UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT, 1923

AN ACT TO AMEND THE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACTS, 1920 TO 1922. [11th June, 1923.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Interpretation of references to previous Acts.

1.—In this Act—

the expression “Principal Act” means the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920;

the expression “Act No. 2 of 1921” means the Unemployment Insurance (No. 2) Act, 1921; and

the expression “Act of 1922” means the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1922.

2 Termination of fourth special period.

2.—(1) So much of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Act of 1922 as provides that the fourth special period established by that sub-section shall terminate on the 1st day of July, 1923, is hereby repealed.

• (2) The said fourth special period shall terminate—

• (a) on the 16th day of May, 1923, in respect of every person who shall on or before that date have received all the benefit authorized to be paid to him in the fourth special period;

• (b) on the 6th day of June, 1923, in respect of every person who shall, after the 16th day of May, 1923, and on or before the 6th day of June, 1923, have received all the benefit authorized to be paid to him during the fourth special period;

• (c) on the 1st day of July, 1923, in respect of every other person.

• (3) Section 11 of the Principal Act shall apply to every question which shall arise as to whether the fourth special period has or has not terminated in any particular case as fully as if such questions were specifically mentioned in that section.

3 Calculation of amount of benefit.

3.—(1) For the purpose of determining the amount of benefit to which, having regard to the proportion of benefit to contributions fixed by paragraph 3 of the Second Schedule to the Principal Act, any person is entitled, but for no other purpose—

• (a) no account shall, after the termination of the fourth special period, be taken of any benefit which may have been received by such person between the 7th day of November, 1920, and the commencement of the first benefit year; and

• (b) during the first benefit year each of the total number of contributions actually paid in respect of such person after deducting from that total five contributions in respect of each week's benefit received by such person before the 8th day of November, 1920, shall be treated as equivalent to three contributions or such lesser number of contributions (not being less than one) as the Minister may from time to time prescribe by regulations made for the purpose.

• (2) So much of sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Act of 1922 as is inconsistent with the foregoing sub-section is hereby repealed.

4 Commencement and termination of benefit years.

4.—The first benefit year shall be the period beginning on the day next following the day on which the fourth special period shall terminate under this Act and ending on the 17th day of October, 1923, and the second benefit year shall be the period beginning on the 18th day of October, 1923, and ending on the 15th day of October, 1924, and every subsequent benefit year shall be the period beginning on the day next following the day on which the preceding benefit year expired and ending on the Wednesday nearest to the 16th day of October in the next following calendar year.

5 Certain enactments not to operate during first benefit year.

5.—The following enactments shall not operate or have effect during the first benefit year, that is to say—

• (a) condition (i) of sub-section (1) of section 7 of the Principal Act;

• (b) sub-section (4) of section 8 of the Principal Act.

6 Amendments of Schedules to the Principal Act.

6.—(1) The following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph (b) of Part I. of the First Schedule to the Principal Act:—

• “(b) Employment under such a contract as aforesaid as master or a member of the crew of any ship registered in Saorstát Eireann or of a Saorstát Eireann or British ship or vessel (not being a ship registered in Great Britain or Northern Ireland) of which the owner or, if there is more than one owner, the managing owner or manager resides or has his principal place of business in Saorstát Eireann.”

• (2) The following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph (c) of Part II. of the First Schedule to the Principal Act:—

• “(c) Employment in the military service of Saorstát Eireann.”

• (3) The following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph 2 of the Second Schedule to the Principal Act:—

“2. No person shall receive unemployment benefit for more than fifteen weeks during the first benefit year nor for more than twenty-six weeks during any subsequent benefit year, nor at any time in respect of any period less than one day.”

• (4) The following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph 5 of the Second Schedule to the Principal Act:—

“5. A period of unemployment shall not be deemed to commence until the date on which the insured contributor makes application in the prescribed manner for unemployment benefit:

Provided that regulations may be made under this Act for allowing some earlier date to be substituted for the date of application in any case in which good cause is shown for delay in making the application.”

7 Maintenance of soldiers in insurance.

7.—(1) For the purpose of retaining in insurance soldiers enlisted on short service who, before enlistment, were normally employed in an insurable occupation the Minister for Defence shall, out of monies to be provided by the Oireachtas, pay to the Minister for the credit of the Unemployment Fund such contributions for each person to whom this section applies as are necessary to secure that there shall be not less than twelve contributions to the credit of such person in respect of each insurance year during which or part of which, such person has been a person to whom this section applies.

• (2) The sums to be paid in each year by the Minister for Defence to the Minister under this section shall be ascertained and paid at such times and in such manner as may be agreed between the Minister for Defence and the Minister.

• (3) This section applies to every person enlisted in the military forces of Saorstát Eireann for any period not exceeding twelve months or enlisted before 1st May, 1923, for a period of service which terminates on or before 1st May, 1924, who at the date of enlistment has had paid in respect of him under the Unemployment Insurance Acts either twenty contributions at any time, or ten contributions since the 8th day of November, 1920.

8 Advances by the Minister for Finance.

8.—(1) The Minister for Finance may, out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof, advance any sums required for the purpose of discharging the liabilities of the Unemployment Fund under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1922, as amended by this Act, and for the purpose of providing the sums to be so advanced the Minister for Finance may borrow money in such manner as he may think proper.

• (2) Any sums advanced under the foregoing sub-section, together with interest thereon (if any) at such rate as may be fixed by the Minister for Finance, shall be charged on and be re-payable out of the Unemployment Fund.

• (3) The principal and interest of any securities issued by the Minister for Finance for the purpose of borrowing under this section and the expenses incurred in connection with the issue of such securities shall be charged on the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

9 Recovery of sums improperly received by way of benefit.

9.—(1) Where any person is liable to repay to the Unemployment Fund any sum received by him by way of benefit and does not show that such sum was received by him in good faith and without knowledge that he was not entitled thereto, such sum may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovery, be recovered by means of deductions from any benefit to which such person is or thereafter becomes entitled under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1922, as amended by this Act.

• (2) Section 11 of the Principal Act shall apply to every question which shall arise as to whether a person is or is not liable to have a deduction made under this section from any such benefit as aforesaid as fully as if such questions were specifically mentioned in that section.

10 Certain powers in respect of Special Schemes.

10.—(1) For the purpose of securing that like rates of benefit shall be payable under any Special Scheme made under section 18 of the Principal Act as are payable under this Act, and that the benefits under such Special Scheme shall otherwise be not less favourable than those provided by the general provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1922, as amended by this Act, but for no other purpose, the Minister may, by Order made after consultation with the body charged with the administration of such Special Scheme, alter the terms and provisions of any such Special Scheme in such manner as shall appear to the Minister to be necessary to carry out the purpose aforesaid.

• (2) Wherever any Special Scheme made under section 18 of the Principal Act and applies to or includes persons employed in Saorstát Eireann as well as persons employed elsewhere, the Minister may by Order exclude from the application of such Special Scheme persons employed in Saorstát Eireann, and thereupon every person so excluded shall become subject to the general provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1922, as amended by this Act in such manner as shall be prescribed by such Order.

11 Modification of section 17 of Principal Act.

11.—Notwithstanding anything in any Act, it shall not be necessary for the Minister to require any society or other association to which section 17 of the Principal Act applies to make, before the end of the first benefit year, any greater provision for unemployment benefit than such society or association could have been required to make under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of the said section 17 as originally enacted.

12 Repeal.

12.—Sub-section (1) of Section 6 of Act No. 2 of 1921 is hereby repealed.

13 Definition of Minister.

13.—In this Act the expression “Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce.

14 Short Title and Construction.

14.—This Act may be cited as the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1923, and shall be construed as one with the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1922, and those Acts and this Act may be cited- together as the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1923.