Nurses Act , 1985

PART I Preliminary and General

1 Short Title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Nurses Act, 1985.

2 Interpretation.

2.—In this Act—

“the Board” means An Bord Altranais or the Nursing Board established by this Act;

“establishment day” means the day appointed to be the establishment day under section 4 of this Act;

“Fitness to Practise Committee” means the committee established by the Board under section 13 (2) of this Act;

“the former Board” means An Bord Altranais established under the Nurses Act, 1950;

“health board” means a health board established under the Health Act, 1970;

“Member State” means a state, other than the State, which is a member of the European Economic Communities;

“midwife” means a person whose name is entered in the midwives division of the register;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Health;

“nurse” means a woman or a man whose name is entered in the register and includes a midwife and “nursing” includes “midwifery”;

“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made by the Board;

“the register” means the register of nurses established under section 27 of this Act;

“registered medical practitioner” means a person whose name is entered in the General Register of Medical Practitioners established under the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978;

“rules” means rules made under section 26 of this Act.

3 Commencement.

3.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by order or orders of the Minister either generally or with reference to a particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

4 Establishment day.

4.—The Minister may by order appoint a day to be the establishment day for the purposes of this Act.

5 Repeals.

5.—The enactments specified in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed.

PART II An Bord Altranais

6 Establishment of An Bord Altranais.

6.—(1) There shall, by virtue of this section, be established on the establishment day a body to be known as An Bord Altranais or, in the English language, as the Nursing Board (in this Act referred to as the Board) the general concern of which shall be to promote high standards of professional education and training and professional conduct among nurses, and which shall, in particular, fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land.

(3) The Board may, subject to the provisions of this Act, regulate its own procedure.

(4) The Second Schedule to this Act shall apply to the Board.

7 Dissolution of former Board.

7.—(1) The former Board shall, on the establishment day, be dissolved by virtue of this section.

(2) All property, whether real or personal (including choses-in-action), which immediately before the establishment day was vested in or belonged to or was held in trust or subject to conditions for the former Board, and all rights, powers and privileges relating to or connected with any such property, shall on the establishment day, without any conveyance or assignment but subject where necessary to transfer in the books of any bank, corporation or company, become and be vested in or the property of or held in trust or subject to conditions for (as the case may require) the Board.

(3) All property transferred by this section which immediately before the establishment day was standing in the books of any bank or was registered in the books of any bank, corporation or company in the name of the former Board shall, upon the request of the Board made at any time on or after the establishment day, be transferred in those books by the bank, corporation or company into the name of the Board.

(4) Every chose-in-action transferred by this section may, on or after the establishment day, be sued upon, recovered, or enforced by the Board in its own name and it shall not be necessary for the Board to give notice to the person bound by any such chose-in-action of the transfer effected by this section.

(5) Every debt or other liability (including unliquidated liabilities arising from torts or breaches of contract) which immediately before the establishment day is owing and unpaid and is undischarged by the former Board shall, on the establishment day, become and be the debt or liability of the Board and shall be paid and discharged by and may be recovered from and enforced against the Board accordingly.

(6) Every contract which was entered into and is in force immediately before the establishment day between the former Board and any person shall continue in force on or after the establishment day but it shall be construed and have effect as if the Board were substituted therein for the former Board and shall be enforceable by or against the Board accordingly.

(7) Where immediately before the establishment day, any legal proceedings are pending to which the former Board is a party, the name of the Board shall be substituted for that of the former Board and the proceedings shall not abate by reason of such substitution.

(8) Section 12 of the Finance Act, 1895, shall not apply to the vesting in the Board of the property or rights transferred by this section.

(9) Any contract of service (express or implied) in force immediately before the establishment day between the former Board and any person shall continue in force on or after the establishment day, but shall be construed and have effect as if the name of the Board were substituted therein for the name of the former Board and every such contract shall be enforceable accordingly by or against the Board.

8 Seal of Board.

8.—(1) The Board shall as soon as may be after its establishment provide itself with a seal.

(2) The seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the President of the Board or such other member thereof as may be authorised by the Board to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer of the Board authorised by the Board to act in that behalf.

(3) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Board and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with this section) of the Board shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

9 Membership of Board.

9.—(1) The Board shall consist of 29 members appointed in the following manner, that is to say—

(a) five nurses resident in the State and who are engaged in training nurses of whom—

(i) one shall represent nurses who are training nurses in general nursing,

(ii) one shall represent nurses who are training nurses in paediatric nursing,

(iii) one shall represent nurses who are training nurses in psychiatric nursing,

(iv) one shall represent nurses who are training nurses in the care of mentally handicapped persons, and

(v) one shall represent nurses who are training nurses in midwifery,

elected by nurses;

(b) five nurses resident in the State and who are engaged in nursing administration of whom—

(i) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in general nursing administration,

(ii) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in the administration of public health nursing,

(iii) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in the administration of psychiatric nursing,

(iv) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in the administration of midwifery, and

(v) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in the administration of nursing of mentally handicapped persons,

elected by nurses;

(c) seven nurses resident in the State who are engaged in clinical nursing practice of whom—

(i) two shall represent nurses who are engaged in clinical practice in general nursing,

(ii) two shall represent nurses who are engaged in clinical practice in psychiatric nursing,

(iii) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in clinical practice in midwifery,

(iv) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in clinical practice in public health nursing, and

(v) one shall represent nurses who are engaged in clinical practice in the nursing of mentally handicapped persons,

elected by nurses;

(d) twelve persons appointed by the Minister, after consultation with such bodies or organisations as he considers suitable to advise him, of whom—

(i) one shall be a registered medical practitioner engaged in the practice of medicine in a hospital approved of by the Board for the training of general nurses,

(ii) one shall be a registered medical practitioner engaged in the practice of medicine in a hospital approved of by the Board for the training of psychiatric nurses,

(iii) one shall be a registered medical practitioner engaged in the practice of obstetrics in a hospital approved of by the Board for the training of midwives,

(iv) one shall be a person representative of the management of health boards,

(v) one shall be a person representative of the management of hospitals, other than hospitals administered by health boards,

(vi) two shall be persons representative of the Department of Health,

(vii) one shall be a person who is experienced in the field of education,

(viii) one shall be a person representative of third level educational establishments which are involved in the education and training of nurses,

(ix) one shall be a nurse, and

(x) two shall be persons representative of the interest of the general public.

(2) An appointment shall not be made by the Minister pursuant to paragraph (d) (vii) or paragraph (d) (viii) of subsection (1) of this section without the consent of the Minister for Education.

(3) The Minister may, by regulations made after consultation with the Board, vary the provisions of subsection (1) of this section.

(4) Whenever the Minister proposes to make regulations pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, a draft of the proposed regulations shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House.

10 Appointment of persons to be members of Board.

10.—The Minister shall take all steps necessary to secure the appointment of members to the first Board established after the commencement of this Act and the Board shall take all steps necessary to secure the appointment of members to any subsequent Board.

11 Election of members of the Board.

11.—(1) Before the establishment day, in the case of the first election of members to the Board pursuant to this Act, and before the commencement of their term of office in the case of every subsequent election, the members of the Board to be elected in accordance with section 9 (1) (a), (b) and (c) of this Act, shall be elected by way of an election held in accordance with rules made by the Minister, in the case of the first election, and in accordance with rules made by the Board, with the approval of the Minister, in the case of every subsequent election, and any such rules may, in particular, specify the qualifications to be held by candidates for election to the Board, the persons who shall be entitled to nominate a candidate for election or to vote in an election and may specify a particular class or classes of nurse who shall be entitled to vote for any particular class of nurse.

(2) In the case of the first election to the Board, the returning officer for that election shall be appointed by the Minister, and in the case of every subsequent election, the returning officer for such election shall be appointed by the Board.

12 First meeting of the Board.

12.—(1) The first meeting of the Board shall be held on a day to be appointed by the Minister and the Minister shall notify the members of the Board of the time and place of such meeting.

(2) The Board shall meet at the time and place appointed by the Minister under this section for its first meeting and shall thereupon enter on its duties under this Act.

13 Committees of the Board.

13.—(1) The Board may, subject to the subsequent provisions of this section, from time to time establish committees to perform such, if any, functions of the Board as, in the opinion of the Board, may be better or more conveniently performed by a committee, and are assigned to a committee by the Board.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the Board shall establish a committee in relation to its functions under Part V of this Act.

(3) A committee established under this section, other than the committee referred to in subsection (2) of this section may, if the Board thinks fit, include in its membership persons who are not members of the Board.

(4) The chairman of every committee established under this section shall be a member of the Board provided that in the case of the committee referred to in subsection (2) of this section the chairman shall be a member of the Board other than the President or the Vice-President of the Board.

(5) Every member of the committee established under subsection (2) of this section shall be a member of the Board.

(6) A majority of the members of the committee referred to in subsection (2) of this section shall be persons who have been appointed by election to the Board and at least one-third of the members of that committee shall be persons other than persons who have been appointed by election to the Board.

(7) The acts of a committee established under this section shall be subject to confirmation by the Board unless the Board, at any time, dispenses with the necessity for such confirmation.

(8) The Board may, subject to the provisions of this Act, regulate the procedure of committees established under this section, but, subject to any such regulation, committees established under this section may regulate their own procedure.

14 Expenses of members of Board and committees.

14.—A member of the Board or of any committee established by the Board shall be paid, out of funds at the disposal of the Board, such allowances for travelling and subsistence expenses incurred in respect of his attendance at a meeting of the Board or otherwise in connection with the affairs of the Board as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, may determine.

15 Removal of Board from office.

15.—(1) If the Board fails, neglects or refuses to perform any function assigned to it under this Act, the Minister may, by order, direct the Board to discharge that function and for that purposes to do such other matters or things ancillary or incidental thereto as may be specified in the order.

(2) If the Board fails to comply with any direction of the Minister contained in an order made by him under subsection (1) of this section, the Minister may, by order, remove from office the members of the Board.

(3) An order made by the Minister under this section may contain such provisions as the Minister considers necessary to enable the functions of the Board to be performed notwithstanding the removal from office of its members, and any such order may, in particular, appoint a person or persons to discharge all or any of the functions of the Board.

(4) The Minister may amend or revoke an order made under this section, including this subsection.

(5) Every order under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly and in case of an order made under subsection (2) of this section the members of the Board who had been removed from office by virtue of the order shall be restored to office but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done by any person or persons appointed to discharge all or any of the functions of the Board under and by virtue of the order.

16 Chief Executive Officer.

16.—(1) There shall be a chief officer who shall act and be known as the Chief Executive Officer of the Board.

(2) The Chief Executive Officer shall be appointed by the Board and shall hold his office on such terms and conditions and shall perform such duties as the Board, with the consent of the Minister, from time to time determines.

(3) There shall be paid by the Board to its Chief Executive Officer out of funds at its disposal such remuneration and allowances as the Board, with the consent of the Minister, from time to time determines.

(4) The Minister may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit, declare that any power conferred on the Board by this section shall be exercisable only with the consent of the Minister and whenever any such declaration is in force, the said power may be exercisable only with such consent.

17 Other officers and servants of Board.

17.—(1) In addition to the Chief Executive Officer, there shall be appointed such and so many persons to be officers and servants of the Board as the Board, with the consent of the Minister, from time to time determines.

(2) An officer or servant of the Board shall be appointed by the Chief Executive Officer and shall hold his office or employment on such terms and conditions and shall perform such duties as the Chief Executive Officer from time to time determines.

(3) There shall be paid by the Board to its officers and servants other than the Chief Executive Officer out of funds at its disposal such remuneration and allowances as the Chief Executive Officer, with the consent of the Minister, from time to time determines.

(4) The Minister may, whenever and as often as he thinks fit, declare that any power conferred on the Board or the Chief Executive Officer by this section shall be exercisable only with the consent of the Minister and whenever any such declaration is in force, the said power may, in relation to any office or employment to which the declaration applies, be exercisable only with such consent.

18 Age limits.

18.—A person who is a permanent officer of the Board shall cease to be a permanent officer on his attaining the age of 65 years.

19 Superannuation.