Dentists Act , 1985

PART I Preliminary and General

1. Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Dentists Act 1985.

2. Interpretation.

​2.—F1[(1)] In this Act—

F2[“appropriate fee", in relation to a provision of this Act, means the fee (if any) determined undersection 25that is appropriate for the purposes of that provision;]

“auxiliary dental worker” means a member of a class of dental workers established under a scheme made by the Council pursuant to section 53 of this Act;

F2["condition" includes a restriction;]

“the Council” means An Chomhairle Fiaclóireachta or the Dental Council established by this Act;

F2["Council website" means an internet website of the Council (including part of such a website)—

(a) to which access is readily available by members of the public, and

(b) where anything published on the website is readily available for inspection by members of the public;]

“the Dental Board” means the Dental Board established under the Dentists Act 1928;

“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 Council under section 13 (2) (b) of this Act;

“full registration” means registration other than temporary registration and “fully registered” shall be construed accordingly;

F2["health or social care", in relation to a person (howsoever described), means the health or social care that the person provides or has provided in his or her capacity or former capacity as a member of a relevant profession;]

“the Medical Council” means Comhairle na nDochtúirí Leighis established by the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978;

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

“the Minister” means the Minister for Health;

“practice of dentistry” means the performance of any operation and the giving of any treatment, advice, opinion or attendance which is usually performed or given by a dentist and includes the performance of any operation or the giving of any treatment, advice or attendance on or to any person preparatory to, for the purpose of, or in connection with, the fitting, insertion, or fixing of artificial teeth;

“the register” means the Register of Dentists established under section 26 of this Act;

“registered dentist” means a person whose name is registered in the register;

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

“Register of Dental Specialists” means the register referred to in section 29 of this Act;

“the Registrar” means the chief officer of the Council;

F3[“Regulations of 2017" means the European Union (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 8 of 2017);]

F2["relevant profession" means any of the following professions:

(a) dentist;

(b) a designated profession within the meaning of section 3 of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005;

(c) medical practitioner;

(d) midwife;

(e) nurse;

(f) pharmacist;]

F2["restriction" includes a condition;]

“retention fee” means a fee payable by a person entitled to be registered in any register maintained by the Council for the retention of his name in that register;

“temporary registration” means registration by virtue of section 28 of this Act and “temporarily registered” shall be construed accordingly.

F2[(2) Unless otherwise specified in this Act, nothing in this Act shall be construed to prejudice the performance by the Council of its functions under the Regulations of 2017 as the competent authority in respect of the regulated professions (within the meaning of Regulation 3 of those Regulations) concerned.]

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 Dentists Act 1928, and the Dentists (Amendment) Act, 1983, are hereby repealed.

PART II The Dental Council

6. Establishment of the Dental Council.

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

(2)The Council 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 or any interest in land.

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

(4)The First Schedule to this Act shall apply to the Council.

7. Dissolution of Dental Board.

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

(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 Dental 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 Council.

(3)All property transferred by this section which immediately before the establishment day was standing in the books of any bank, corporation or company in the name of the Dental Board shall, upon the request of the Council 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 Council.

(4)Every chose in action transferred by this section may, on or after the establishment day, be sued upon, recovered, or enforced by the Council in its own name and it shall not be necessary for the Council 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 Dental Board shall, on the establishment day, become and be the debt or liability of the Council and shall be paid and discharged by and may be recovered from and enforced against the Council accordingly.

(6)Every contract which was entered into and is in force immediately before the establishment day between the Dental 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 Council were substituted therein for the Dental Board and shall be enforceable by or against the Council accordingly.

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

(8)F5[…]

(9)Any contract of service (express or implied) in force immediately before the establishment day between the Dental 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 Council were substituted therein for the name of the Dental Board and every such contract shall be enforceable accordingly by or against the Council.

8. Seal of Council.

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

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

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

9. Membership of Council.

9.—(1)The Council shall consist of 19 members appointed in the following manner, that is to say—

(a)two persons appointed by each of the following bodies—

(i)University College Cork,

(ii)the University of Dublin;

(b)one person appointed by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland;

(c)seven fully registered dentists resident in the State appointed by election by fully registered dentists;

(d)two persons appointed by the Medical Council;

(e)one person appointed by the Minister for Education;

(f)four persons appointed by the Minister, at least two of whom—

(i)shall not be registered dentists, and

(ii)shall, in the opinion of the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism, represent the interests of the general public as consumers of dental services.

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

(3)Whenever the Minister proposes to make regulations under subsection (2) 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 Council.

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

11. Election of members of Council.

11.—(1)Before the establishment day, in the case of the first election of members of the Council pursuant to this Act, and before the commencement of their term of office in the case of every subsequent election, the members of the Council to be elected in accordance with section 9 (1) (c) of this Act shall be elected by way of an election held on a system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and in accordance with regulations made by the Minister and any such regulations may, in particular, specify, in relation to any class of persons specified in the regulations, the qualifications to be held by candidates for election to the Council.

(2)In the case of the first election to the Council, 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 Council.

12. First meeting of Council.

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

(2)The Council 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 Council.

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

(2)In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the Council shall establish—

(a)a committee to act in relation to its functions under Part IV of this Act,

(b)a committee to act in relation to its functions under Part V of this Act, and

(c)a committee to act in relation to its functions regarding auxiliary dental workers under Part VII of this Act.

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

(4)The chairman of every committee established under this section shall be a member of the Council: Provided that the chairman of the committee referred to in subsection (2) (b) of this section shall be neither the President nor the Vice-President of the Council.

(5)The committee established under subsection (2) (a) of this section shall include in its membership each person appointed to the Council under section 9 (1) (a), 9 (1) (b) and 9 (1) (e) of this Act.

(6)Every member of the committee referred to in subsection (2) (b) of this section shall be a member of the Council and—

(a)a majority of the members of such committee shall be persons who have been appointed by election to the Council, and

(b)at least one member of such committee shall be a person other than a registered dentist who has been appointed to the Council by the Minister under section 9 (1) (f) of this Act.

(7)(a)The committee established under subsection (2) (c) of this section shall include the person appointed to the Council pursuant to section 9 (1) (e) of this Act and a person representative of each class of auxiliary dental worker established under a scheme made by the Council under section 53 of this Act.

(b)The first appointment of a person representative of a class of auxiliary dental workers to a committee established under subsection (2) (c) of this section after the commencement of this Act shall be made, for a period of one year from the date of the appointment, by the Council and every subsequent such appointment to such a committee shall be by election, in accordance with rules made by the Council, by the registered members of each class of auxiliary dental workers so established.

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

(9)The Council 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 Council and committees.

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

15. Removal of Council from office.

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

(2)If the Council 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 Council.

(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 Council 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 Council.

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

(5)Every order made 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 the case of an order made under subsection (2) of this section the members of the Council 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 Council under and by virtue of the order.

16. The Registrar.

16.—(1)There shall be a chief officer of the Council who shall act and be known as the Registrar of the Council.

(2)The Registrar shall be appointed by the Council and shall hold his office on such terms and conditions as the Council, with the approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, determines.

(3)The Registrar shall be paid, out of funds at the disposal of the Council, such remuneration and allowances as the Council, with the approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, from time to time determines.

(4)The Registrar shall perform such duties as the Council from time to time determines.

17. Other officers and servants of Council.

17.—(1)In addition to the Registrar, the Council shall appoint such and so many persons to be officers and servants of the Council as the Council, with the approval of the Minister, from time to time determines.

(2)An officer or servant of the Council shall hold his office or employment on such terms and conditions as the Council, with the approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, from time to time determines.

(3)An officer or servant of the Council shall be paid, out of funds at the disposal of the Council, such remuneration and allowances as the Council, with the approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for the Public Service, from time to time determines.

(4)An officer or servant of the Council shall perform such duties as the Council from time to time determines.

18. Age limits.