No. 15/1991:

HEALTH (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1991

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section

1. Definition.

2. Amendment of section 45 (full eligibility) of Act of 1970.

3. Limited eligibility.

4. Guidelines on -ordinarily resident in the State".

5. Amendment of section 52 (provision of in-patient services) of Act of 1970.

6. In-patient services for persons not entitled under section 52 of Act of 1970.

7. Amendment of section 56 (out-patient services) of Act of 1970.

8. Amendment of Health Contributions Act, 1979.

9. Residency and Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71.

10. Revocations.

11. Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement.

ACTS REFERRED TO

Number 15 of 1991

HEALTH (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1991

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE HEALTH ACT, 1970 , AND THE HEALTH CONTRIBUTIONS ACT, 1979 , AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.

[31st May, 1991]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1.—In this Act "the Act of 1970" means the Health Act, 1970 .

2.—Section 45 of the Act of 1970 is hereby amended:

( a ) in subsection (1), by the insertion of "and who is ordinarily resident in the State" after "categories", and

( b ) in subsection (7), by the insertion of "or who is not ordinarily resident in the State" after "mentioned in subsection (1)",

and the said subsections (1) and (7), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) A person in either of the following categories and who is ordinarily resident in the State shall have full eligibility for the services under this Part—

( a ) adult persons unable without undue hardship to arrange general practitioner medical and surgical services for themselves and their dependants,

( b ) dependants of the persons referred to in paragraph (a).

(7) Any person who is not in either of the categories mentioned in subsection (1) or who is not ordinarily resident in the State but who, in relation to a particular service which is available to persons with full eligibility, is considered by the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board to be unable, without undue hardship, to provide that service or himself or his dependants shall, in relation to that service, be deemed to be a person with full eligibility.

3.—The Act of 1970 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 46:

"46. Any person ordinarily resident in the State who is without full eligibility shall, subject to section 52 (3), have limited eligibility for the services under this Part.".

4.—The Act of 1970 is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section after section 47:

"47A. The Minister may issue guidelines to—

( a ) the chief executive officers of health boards, and

( b ) persons appointed or designated by him under section 47 (1),

to assist each of them in deciding whether or not a person is ordinarily resident in the State for the purposes of sections 45 and 46".

5.—Section 52 of the Act of 1970 is hereby amended by the addition of the following subsection after subsection (2):

"(3) Subject to section 54, where, in respect of in-patient services, a person with full eligibility or limited eligibility for such services does not avail of some part of those services but instead avails of like services not provided under section 52 (1), then the person shall, while being maintained for the said in-patient services, be deemed not to have full eligibility or limited eligibility, as the case may be, for those in-patient services.".

6.—The Act of 1970 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 55:

"55. (1) A health board may, subject to any regulations made under subsection (2), make available in-patient services for persons who—

( a ) do not establish entitlement to such services under section 52, or

( b ) are deemed under subsection (3) of section 52 not to have full eligibility or limited eligibility for such services,

and the board shall charge for any services so made available and provided to any such person in accordance with charges approved of or directed by the Minister.

(2) The Minister may, for the purposes of subsection (1), make regulations prescribing the manner in which any in-patient services are to be made available and provided by health boards.

(3) Every regulation made by the Minister 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 regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.".

7.—Section 56 (as amended by the Health (Amendment) Act, 1987 ) of the Act of 1970 is hereby amended in subsection (5) by the addition of the following paragraph after paragraph (c):

"( d ) Regulations under this section may also specify the circumstances in which a person's entitlement to out-patient services shall extend to services provided by a registered medical practitioner engaged in a consultant capacity in the provision of hospital services and may provide that, where a person's entitlement does not so extend, the health board concerned may charge for the provision of out-patient services such charges as may be approved of or directed by the Minister.".

8.—The Health Contributions Act, 1979 , is hereby amended—

( a ) in section 5, by the deletion of subsection (2),

( b ) in section 6, by the deletion of subsection (2),

( c ) by the deletion of section 8,

( d ) in section 9, by the deletion of subsections (3) and (4) and of "or (3)" in subsection (5), and

( e ) in section 17, by the deletion of "or 9 (3)".

9.—The provisions of Part IV of the Act of 1970 (as amended by this Act) relating to a person being ordinarily resident in the State are without prejudice to the due application of the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71 of 14 June 1971(1) ¹ (as replaced by the text in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2001/83 of 2 June 1983 ² ) and of any provision made before, on or after the passing of this Act which amends, extends, replaces or consolidates (with or without modification) Council Regulation 1408/71.

10.—The following statutory instruments are hereby revoked:

( a ) the Health Services (Limited Eligibility) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 110 of 1979 );

( b ) the Health Services (No. 2) Regulations, 1983 ( S.I. No. 139 of 1983 );

( c ) the Health Services (Amendment) Regulations, 1990 ( S.I. No. 132 of 1990 ).

11.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Health (Amendment) Act, 1991 .

(2) The Health Acts, 1947 to 1990, and this Act, other than section 8 of this Act, may be cited together as the Health Acts, 1947 to 1991, and shall be construed together as one.

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

(1)O.J. No. L 149 of 5.7 1971, p.2.

(2)O.J. No. L 230 of 22.8.1983, p.6.