HEALTH (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2014

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 33/2014

Number 33 of 2014
HEALTH (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2014
CONTENTS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
Section
1. Short title and commencement
2. Repeal of Opticians Act 1956
3. Expenses
PART 2
Amendment of Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005
4. Definition of “Principal Act”
5. Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act
6. Amendment of section 4 of Principal Act
7. Amendment of section 9 of Principal Act
8. Amendment of section 11 of Principal Act
9. Amendment of section 18 of Principal Act
10. Amendment of section 23 of Principal Act
11. Amendment of section 24 of Principal Act
12. Amendment of section 26 of Principal Act
13. Amendment of section 27 of Principal Act
14. Amendment of section 27A of Principal Act
15. Amendment of section 28 of Principal Act
16. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of section 28A (membership of registration boards of 2 or more designated professions)
17. Amendment of section 31 of Principal Act
18. Amendment of section 34 of Principal Act
19. Amendment of section 36 of Principal Act
20.Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of section 36A (transitional provisions applicable to registers of members of designated professions of optometrist and dispensing optician)
21. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of section 36B (transitional provisions applicable to register of radiographers)
22. Amendment of section 38 of Principal Act
23. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of section 40A (conditions attached to registration)
24. Amendment of section 48 of Principal Act
25. Amendment of section 51 of Principal Act
26. Amendment of section 52 of Principal Act
27. Amendment of section 53 of Principal Act
28. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of section 53A (persons to assist preliminary proceedings committee)
29. Amendment of section 60 of Principal Act
30. Amendment of section 66 of Principal Act
31. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of section 78A (information Council may publish in public interest)
32. Amendment of section 79 of Principal Act
33. Amendment of section 80 of Principal Act
34. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of Part 7A (prescription and sale of spectacles)
35. Amendment of section 91 of Principal Act
36. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of Part 9A (dissolution of Opticians Board)
37. Amendment of section 95 of Principal Act
38. Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of section 97 (investigations)
39. Amendment of Schedule 1 to Principal Act
40. Amendment of Schedule 2 to Principal Act
PART 3
Amendment of Health Act 1970
41. Definitions
42. Interpretation - sections 67A to 67D of Principal Act
43. Amendment of section 67C of Principal Act
44. Amendment of section 67D of Principal Act
Acts Referred to
Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 and 2005
Carer’s Leave Act 2001 (No. 19)
Freedom of Information Act 1997 (No. 13)
Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003
Health (Amendment) Act 2013 (No. 31)
Health Act 1970 (No. 1)
Health Act 2004 (No. 42)
Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (No. 27)
Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004
Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2001
Opticians Act 1956 (No. 17)
Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (No. 20)
Parental Leave Acts 1998 and 2006
Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 (No. 29)
Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 (No. 45)
Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007
Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26)
Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 and 2001
Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2001
Number 33 of 2014
HEALTH (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2014
An Act to amend the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 to provide for the application of that Act to the health or social care professions of optometrist and dispensing optician, to divide the health or social care profession of radiographer into the two health or social care professions of radiographer and radiation therapist, to permit a registration board to be the registration board of two or more designated professions, to introduce uniformity between that Act and certain provisions of other Acts which regulate health or social care professions that are not regulated by that Act, to repeal the Opticians Act 1956, to amend sections 67A, 67C and 67D of the Health Act 1970 as amended by section 19 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2013 , and to provide for related matters. [19 th November, 2014]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
PART 1 Preliminary and General
		Short title and commencement
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014.
	(2) Subject to subsection (3), this Act comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Health may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
	(3) Part 3 comes into operation on the commencement of section 19 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2013 .
		Repeal of Opticians Act 1956
2. The Opticians Act 1956 is repealed.
		Expenses
3. The expenses incurred by the Minister for Health in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, be paid out of money provided by the Oireachtas.
PART 2 Amendment of Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005
		Definition of “Principal Act”
4. In this Part “Principal Act” means the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 .
		Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act
5. Section 3(1) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following definitions:
	“‘Act of 1956’ means the Opticians Act 1956 ;
	‘afocal goggles’ or ‘afocal sunglasses’ means goggles or sunglasses containing lenses with no optical power;
	‘contact lenses’ includes any device, designed to be worn in contact with the ocular surface, for the correction of vision, for the provision of a decorative or cosmetic effect, for a therapeutic purpose, or for any other reason, and regardless of the optical properties or the absence of optical properties of the device;
	‘new name’, in relation to a registration board referred to in section 26(1), means the most recent name (if any) that the board has been given pursuant to regulations under section 4;
	‘ready-made reading spectacles’ means spectacles that have 2 single vision lenses each of which has the same positive spherical power not exceeding 4 dioptres and the purpose of which is to relieve the condition known as presbyopia;
	‘relevant day’ means the day on which section 2 of the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 is commenced;
	‘relevant medical disability’, in relation to a person seeking registration as a member of a designated profession, or who is a registrant of that profession, means a physical or mental disability of the person (including addiction to alcohol or drugs) which may impair his or her ability to practise that profession or a particular aspect thereof;
	‘spectacles’ includes—
	(a) contact lenses,
	(b) pince-nez, and
	(c) monocles,
	but does not include—
	(i) afocal goggles or similar articles,
	(ii) afocal sunglasses or similar articles, or
	(iii) ready-made reading spectacles;”.
		Amendment of section 4 of Principal Act
6. Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended—
	(a) in subsection (1) —
	(i) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (b):
	“(ba) dispensing optician;”,
	(ii) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (d):
	“(da) optometrist;”,
	and
	(iii) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (i):
	“(ia) radiation therapist;”,
	(b) by substituting the following subsections for subsection (5):
	“(5) Regulations under this section shall, in relation to a profession designated in the regulations, either—
	(a) (i) subject to subsection (5A), include provision for the establishment of a registration board for that profession, and
	(ii) specify the name by which the registration board is to be known,
	or
	(b) specify—
	(i) the name (or, if applicable, the new name) of the registration board referred to in section 26(1) that shall be the registration board for that profession, and
	(ii) that, in order to take account of the fact referred to in subparagraph (i), from the date on which the first appointment under section 28A(4) or (5), as the case may be, takes effect, the registration board referred to in that subparagraph—
	(I) is to cease to be known by the name (or, if applicable, the new name) it had immediately before that date, and
	(II) shall be known by the new name specified for it in the regulations.
	(5A) Regulations under this section may establish one registration board for 2 or more professions designated in the regulations.”,
	and
	(c) in subsection (7), by inserting “(whether effected by virtue of an amendment to subsection (1) or by regulations under this section)” after “number of designated professions”.
		Amendment of section 9 of Principal Act
7. Section 9 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (7):
	“(8) The Council shall elect a deputy chairperson of the Council from amongst its members in accordance with Schedule 1.”
		Amendment of section 11 of Principal Act
8. Section 11 of the Principal Act is amended—
	(a) in subsection (1), by substituting the following paragraphs for paragraph (b):
	“(b) act as registrar of each registration board,
	(ba) perform any other functions that may be delegated by the Council or a registration board, and”,
	and
	(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (3):
	“(4) If...