Health (Eastern Regional Health Authority) Act, 1999

Membership of Area Health Boards.

16.—(1) The Minister shall, in accordance with this section, specify in regulations the membership of an Area Health Board.

(2) Subject to subsections (4), (5) and (6), the Authority shall appoint the members of the Area Health Boards.

(3) The Authority, when appointing a member of an Area Health Board, shall fix such member's period of membership which shall not exceed 5 years.

(4) Each member of an Area Health Board shall be a member of the Authority and where a member of an Area Health Board ceases to be a member of the Authority he or she shall also cease to be a member of the Area Health Board.

(5) Membership of an Area Health Board shall include at least one member of the Authority who has been appointed by each of the following, namely—

(a) the local authorities mentioned in section 11 (2)(a),

(b) the registered professions mentioned in section 11 (2)(b),

(c) the Minister, on the nomination of each of the voluntary service providers mentioned in subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) of section 11 (2)(c), and

(d) the Minister under section 11 (2)(d).

(6) With respect to each Area Health Board, persons appointed to the Authority under section 11 (2)(a) and subsequently appointed by the Authority to an Area Health Board shall exceed the total number of other members of that Area Health Board and be from local electoral areas within the functional area of the Area Health Board.

(7) A member of the Authority who has been appointed to the Authority in accordance with section 11 (2)(b), other than subparagraph (i), shall be entitled to attend a meeting of an Area Health Board of which he or she is not a member and to participate in the deliberations at such a meeting, but shall not be entitled to vote on any question arising at such a meeting.

(8) The Authority may make payments to a member of an Area Health Board or to a member of the Authority referred to in subsection (7) in respect of travelling and subsistence expenses incurred in attending a meeting of an Area Health Board or otherwise in the pursuance of the business of an Area Health Board in accordance with a scale determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(9) The Authority may, with the consent of the Minister, pay an allowance to the chairman and the vice-chairman of an Area Health Board in respect of expenses (other than expenses referred to in subsection (8)) incurred by him or her in relation to the business of the Area Health Board.

(10) Rules 7, 10, 11 (as amended by section 22 ), 15 and 17 to 32 of the Second Schedule to the Principal Act, shall apply in relation to an Area Health Board and, accordingly, references therein to the board shall be construed as including references to an Area Health Board.

(11) An Area Health Board shall hold at least 9 meetings in each year and such other meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.