A county council or local authority may make such arrangements as they think desirable for assisting in the prevention of blindness, and in particular for the treatment of persons ordinarily resident within their area who are suffering from any disease of, or injury to, the eyes.
Any expenses incurred under this section by a county council shall, if the Minister by order so directs, be defrayed as expenses for special county purposes charged on such part of the county as may be provided by the order, but any such order may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order.
For the purposes of this section, a person who becomes an inmate of a hospital or institution shall be deemed to continue to be ordinarily resident within the area within which he was ordinarily resident before he became an inmate of the hospital or institution.