S.I. No. 17/1928 - Boards of Public Assistance (General Regulations) (Amendment) Order, 1928.

STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1928. No. 17.

THE BOARDS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE (GENERAL REGULATION) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1928.

DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH.

To each board to whom is entrusted the administration of the relief of the poor in a county under a county or joint county scheme in pursuance of the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 ; and to all others whom it may concern:

WHEREAS in pursuance of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Acts, 1838 to 1914, the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 , and of every county or joint county scheme confirmed or amended by or in pursuance of the last mentioned Act, the Minister for Local Government and the Minister for Local Government and Public Health did by the County Boards of Health (General Regulations) Order, 1924, and the County Schemes (Officers of District Hospitals) Order, 1927, make and prescribe rules and regulations with respect to the meetings and proceedings of the board established under every such county or joint county scheme to administer the relief of the poor thereunder, the appointment and duties of officers and the government and management of institutions provided and maintained under every such county or joint county scheme:

AND WHEREAS it is expedient to alter the said orders:

NOW THEREFORE I, the Minister for Local Government and Public Health in exercise of the powers vested in me by the Poor Relief (Ireland) Acts, 1838 to 1914, the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 , and of every county or joint county scheme confirmed or amended by or in pursuance of the last mentioned Act, do by this my Order, direct and declare as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Boards of Public Assistance (General Regulations) (Amendment) Order, 1928, and shall be read and construed as one with the County Boards of Health (General Regulations) Order, 1924.

2. In this Order:—

(i) the expression "the Minister" means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

(ii) the expression "board of public assistance" means the board to which is entrusted under a county or a joint county scheme under the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 , the relief of the poor in any county or county borough.

(iii) the expression "county institution" means any county hospital, county home, district hospital or other institution provided and maintained by a board of public assistance under a county or joint county scheme.

(iv) the expression "General Regulations" means the County Boards of Health (General Regulations) Order, 1924.

3. Article 3 of the General Regulations shall be amended as follows:—

(i) For the definition of the expression "Board of Health" there shall be substituted the definition of "board of public assistance" contained in this Order and references to a Board of Health in the General Regulations shall be construed accordingly.

(ii) For the definition of the expression "county institution" there shall be substituted the definition of "county institution" as contained in this Order.

(iii) The following definition shall be added to the said Article 3:—

"The expression 'minor officer' means a person appointed to or holding an office designated by the Minister as a minor office for the discharge of minor and subordinate duties in or about a county institution."

(iv) For the definition of "officer" there shall be substituted the following:—

"The word 'officer' includes a nurse and a minor officer."

4. Paragraphs (c) (d) and (e) of Article 24 of the General Regulations are thereby revoked and in lieu thereof the following Articles shall be substituted:—

24 (c) (i) A board of public assistance shall appoint such number of qualified nurses as the Minister may from time to time direct or approve to assist the matron or head nurse as the case may be of a county institution in the performance of her duties and generally in the nursing and care of the sick in such institution.

(ii) A board of public assistance shall appoint such number of fit persons to be minor officers as the Minister shall from time to time direct or approve and shall pay to each such person so appointed such reasonable salary, remuneration, or allowances as the board shall from time to time think proper.

(d) If in any emergency it appears to the medical officer of a county institution that the temporary employment of one or more nurses or minor officers is requisite for the proper treatment of any inmate or inmates of such institution and if he informs the matron of such institution or in the case of a district hospital the head nurse, it shall be the duty of the matron or head nurse as the case may be to employ a fit person or persons to act as such until the next meeting of the board of public assistance and the board shall pay to any person so employed such remuneration and expenses as the board shall think proper. The medical officer shall, when communicating with the matron or head nurse, report at the same time the facts of the case fully in writing to the board.

(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph (c) (i) of this Article a board of public assistance may in any case where it is necessary owing to an increase in the number of inmates of a county institution or other sufficient reason appoint temporarily such and so many qualified nurses as the board may determine who shall hold office for such period and be paid such remuneration as the board shall at the time of appointment determine.

5. Article 25 of the General Regulations is hereby revoked and in lieu thereof the following article shall be substituted:—

25. A board of public assistance may, subject to the approval of the Minister first had and obtained declare any office to be abolished but such approval shall not be required to the abolition of the office of any minor officer.

6. Article 27 of the General Regulations shall not apply to the appointment of minor officers.

7. Paragraph (c) of Article 28 of the General Regulations shall be amended by the omission of the words "subject to the approval of the Minister."

8. Article 38 of the General Regulations shall be amended by the addition of the words "save as otherwise provided by this Order" before the words "The Board of Health."

9. Article 45 of the General Regulations shall be amended by the substitution of the words "and every minor officer"for the words "and every wardsmaid and paid attendant."

10. So much of Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the General Regulations as would require the consent or approval of the Minister in the case of a minor officer is hereby revoked.

11. So much of Article 47 of the General Regulations as would require the approval of the Minister to the payment of reasonable compensation to a temporary substitute for a nurse or a minor officer and so much of the said article as would require the report to the Minister of the appointment of a temporary substitute for a nurse or minor officer is hereby revoked.

12. Paragraph (ii) of Article 3 of the County Schemes (Officers of District Hospitals) Order, 1927, is hereby revoked.

Given under my Official Seal, this Eighteenth

day of April in the Year of Our Lord One

Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-eight.

(Signed) RISTEÁRD O MAOLCHATHA,

Minister for Local Government and Public Health.