, the vice-chairman is not present or the office of vice-chairman is vacant, the members of the Committee who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

24. Minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of the Joint Committee shall be drawn up and fairly entered in a book kept for that purpose and shall be signed by the chairman of the meeting or of the next ensuing meeting.

25. The names of the members present at a meeting of the Joint Committee shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting.

26. The names of the members voting on any question arising at a meeting of the Joint Committee shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting and the record shall show which members vote for and which against the question.

27. All acts of the Joint Committee and all questions coming or arising before the Committee may be done and decided by the majority of such members of the Committee as are present and vote at a meeting of the Committee duly held according to law.

28. In case of equality of votes on any question arising at a meeting of the Joint Committee, other than the election of a chairman, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

29.--(1) The first appointment by the Councils of the members of the Joint Committee shall be made as soon as is convenient after the commencement of this Order and the said members shall come into office on the day, not later than the 30th September, 1952, fixed by the Manager for their first meeting and such meeting shall be an annual meeting.

(2) Between the date of commencement of this Order and the day fixed for the first meeting of the said members of the Joint Committee, the Joint Committee shall consist of the following members, who shall be known as the interim members : the chairman and vice-chairman of each of the Councils or such other member of the Council as shall be nominated in writing by the chairman or the vice-chairman to act in his stead.

(3) The Chairman of Galway County Council, or such interim member as he shall nominate in writing to act in his stead shall be Chairman of the Joint Committee of interim members.

30. The first meeting of the interim members shall be held on a day fixed by the Manager and the Chairman or the interim member nominated by him under Article 29 (3) of this Order shall be Chairman of such meeting and of every subsequent meeting of the interim members.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Health this 30th day of June, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty-two.

SÉAMAS Ó RIAIN,

Minister for Health.