asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he is now in a position to state when it is proposed to make an Order, under Section 2 of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945, bringing Part VIII of that Act into force; whether he is aware that the delay in bringing Part VIII of this Act into force will have the effect of prejudicing the position of officers and servants of mental hospital committees who will retire on pension in the near future; and whether he will say what is the cause of the delay in making the Order.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mental Treatment Act, 1945.
As stated in my reply to a question by Deputy Everett on the 5th December last the provisions of Part VIII of the Mental Treatment Act cannot be applied until the whole Act is brought into operation. Before that is done extensive regulations governing the exercise of the powers, duties and functions of mental hospital authorities must be made. The preparation of these regulations is being expedited.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary give any general estimation as to when we might expect Part VIII to come into force? He is aware that until that Part of the Act comes into force existing officials may suffer certain disabilities in so far as they are not able to retire under the provisions of the new Act.
As I have already told the Deputy, I am doing everything possible to expedite the preparation of the regulations. It will be a considerable time—it might be next October or November—before the Act will be in operation. It ought not to be any longer than that anyway.