Adoption Act, 1952

FIRST SCHEDULE.

An Bord Uchtála.

Section 8 .

Member.

1. In this Schedule, unless the context otherwise requires, “member” means the Chairman or an ordinary member.

Term of office.

2. (1) Each member, unless appointed to fill a casual vacancy, shall be appointed for a period of five years.

(2) A member appointed to fill a casual vacancy shall be appointed for the remainder of the term for which his predecessor, if he had continued to be a member, would have held office.

(3) An outgoing member may be reappointed.

Removal and resignation.

3. (1) The Government may remove a member from office for stated misbehaviour or incapacity or failure to attend meetings of the Board.

(2) A member may resign his office.

Substitutes.

4. (1) Where a member is temporarily unable to act, the Government may appoint a person to act in his place.

(2) A person shall not be appointed to act in place of the Chairman unless he is qualified for appointment as Chairman.

(3) References in this Act to a member include references to a person so acting.

Remuneration.

5. There may be paid to the Chairman such remuneration as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines.

Registrar and officers and servants.

6. (1) The Minister shall appoint a person to be registrar of the Board and may with the consent of the Minister for Finance appoint such other officers and servants of the Board as he thinks necessary.

(2) The registrar, officers and servants of the Board shall hold office on such terms and receive such remuneration as the Minister for Finance determines.

Seal.

7. (1) The Board shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed.

(2) The seal shall, when applied to a document, be attested by the signature of the Chairman or the registrar or of a person authorised by the Board to attest it.

(3) Every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Board, to be sealed with the seal and to be attested in accordance with this paragraph shall, unless the contrary is shown, be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof.

Procedure.

8. (1) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be the Chairman and two ordinary members.

(2) Every question at a meeting shall be decided in accordance with the opinion of the majority of those present.

(3) In the case of an equal division of opinion, the question shall be decided in accordance with the opinion of the Chiarman.

(4) The decision of the Board shall be pronounced by the Chairman or other member authorised by the Chairman and no other opinion, whether assenting or dissenting, shall be pronounced nor shall the existence of such an opinion be disclosed.

(5) Subject to this Act, the Board may regulate its own procedure.

Power to summon witnesses, etc.

9. (1) The Board may for the purposes of any proceedings before it under this Act do all or any of the following things—

(a) summon witnesses to attend before it,

(b) examine on oath (which a member or the registrar of the Board is hereby authorised to administer) the witnesses attending before it,

(c) require any such witness to produce to the Board any document in his power or control.

(2) A witness before the Board shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.

(3) If any person—

(a) on being duly summoned as a witness before the Board makes default in attending, or

(b) being in attendance as a witness refuses to take an oath legally required by the Board to be taken, or to produce any document in his power or control legally required by the Board to be produced by him, or to answer any question to which the Board may legally require an answer,

he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

(4) Where a witness (other than an applicant for an adoption order) attends before the Board in pursuance of a summons issued on the initiative of the Board, the Board may, if it thinks fit, pay to him a sum in respect of expenses incurred by him in connection with his attendance in accordance with a scale prescribed by the Minister, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance.

Evidence.

10. The Board may take evidence orally or on affidavit.

Enquiries.

11. (1) The Board may make such enquiries as it thinks necessary for the fulfilment of its functions.

(2) A member or officer of the Board may visit the homes of the child, the guardian of the child, the applicants for an adoption order and the person to whom custody of the child has been given under an interim order.

(3) The Board may authorise an officer of a Department of State or of a local authority to make enquiries and visits on behalf of the Board.

Service of documents.

12. A summons, notice or other document required or authorised by or under this Act to be issued by the Board to any person may be served by registered post.

Annual report.

13. (1) The Board shall, after the expiration of each year, publish a report giving the following information in relation to that year—

(a) the number of applications for adoption and the decisions of the Board thereon,

(b) the names of the registered societies concerned in the applications,

(c) the number of applications for registration of societies and the decisions of the Board thereon,

(d) the name and address of each society which is registered or the registration of which is cancelled during the year.

(2) The Board shall present a copy of the report to the Minister who shall cause it to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

Notices to be published in Iris Oifigiúil.

14. (1) The Board shall cause to be published in Iris Oifigiúil a notice in the prescribed form of the making of every adoption order and of every registration and cancellation of registration in the Adoption Societies Register.

(2) A notice in regard to an adoption order shall not refer to the child's natural parents, former surname, place of birth or otherwise to his origin.