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5 1925

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1925

PART II.

PUBLIC HEALTH.

County to be one rural sanitary district except in certain cases.

9. —(1) On and after the appointed day, and subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section, the area of every county, with the exception of those portions (if any) of that area which are included in urban districts, shall for all purposes form one rural sanitary district or rural district within the meaning of the Public Health (Ireland) Acts, 1878 to 1919, and the council of such county shall be the sanitary authority for such rural sanitary district or rural district, and such rural sanitary district or rural district shall be called by the name of “The County Health District of____________” (with the addition of the name of the county).

(2) At the request of the council of any county, the Minister may by order direct that there shall be in such county two or more rural sanitary districts, and in such case the Minister by his said order shall after consultation with the council of such county determine the boundaries of such rural sanitary districts, and the council of such county shall be the sanitary authority for each such rural sanitary district, and each such rural sanitary district shall be called by the name of “The County Health District of___________” (with the addition of the name of the county and of such distinguishing name as the Minister shall direct).

Duties of county councils as sanitary authorities to be performed by boards of health.

10. —(1) In every county health district—

(a) in a county to which for the time being no county scheme relates, or

(b) adjoining a county borough and situate in a county to which a joint county scheme for such county borough and county relates,

the powers and duties of the council of such county as sanitary authority for such district shall, save as is otherwise provided by this Act, be exercised and performed through and by a board to be established in such county health district and to be called the board of public health.

(2) In every county health district in a county to which a county scheme for the time being relates other than those referred to in paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of this section, the powers and duties of the council of such county as sanitary authority for such district shall, save as is otherwise provided by this Act, be exercised and performed through and by the body to whom under such county scheme is entrusted the administration of the relief of the poor in such county health district, and such body shall be known as the board of health and public assistance for such county health district.

(3) Any property transferred to the council of a county by this Act may be transferred by such council by order under their seal to the board of public health or the board of health and public assistance of any county health district in such county, and every such order shall operate as an effective conveyance of such property according to the terms of such order, but such order shall not require to be stamped as a conveyance or transfer of property.

Borrowing powers of county councils.

11. —(1) The borrowing powers of a county council as rural sanitary authority for a county health district under the Public Health (Ireland) Acts, 1878 to 1919, shall be exercised directly by such county council, and shall not be delegated by virtue of this Act or otherwise to a board of health.

(2) Moneys borrowed before the appointed day by the council of a rural district and the liability for which is transferred by this Act to a county council, and moneys borrowed after the appointed day by such county council as sanitary authority for a county health district, shall not be reckoned as part of the total debt of such county council for the purpose of the limitation on borrowing imposed by sub-article (2) of Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898.

Incorporation of boards of health and regulation of their proceedings.

12. —(1) Every board of health shall be a body corporate and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to acquire and hold land for the purpose of their powers and duties.

(2) The constitution, proceedings, and accounts of boards of health, and the tenure of office of the members thereof, shall be regulated by the Rules contained in the Second Schedule to this Act.

(3) The provisions of this section shall apply to every board of health and public assistance in the performance of their duties under a county scheme in the same manner as they apply to such board in the performance of their duties under this Act notwithstanding anything to the contrary in such county scheme.

Appointment of committees of boards of health.

13. —(1) A board of health may from time to time appoint such and so many committees as they think fit for purposes connected with the exercise or performance of any of the powers, duties and functions transferred to the board by or under this Act which in the opinion of the board would be better or more conveniently regulated or managed by or through a committee.

(2) A committee appointed under this section may be either a general committee empowered to exercise or perform powers, duties, and functions in relation to the whole of the county health district or a local committee empowered to exercise or perform powers, duties, and functions in relation to a limited portion only of the county health district.

(3) Every committee appointed under this section shall consist of not less than three members, and may be composed either wholly of members of the board of health or partly of such members and partly of other persons.

(4) The acts of every committee appointed under this section shall be subject to confirmation by the board of health, save that the board may with the sanction of the Minister empower any particular committee to do any act (including the institution of legal proceedings) within the authority conferred on the committee by the board which the board itself could lawfully do.

(5) The quorum, procedure, and place of meeting of any committee appointed under this section, and the area (if any) within which any such committee is to exercise its functions, shall be such as may be appointed by regulations to be made by the board of health with the approval of the Minister.

(6) Save as is authorised by this section, it shall not be lawful for a board of health to delegate any of its powers or duties to a committee.

(7) The provisions of this section shall apply to every board of health and public assistance in the performance of their duties under a county scheme in the same manner as they apply to such board in the performance of their duties under this Act notwithstanding anything to the contrary in such county scheme.

Finance of boards of health.

14. —(1) A board of health shall be subject to such conditions or restrictions in relation to expenditure as the county council may impose with the consent of the Minister.

(2) The money required to meet the expenses of a board of health in the exercise and performance of their powers and duties under this Act shall be supplied by the county council to the board of health on an annual estimate and demand by the board of health, and shall be estimated, demanded, and paid in the same manner as the expenses of a rural district council have been heretofore estimated, demanded, and paid, or in such other manner as may be prescribed.

(3) The expenses of a board of health incurred in the performance of the duties of the county council as sanitary authority for a county health district shall be raised by the county council in such county health district by means of the poor rate.

(4) Section 232 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, shall be amended by the substitution for the areas situated in a rural sanitary district therein defined as contributory places for the purposes of the said Act, of the following areas:—

(a) the townland,

(b) the dispensary district,

(c) the area of any rural district as constituted immediately before the appointed day,

(d) such portions of any of the above-mentioned areas as may be determined by the Minister.

Committees of county councils to be abolished.

15. —On and after the appointed day, the committees appointed by county councils and mentioned in the Third Schedule to this Act shall cease to exist, and the powers, duties, property, and liabilities of every such committee shall be transferred to the council of the county by which such committee was appointed, and such powers and duties in so far as they relate to any county health district shall be exercised and performed by and through the board of health for such county health district, and in so far as they relate to any urban district shall be exercised and performed by and through the board of health for the county health district adjoining such urban district, or where there are more than one such county health districts, by the board of health of such of those county health districts as the Minister shall direct.

Application of adoptive Acts in portions of county health districts.

16. —Where immediately before the appointed day the provisions of any statute or portion of a statute are in force in a rural district or part of a rural district by virtue of an order or resolution of the council of that rural district adopting such provisions, such provisions shall after the appointed day continue to be in force in the same area but subject and without prejudice to any recision, alteration or extension of the adoption of those provisions duly made by a competent authority after the appointed day, and the expenses of the administration of such statute or portion of a statute in such area shall be charged on such area.

Adoptive acts to apply throughout Saorstát Eireann.

17. —Notwithstanding any provision in any of the enactments mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act whereby such enactment or any portion thereof only extends to the districts or places to or in which such enactment or portion thereof has been applied or adopted by order or resolution of any authority, the provisions of each of the said enactments shall, from and after the passing of this Act, extend to and be in full force and effect in every part of Saorstát Eireann.

Duties of the Minister in relation to health.

18. —It shall be the duty of the Minister in the exercise and performance of his powers and duties, to take all such steps as may be desirable to secure the preparation, effective carrying out, and co-ordination of measures conducive to the health of the people, including measures for—

(a) the prevention and cure of diseases, including the avoidance of fraud in connection with alleged remedies therefor;

(b) the treatment of physical and mental defects, including the treatment and care of the blind;

(c) the initiation and direction of research, and the collection, preparation, publication, and dissemination of information and statistics relating thereto;

(d) the training of persons for health services:

Provided that this section shall not be deemed to confer on the Minister any power in addition to the power otherwise conferred on him by law.

Consultative councils.

19. —(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister by order to establish consultative councils for giving, in the manner prescribed by the order, advice and assistance to the Minister in connection with such matters affecting or incidental to the health of the people as may be specified in the order.

(2) Payments may be made by the Minister, out of moneys to be voted by the Oireachtas, to members of consultative councils and committees thereof, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, in respect of the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) repayment of travelling expenses,

(b) payment of subsistence allowance,

(c) reasonable compensation for loss of remunerative time.

(3) Every consultative council established under this section shall consist of persons having practical experience or special knowledge of the matters in respect of which they are to give advice or assistance.

Tents and vans used for human habitation.

20. —(1) A tent, van, shed or similar structure used for human habitation, or a barge, lighter, boat or other vessel on any river, canal or other inland water (in this section referred to as “a barge”) used for human habitation, which is in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious to health, or which is so over-crowded as to be injurious to the health of the inmates (whether they are or are not members of the same family), shall be deemed to be a nuisance within the meaning of section 107 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly.

(2) A sanitary authority may make bye-laws for promoting cleanliness in, and the habitable condition of, tents, vans, sheds, and similar structures used for human habitation, or of barges used for human habitation, and for preventing the spread of infectious disease by the persons inhabiting the same, and generally for the prevention of nuisances in connection with the same.

(3) Where any person duly authorised by a sanitary authority has reasonable cause to suppose either that there is in any tent van, shed, or similar structure used for human habitation, or in any barge used for human habitation any contravention of the provisions of this section or any bye-law made under this section or that there is in any such tent, van, shed, structure or barge, any person suffering from a dangerous infectious disorder, he may, on producing (if demanded) either a copy of his authorisation purporting to be certified by the clerk or a member of the sanitary authority or some other sufficient evidence of his being authorised as aforesaid, enter by day such tent, van, shed, structure or barge, and examine the same and every part thereof in order to ascertain whether in such tent, van, shed, structure or barge, there is any contravention of any such bye-law or a person suffering from a dangerous infectious disorder.

(4) For the purpose of this section “day” means the period between six o'clock in the morning and the succeeding nine o'clock in the evening.

(5) If such person is obstructed in the performance of his duty under this section, the person so obstructing shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.

(6) Nothing in this section shall apply to any tent, van, shed, structure or barge erected or used by any portion of the Defence or Police Forces of Saorstát Eireann.

County medical officers of health.

21. —(1) The council of every county shall appoint, with the approval of the Minister, for every county health district in such county, a medical practitioner duly qualified as such and with such other qualifications as may be prescribed to be the superintendent medical officer of health of such county health district and of every urban district in such county situate in or adjoining such county health district, and such officer shall be known as the County Medical Officer of Health with the addition of the distinguishing name of such county health district.

(2) Where an urban district adjoins more than one county health district in the same county the Minister shall direct, after consultation with the councils of such urban district and county respectively, which of such county health districts is to have the same county medical officer of health as such urban district.

(3) The salary of a county medical officer of health shall be paid by the county council and shall be charged on the area for which he acts.

(4) Nothing in this Act shall prejudicially affect the right of any local authority to whom additional duties have been transferred under this Act from obtaining such recoupment from the Local Taxation Account or other source for salaries and other expenditure as was hitherto payable in connection with such duties.

(5) A county medical officer of health shall be a sanitary officer within the meaning of section 11 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878.

(6) Every county medical officer of health in and in respect of the area for which he acts, shall—

(a) be responsible to the board of health and to the council of every urban district in such area for the effective administration of the sanitary laws and of the various powers and duties of such board and of every such council in relation to the safeguarding of the health of the people, the provision of adequate and sanitary housing accommodation and other similar matters;

(b) advise such board or council, or the county council on any matter where expert advice is required on matters affecting the health of his county or district;

(c) perform such other duties as may be prescribed and also such other duties as may be assigned to him by such board or council with the consent of the Minister.

(7) A county medical officer of health shall not engage in private practice and shall devote the whole of his time to the service of one or more local authorities.

(8) As from the appointed day the office of medical superintendent officer of health of a rural sanitary district or urban district and the office of medical officer of a county council under the Midwives (Ireland) Act, 1918, shall be abolished and the powers and duties of every such officer transferred to the county medical officer of health.

One sanitary officer to be a veterinary surgeon.

22. —At least one of the sanitary officers appointed by any sanitary authority under the provisions of section 11 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, shall be a duly qualified veterinary surgeon and the duties assigned to such officer shall include inspection and examination of meat, inspection of cattle in dairies and other similar duties.

Amendment of the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907.

23. —Sub-section (1) of section 1 of the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907, shall have effect as though at the end thereof the following paragraph were added:—

(d) provide for the manner in which any tin or other receptacle containing dried, condensed, evaporated, skimmed, or separated milk is to be labelled or marked and prescribe the minimum percentages of milk fat and milk solids in dried or condensed milks.