S.I. No. 300/1967:

THE NATIONAL REHABILITATION BOARD (ESTABLISHMENT) ORDER, 1967.

THE NATIONAL REHABILITATION BOARD (ESTABLISHMENT) ORDER, 1967.

WHEREAS the Minister for Health has certified that the National Organisation for Rehabilitation is a company under the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1959, to which section 8 of the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961 , applies;

AND WHEREAS on the 21st day of September 1967 the said National Organisation for Rehabilitation duly resolved that the said Company be wound up for the purposes of the said section 8 of the said Act;

AND WHEREAS by virtue of subsection (3) of the said section 8, the said Company is deemed to be a body established by an establishment order under the said Act and in pursuance of the said subsection the Minister for Health is required to make, in respect of the said body, an establishment order under the said Act;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Minister for Health in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 3 to 6 of the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961 , hereby orders as follows:--

1. This Order may be cited as the National Rehabilitation Board (Establishment) Order, 1967.

2. A body, to be known as An Bórd Náisiúnta Athshlánúcháin or in the English language the National Rehabilitation Board is hereby established.

3. In this Order--

"the Board" means the National Rehabilitation Board established by this Order;

"the Company" means the National Organisation for Rehabilitation;

"the Chairman" means the Chairman for the time being of the Board;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Health.

4. The functions of the Board are as follows:--

(a) To take over the property (including choses-in-action), assets, rights, and liabilities of the Company.

(b) With the consent of the Minister, to supervise or operate or arrange for the operation of services (hereinafter referred to as "the services") for the welfare of persons who are disabled as a result of physical defect or injury, mental handicap or mental illness. The services shall be regarded as including:--

(i) the co-ordination of the work of voluntary bodies engaged in the provision of rehabilitation and training services for disabled persons,

(ii) the giving of medical treatment to disabled persons,

(iii) the provision of a service for the assessment of disability and the giving of vocational guidance to disabled persons,

(iv) the training of disabled persons for employment suitable to their condition of health,

(v) the provision of a service for the placement of disabled persons in employment,

(vi) the making of arrangements with other bodies for training disabled persons.

(c) With the approval of the Minister, to co-operate with, or assist Companies or Associations formed for the purpose of performing functions similar to any or all of the functions of the Board, and to enter into such contracts or agreements as may facilitate the provision of the services.

(d) With the approval of the Minister to do all things necessary, either directly or in co-operation with other bodies, for the making available of a service for the provision of prostheses and appliances including artificial limbs and hearing aids.

(e) To furnish advice, information and assistance in relation to any aspect of the services to the Minister, or to any Health Authority.

(f) With the approval of the Minister to organise and provide courses of training in the treatment, training or placement in employment of disabled persons.

(g) With the approval of the Minister to provide courses of training for students of Occupational Therapy.

5. The Board shall consist of not more than twenty members appointed by the Minister.

6. The term of office of a member of the Board shall be such period not exceeding three years as may be specified by the Minister when appointing him and he shall hold office for the period for which he is appointed unless he sooner dies, resigns by letter addressed to the Minister or ceases to be a member in accordance with article 7 of this Order.

7. A member shall cease to be a member of the Board on his being requested by the Minister to resign.

8. The Minister shall appoint from amongst the members of the Board a Chairman who shall hold office until he ceases to be a member of the Board or until the Minister appoints another person to be Chairman.

9. The quorum of the Board shall be six.

10. The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

11. The proceedings of the Board shall not be invalidated by any vacancy or vacancies among its members or by any defect in the appointment of the Board or any member thereof.

12. (1) The Chairman may, at any time, call a meeting of the Board.

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

13. At a meeting of the Board--

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

(b) if and so long as the Chairman is not present, the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

14. Minutes of the proceedings of each meeting of the Board shall be entered in a book kept for that purpose and shall be signed by the chairman of the meeting or of the next ensuing meeting.

15. (1) The names of the members present at a meeting of the Board shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the Board.

(2) The names of the members voting on any question arising at a meeting of the Board 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.

16. (1) A person shall not receive any remuneration for acting as a member of the Board.

(2) Members of the Board may be paid travelling and subsistence allowances in accordance with such scale as may from time to time be approved by the Minister.

17. (1) All acts of the Board and all questions coming or arising before the Board may be done and decided by the majority of such members of the Board as are present and vote at a meeting of the Board.

(2) In case of equality of votes on any question arising at a meeting of the Board, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

18. (1) The Board may appoint committees consisting of members of the Board to assist the Board in relation to aspects of its day-to-day business and to furnish advice on particular aspects of its functions.

(2) Any committee so appointed shall act subject to such directives as may be given by the Board, and any expenditure of moneys by such committee shall be subject to the approval of the Board.

19. The seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman or some other member of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf and the signature of any officer of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

20. (1) The Board shall cause to be kept proper accounts of all income and expenditure of the Board, and of the sources of such income and the subject matter of such expenditure, and of the property, credits and liabilities of the Board.

(2) The financial year of the Board shall be the period of twelve months ending on the 31st day of March in any year and for the purposes of this provision the period commencing on the date of this Order and ending on the 31st March, 1968 shall be deemed to be a financial year.

(3) A statement of accounts of the Board for each financial year shall, as soon as may be after the end of such financial year, be prepared and after such preparation be audited by and be subject to a report by an auditor appointed for the purpose by the Minister after consultation with the Board.

(4) The expenses generally of such audit shall be paid by the Board as soon as may be after each audit.

(5) A copy of the accounts and the auditor's certificate and report thereon shall be presented to the members of the Board and to the Minister.

(6) The Board and the officers thereof shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, permit any person appointed by him to examine the books and accounts of the Board in respect of any financial year or other period and shall facilitate any such examination and the Board shall pay such fee therefor as may be fixed by the Minister.

21. (1) The Board shall, in each year, not later than such day as the Minister shall direct, make a report to the Minister of its activities during the preceding year.

(2) The Board shall submit to the Minister such information regarding the performance of its functions as the Minister may from time to time require.

22. (1) The Board may appoint such and so many officers and employ such and so many servants as the Board may, from time to time, think proper and in appointing any officer or employing any servant the Board shall comply with any directions given by the Minister relating to the procedure to be followed.

(2) Every officer of the Board holding office in a permanent capacity shall cease to hold his office on attaining the age of sixty-five years.

(3) The Board shall determine the remuneration and conditions of service of each officer and each servant of the Board and may, from time to time, alter the remuneration or conditions of service of any officer or servant.

(4) Every officer and servant of the Board shall perform such duties as the Board may, from time to time, assign to such officer or servant.

(5) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit, declare that any of the powers conferred on the Board by this article shall be exercisable only with the consent of the Minister, and when ever any such declaration is in force, the said powers may, in relation to any office or employment to which the declaration applies, be exercised only with such consent.

23. A person who for the time being holds any office under or is in the employment of the Board shall be disqualified from being a member of the Board.

24. (1) For the purpose of the performance of its functions, the Board may, with the consent of the Minister, borrow money and purchase or take on lease any land.

(2) The Board may, with the consent of the Minister, sell, exchange, let or otherwise dispose of any land vested in the Board.

25. (1) The Board may accept gifts of money, land, and other property upon such trusts and conditions, if any, as may be specified by the donor.

(2) The Board may not accept a gift if the conditions attached by the donor to its acceptance are not consistent with the functions of the Board.

26. The Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1956 (No. 10 of 1956), shall apply to the Board as if it were a local authority, subject to the following modification:--

(a) "registrable officer" shall not include any person as respects whom the Minister, within one month from the date of this Order, declares that there are other provisions for retirement benefits in respect of the service of such person with the Company and with the Board.

(b) A person whose name is entered in the register of pensionable officers and who immediately before the date of this Order, was an officer of the Company in a permanent capacity shall be entitled to reckon as service with the Board--

(i) the half of the continuous period immediately before the date of this Order of his service in a permanent capacity as an officer of the Company, and

(ii) where such person applies in writing to the Board before the expiration of six months from the date of this Order to have the remainder of such continuous period so reckonable, he shall be entitled to reckon as service the remainder of such period if he pays to the Board a sum calculated at the rate of five per cent of one half of the total amount of his salary and of the value of his emoluments as an officer of the Company during such period or he agrees with the Board to pay the said sum within three years from the date of this Order in such instalments as may be agreed with the Board and he authorises the Board to recover such instalments by means of periodical deductions from his salary and emoluments and by retaining them out of any lump sum, allowance or gratuity payable by the Board to or in respect of him.

(c) As respects a person whose name is entered in the register of pensionable officers and to whose pensionable local service there is not added a period in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 13 of the said Act and who--

(i) was required as a condition of his appointment to be a registered medical practitioner, and

(ii) has not less than ten years of pensionable local service, the Board may add to his pensionable local service the period which could be added in accordance with section 13 of the said Act if the circumstances set out in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of that section applied in relation to the person.

(d) A pensionable servant of the Board shall be entitled to reckon as service with the Board--

(i) half the number of whole years in the period or in the aggregate of the periods which he would have been entitled to reckon if Part III of the said Act had been in operation in relation to the Company and he had been a pensionable servant, and

(ii) where such person applies in writing to the Board before the expiration of six months from the coming into operation of Part III of the said Act in relation to the Board to have the remainder of the said number of whole years so reckonable, he shall be entitled to reckon the remainder of the said number of whole years as service if he pays to the Board a sum calculated at the rate of four and one-sixth per cent of one half of the total amount of his wages and of the value of his emoluments as a servant of the Company during the said number of whole years in which he was employed by the Company and he authorises the Board to recover such instalments by means of periodical deductions from his wages and emoluments and by retaining them out of any allowance or gratuity payable by the Board to or in respect of him.

(e) For the purpose of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 34 of the said Act, a pensionable servant of the Board shall be entitled to reckon as a service day in the local financial year ending on the 31st day of March, 1968, any day during the period commencing on the 1st day of April, 1967, and ending on the day before the date of this Order, on which the person worked in a wholetime capacity with the Company.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Health this

twentieth day of December, 1967.

SEÀN FLANAGAN,

Minister for Health.

The Minister for Local Government hereby consents to the modifications, contained in article 26 of the above Order, of the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1956 , as applies to the National Rehabilitation Board.

Dated this twentieth day of December, 1967.

CAOIMHGHÍN Ó BEOLÁIN,

Minister for Local Government.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The effect of this Order is to establish under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961 , a body to be known in the Irish language as An Bórd Náisiúnta Athshlánúcháin or in the English language the National Rehabilitation Board in succession to the National Organisation for Rehabilitation which by resolution passed on the 21st September, 1967, was wound up for the purposes of Section 8 of the said Act.