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9 1960

HEALTH AUTHORITIES ACT, 1960

FIRST SCHEDULE

Rules in relation to Membership and Meetings of Health AuthoritieseEstablished by this Act.

Section 6.

Appointments.

1. (1) The members of the authority to be appointed by the council of a county shall be appointed, in the case of the first appointment, at the meeting of the council held next after the establishment of the authority, and thereafter at the annual meeting of the council held next after every quinquennial election of members of the council.

(2) The members of the authority to be appointed by the corporation of a county borough shall be appointed, in the case of the first appointment, at the meeting of the city council for the county borough held next after the establishment of the authority, and thereafter at the quarterly meeting of the city council held next after every quinquennial election of members of the city council.

(3) Where there are members of the authority to be appointed by the corporation of a borough, those members shall be appointed, in the case of the first appointment, at the meeting of the borough council for the borough held next after the establishment of the authority, and thereafter at the quarterly meeting of the borough council held next after every quinquennial election of members of the borough council.

2. (1) The members of the authority to be appointed by the council of a county shall be appointed as follows:

(a) (i) in the case of the county of Dublin, for each county electoral area in the county (excluding the borough of Dún Laoghaire), one member of the authority shall be appointed from among the county councillors elected for that area,

(ii) in the case of the county of Cork, for each county electoral area in the county, three members of the authority shall be appointed successively from among the county councillors elected for that area,

(iii) in the cases of the county of Limerick and the county of Waterford, for each county electoral area in the county, two members of the authority shall be appointed successively from among the county councillors elected for that area;

(b) of the other members (in this rule called additional members) any group of councillors comprising the necessary number of councillors may nominate a councillor to be a member of the authority and he shall be appointed on that nomination without any voting;

(c) the remainder of the additional members shall be appointed successively by a majority of the votes of the councillors who are not members of any such group of councillors as aforesaid;

(d) the number of councillors necessary to form a group for the purposes of this rule shall be the number obtained by dividing the total number of councillors present at the appointment by the number of additional members to be appointed, or where the number so obtained is not a whole number, the whole number next greater than the number so obtained;

(e) no councillor shall be a member of more than one group.

(2) In subparagraphs (b) to (e) of the foregoing paragraph, “councillors” and “councillor” do not, in relation to the council of the county of Dublin, include any councillor elected for the county electoral area which is coterminous with the borough of Dún Laoghaire.

(3) The members of the authority to be appointed by the corporation of a county borough, and the members (if any) thereof to be appointed by the corporation of a borough other than a county borough, shall be appointed in the same manner as additional members are required to be appointed by the council of a county under the foregoing paragraph.

Tenure of Office.

3. Every member of the authority shall hold office (unless he sooner dies, resigns or becomes disqualified or his membership terminates under Rule 6 or 7 of these Rules) until the day after his successor has been elected.

Disqualification.

4. (1) Where a member of the authority was appointed by the council of a county and he ceases to be, or is disqualified for being, a member of the council, he shall also cease to be, or be disqualified for being, a member of the authority.

(2) Where a member of the authority was appointed by the corporation of a county or other borough and he ceases to be, or is disqualified for being, a member of the city or borough council for the borough, he shall also cease to be, or be disqualified for being, a member of the authority.

Resignation and Removal.

5. (1) Where a member of the authority was appointed by the council of a county, he may resign his membership by giving notice in writing signed by him to the secretary of the council, but the resignation shall not become effective until the meeting of the council held next after the receipt of the notice given to the secretary.

(2) Where a member of the authority was appointed by the corporation of a county or other borough, he may resign his membership by giving notice in writing signed by him to the Town Clerk of the borough, but the resignation shall not become effective until the meeting of the city or borough council for the borough held next after the receipt of the notice given to the Town Clerk.

6. (1) A member of the council of a county who appoint members of the authority 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 all the members of the authority who were appointed by the council shall be terminated. The secretary shall thereupon summon a meeting of the council for a day 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. 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 the meeting approving of the proposal, the membership of all such members of the authority shall forthwith stand terminated and new members of the authority shall be appointed forthwith.

(2) A member of the city council for a county borough the corporation of which appoint members of the authority may, with the consent of not less than one-fourth of the members of the council, notify the Town Clerk of the borough in writing of his intention to propose that the membership of all the members of the authority who were appointed by the corporation shall be terminated. The Town Clerk shall thereupon summon a meeting of the council for a day 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. 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 the meeting approving of the proposal, the membership of all such members of the authority shall forthwith stand terminated and new members of the authority shall be appointed forthwith.

(3) Where there are members of the authority appointed by the corporation of a borough other than a county borough, a member of the borough council for the borough may, with the consent of not less than one-fourth of the members of the council, notify the Town Clerk of the borough in writing of his intention to propose that the membership of all members of the authority who were appointed by the council shall be terminated. The Town Clerk shall thereupon summon a meeting of the council for a day 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. 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 the meeting approving of the proposal, the membership of all such members of the authority shall forthwith stand terminated and new members of the authority shall be appointed forthwith.

(4) In this and the next Rule “member” and “members” do not, in relation to the council of the county of Dublin, include any member elected for the county electoral area which is coterminous with the borough of D[html]n Laoghaire.

7. (1) Where a member of the authority who was appointed by the council of a county has not, for a consecutive period of three months, attended a meeting of the authority, his membership of the authority shall thereupon terminate and the council shall, at their next meeting after the expiration of that period, appoint one of their members to fill the vacancy.

(2) Where a member of the authority who was appointed by the corporation of a county or other borough has not, for a consecutive period of three months, attended a meeting of the authority, his membership of the authority shall thereupon terminate and the city or borough council for the borough shall, at their next meeting after the expiration of that period, appoint one of their members to fill the vacancy.

(3) Where a meeting of the authority 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 those members shall be deemed to have attended a meeting of the authority for the purpose of this rule.

Casual Vacancies.

8. A casual vacancy occurring in the membership of the authority shall be filled by the council or corporation 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, but where the casual vacancy is occasioned by a member appointed for an electoral area under subparagraph (a) of paragraph (1) of Rule 2 of these Rules, the casual vacancy shall be filled from among county councillors representing that area.

Quorum.

9. The quorum of the authority shall be—

(a) where the total number of the members of the authority is a number divisible by four without a remainder—

(i) one-fourth of the total number of the members of the authority, or

(ii) five,

whichever is the greater, and

(b) where the total number of the members of the authority is a number which is not divisible by four without a remainder—

(i) one-fourth of the next higher number which is divisible by four without a remainder, or

(ii) five,

whichever is the greater.

Meetings.

10. The authority shall hold meetings for the transaction of their business at least once in each month and at such other times as may be necessary for properly performing their functions.

11. The first meeting of the authority shall be held after the appointment of members of the authority has been completed on a day to be appointed by the Minister, and shall be an annual meeting.

12. The authority shall at their first meeting appoint a day of the year not earlier than the 17th day of July nor later than the 1st day of August for the holding of subsequent annual meetings and may at any subsequent annual meeting alter the day so appointed.

13. The authority shall hold an annual meeting in each year and the meeting shall be held on the day which is for the time being appointed for the holding of annual meetings under these rules, unless that day falls on a Sunday or bank holiday, when the meeting shall be held on the next following day which is neither a Sunday nor a bank holiday.

14. If the first or any other annual meeting of the authority is for any reason (including a quorum not being present) not held on the day appointed for the holding thereof under these rules, the secretary of the authority shall as soon as may be summon a meeting of the authority for a convenient hour on the day which appears to him to be the earliest convenient date for the purpose, and the meeting held in pursuance of that summons shall be for all purposes an annual meeting held on the date appointed under these rules.

Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

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

(2) Whenever the office of chairman or vice-chairman of the authority becomes vacant otherwise than by the termination of the ordinary term of office, the authority 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 of the authority.

(3) A person elected to be chairman or vice-chairman of the authority 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 authority, hold office as chairman or vice-chairman until his successor has been appointed.

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

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

(6) Whenever, at the election of chairman of the authority, 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 authority.

Proceedings at Meetings.

16. The proceedings of the authority shall not be invalidated by any vacancy or vacancies among their members or by any defect in the election of the authority or in the election or qualification of any member thereof.

17. The chairman of the authority may call a meeting of the authority.

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

19. Three clear days at least before a meeting of the authority, notice of the time and place of the intended meeting signed by the chairman, or, if the meeting is called by members of the authority, by those members, shall be fixed on the hall or other place at which the authority are accustomed to meet and, if the meeting is called by members of the authority, the notice shall specify the business proposed to be transacted thereat.

20. Three clear days at least before any meeting of the authority, a summons to attend the meeting, specifying the business proposed to be transacted thereat, and signed by the secretary of the authority shall be left or delivered by post at the usual place of abode of every member of the authority, but failure so to leave or deliver such summons for or to a member or some of the members of the authority shall not affect the validity of a meeting.

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

22. At a meeting of the authority—

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

(b) if and so long as the chairman of the authority 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 authority 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 authority who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

23. Minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of the authority 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.

24. The names of the members at a meeting of the authority shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting.

25. The names of the members voting on any question arising at a meeting of the authority shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting and the record shall show which members voted for and which against the question.

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

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