Health Insurance Act, 1994

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SCHEDULE

The Health Insurance Authority

Section 20 .

1. The Authority shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and, with the consent of the Minister, to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land or to acquire, hold and dispose of any other property.

2. The Authority shall consist of 5 members, who shall be appointed to be members of the Authority by the Minister and of whom one shall be the chairman of the Authority and the others shall be ordinary members thereof.

3. (1) The Minister may as occasion requires appoint one of the members of the Authority to be the chairman of the Authority.

(2) Where the chairman of the Authority ceases during his or her term of office as chairman to be a member of the Authority, he or she shall also then cease to be chairman of the Authority.

4. The chairman of the Authority may at any time resign his or her office by letter addressed to the Minister.

5. The Minister may at any time remove the chairman of the Authority from office.

6. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the chairman of the Authority shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine.

7. The chairman of the Authority shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of the Authority, such remuneration (if any) and allowances for expenses incurred by him or her (if any) as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

8. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, each ordinary member of the Authority shall hold office on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine.

9. (1) The term of office of the chairman of the Authority shall be 5 years.

(2) The term of office of an ordinary member of the Authority shall be such period not exceeding 5 years as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determine when appointing him or her.

10. (1) If a member of the Authority dies, resigns, becomes disqualified or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of the Authority to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned and the person so appointed shall be appointed in the same manner as the member of the Authority who occasioned the casual vacancy.

(2) A person appointed to be a member of the Authority by virtue of this paragraph shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member occasioning the vacancy he or she is appointed to fill and shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of the Authority.

11. A member of the Authority whose term of office expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of the Authority.

12. The Minister may at any time remove an ordinary member of the Authority from office.

13. An ordinary member of the Authority may resign his or her office as a member by letter addressed to the Minister.

14. A member of the Authority shall be disqualified for holding and shall cease to hold office if he or she is adjudged bankrupt or makes a composition or arrangement with creditors or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to a term of imprisonment or penal servitude.

15. Each ordinary member of the Authority shall be paid, out of moneys at the disposal of the Authority, such remuneration (if any) and allowances for expenses incurred by him or her (if any) as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, sanction.

16. The Authority shall hold such and so many meetings as it considers appropriate for the performance of its functions.

17. The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Authority.

18. The quorum for a meeting of the Authority shall be 3.

19. At a meeting of the Authority—

(a) the chairman of the Authority shall, if present, be the chairman of the meeting,

(b) if and so long as the chairman of the Authority is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of the Authority who are present shall choose one of their number to be the chairman of the meeting.

20. The chairman of the Authority, and each ordinary member of the Authority present at a meeting thereof shall have a vote.

21. Every question at a meeting of the Authority shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

22. The Authority may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members.

23. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the Authority shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business of the Authority.

24. The Authority shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, provide itself with a seal.

25. The seal of the Authority shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman of the Authority or some other member thereof authorised by the Authority to act in that behalf and by the signature of an officer of the Authority authorised by the Authority to act in that behalf.

26. Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Authority and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Authority and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with paragraph 25) of the Authority shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown.

27. Any contract or instrument which, if entered into or executed by a person not being a body corporate, would not require to be under seal may be entered into or executed on behalf of the Authority by any person generally or specially authorised by the Authority in that behalf.