Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005

Publication and other requirements relating to draft and other bye-laws.

32.—(1) A registration board shall ensure that—

(a) a draft of any bye-law that it proposes to make is, before the draft is submitted to the Council for approval, published in such manner as the board may determine, and

(b) with the draft is published an invitation to the public, any organisation and any other body to comment on the draft before a date specified by the board in the invitation.

(2) After considering any comments received before the date specified in the invitation, the registration board may—

(a) subject to subsections (3) to (5), submit to the Council for approval the draft bye-law either in the form in which it was published or with such changes as the board may determine, or

(b) decide not to proceed further with the draft bye-law.

(3) If a draft bye-law that a registration board proposes to submit to the Council under subsection (2)(a) relates to the adoption or revision of a code of professional conduct and ethics, the board shall—

(a) before submitting the draft bye-law to the Council, submit it to the Competition Authority for its opinion as to whether any provision of the draft bye-law would, if the bye-law were made, be likely to result in competition being prevented, restricted or distorted, and

(b) request that the opinion be given in writing to the board before the date specified in the request.

(4) If, before the date specified in the request, the registration board receives from the Competition Authority a written opinion that a provision of the draft bye-law would, if the bye-law were made, be likely to result in competition being prevented, restricted or distorted, the board shall—

(a) take that opinion into account and change the draft bye-law accordingly before submitting it to the Council for approval, or

(b) without making any changes to the draft bye-law, submit it to the Council for approval and supply the Council with a copy of the Authority's opinion together with the board's written reasons for not taking the opinion into account.

(5) Subsections (2) to (4) apply also in relation to a proposed amendment or revocation of a bye-law.

(6) A registration board shall ensure that as soon as practicable after a bye-law of the board is made it—

(a) is published in such manner as the board may determine, and

(b) is submitted to the Minister for laying before each House of the Oireachtas.

(7) Subsections (4) to (6) of section 95 apply with the necessary modifications to bye-laws submitted to the Minister in accordance with this section as if they were regulations made by the Minister.