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  4. S.I. No. 251/1955 - Irish Red Cross Society (Directions As To Ambulance Service) Order, 1955.

S.I. No. 251/1955 - Irish Red Cross Society (Directions As To Ambulance Service) Order, 1955.

S.I. No. 251 of 1955.

IRISH RED CROSS SOCIETY (DIRECTIONS AS TO AMBULANCE SERVICE) ORDER, 1955.

I, SEÁN MAC EOIN, Minister for Defence, being of opinion that the activities hereinafter referred to of the Irish Red Cross Society bring that Society into competition with private enterprise, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 6 of the Red Cross Act, 1954 (No. 28 of 1954), hereby order as follows :

1. This Order may be cited as the Irish Red Cross Society (Directions as to Ambulance Service) Order, 1955.

2. In this Order—

" the Society " means the Irish Red Cross Society ;

" Red Cross ambulance " means an ambulance of the ambulance service provided by the Society.

3.—(1) The Society shall not ply for hire of Red Cross ambulances.

(2) The Society shall not, by advertisement, circular or in any other way, offer the services of Red Cross ambulances on hire.

(3) A Red Cross ambulance shall be used on hire only on request and then subject to the subsequent provisions of this Order.

4. Subject to Articles 5, 6 and 7 of this Order, a Red Cross ambulance shall be permitted to be used for hire only where—

(a) it is shown that efforts have been made on the patient's behalf to obtain a commercial ambulance but have been unsuccessful, or

(b) the patient's medical adviser certifies that the patient's condition is so dangerous that he cannot wait until a commercial ambulance arrives.

5. Notwithstanding Article 4 of this Order, a Red Cross ambulance may be sent, on request, to convey victims of accidents to hospital.

6. If any charge is made for the use of a Red Cross ambulance in the circumstances set out in Articles 4 and 5 of this Order, it shall not be lower than the comparable charge for commercial ambulances.

7. Where the attendance of Red Cross ambulances, for the purpose of standing by in case of accident, is requested by the promoters of any sports fixture, race meeting or similar event, they may attend for that purpose, and any gift or donation proffered by the promoters in consideration of the attendance may be accepted by the Society.

8. Nothing in this Order shall be construed as preventing the Society from using Red Cross ambulances free of charge where the Society considers that the humanitarian principles which govern all of its activities demand such action.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 14th day of December, 1955.

SEÁN MAC EOIN,

Minister for Defence.