(MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT, 2001

Amendment of Health Act, 1970.

Amendment of Health Act, 1970.

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1.—(1) The Health Act, 1970, is hereby amended—

(a) in section 45, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5)

“(5A) A person who is not less than 70 years of age and is ordinarily resident in the State shall have full eligibility for the services under this Part and, notwithstanding subsection (6), references in this Part to persons with full eligibility shall be construed as including references to such persons.”,

and

(b) by substitution of the following section for section 59

Amendment of Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Act, 1988.

Amendment of Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Act, 1988.

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2.—The Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Act, 1988, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 3

Amendment of Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990.

Amendment of Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990.

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3.—The Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990, is hereby amended—

(a) in section 6, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (6)

“(7) Regulations under this section may—

(a) make different provision for different classes of nursing homes, and

(b) prescribe different requirements for different classes of nursing homes.”,

and

(b) in section 7, by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2)

“(2) (a) The Minister may by regulations specify the amounts that may be paid by health boards under this section and such amounts may be specified by reference to specified degrees of dependency, specified means or circumstances of dependent persons or such other matters as the Minister considers appropriate.

(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), regulations under this section may make provision in relation to—

(i) the making of applications to health boards for payments under this section,

(ii) the particulars to be contained in applications for such payments and the procedure for and in relation to such applications,

(iii) the furnishing by applicants for payments under this section of information specified or requested by health boards in relation to the means and dependency of persons in respect of whom the payments are being sought and the holding of interviews by officers of health boards with such persons or persons acting on their behalf for the purposes of obtaining such information,

(iv) the assessment by health boards of the degree of dependency and the means and circumstances of persons in respect of whom payments are being sought,

(v) the periodic review by each health board of payments made by it under this section and the procedure for and in relation to such reviews,

(vi) the specification of the conditions and circumstances for the making of payments under this section and for their reduction, withdrawal or discontinuance,

(vii) the furnishing by registered proprietors or persons in charge of nursing homes of information in regard to the death or discharge of persons in receipt of payments under this section,

(viii) the specification of the conditions and circumstances for the recovery by health boards of payments made by them under this section,

(ix) the specification of the forms of maintenance for which payments can be made by health boards, and

(x) appeals to an officer of a health board against a decision of the health board to refuse, withdraw or discontinue a payment under this section and the procedure for and in relation to such appeals.

(c) In paragraph (b), references to a health board include references to the Eastern Regional Health Authority and an Area Health Board (within the meaning of the Health (Eastern Regional Health Authority) Act, 1999).”,

and

(c) by the substitution of the following section for section 14

“Laying of regulations in draft before Houses of Oireachtas.

“Laying of regulations in draft before Houses of Oireachtas.

14.—Whenever a regulation is proposed to be made under this Act a draft of the regulation shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulation shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.”.

14.—Whenever a regulation is proposed to be made under this Act a draft of the regulation shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulation shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.”.

Annual report to Houses of Oireachtas in relation to suicide.

Annual report to Houses of Oireachtas in relation to suicide.

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4.—The Minister for Health and Children shall, not later than 9 months after the end of each year beginning with the year 2002, make a report to each House of the Oireachtas on the measures taken by health boards during the preceding year to prevent suicides.

Short title, collective citation and commencement.

Short title, collective citation and commencement.

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5.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2001.

(2) The Health Acts, 1947 to 1999, and this Act, except in so far as it relates to the Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Act, 1988, may be cited together as the Health Acts, 1947 to 2001.

(3) The Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Act, 1988, and this Act, in so far as it relates to that Act, may be cited together as the Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Acts, 1988 and 2001.

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