Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act , 1965

1 Interpretation.

1.—In this Act—

“the Acts” means the Unemployment Assistance Acts, 1933 to 1964;

“the Act of 1933” means the Unemployment Assistance Act, 1933;

“the Act of 1935” means the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act, 1935;

“the Act of 1952” means the Social Welfare Act, 1952;

“the Act of 1960” means the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1960;

“the Act of 1962” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1962;

“the Act of 1963” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1963;

“the Act of 1964” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1964;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Social Welfare.

2 Increase of rates of old age pensions.

2.—(1) Section 77 of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution of “one hundred and fifty-six pounds” for “one hundred and forty-three pounds” in each place where it occurs in subsection (2) (inserted by the Act of 1964),

(b) the substitution of “one hundred and forty-three pounds” for “one hundred and thirty pounds” in that subsection, and

(c) the substitution for the Table to that subsection of the following Table:

“TABLE

	Weekly Rates
Means of claimant or pensioner	Claimant or pensioner, no qualified child		Claimant or pensioner, one qualified child		Claimant or pensioner, two or more qualified children
(1)	(2)		(3)		(4)
	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.
Where the yearly means of the claimant or pensioner as duly calculated—
do not exceed £26 5s. 0d.	47	6	57	6	67	6	}	Plus, where there are more than two qualified children, five shillings for each qualified child in excess of two.
exceed £26 5s. 0d. but do not exceed £52 10s. 0d.	42	6	52	6	62	6
exceed £52 10s. 0d. but do not exceed £65 10s. 0d.	37	6	47	6	57	6
exceed £65 10s. 0d. but do not exceed £78 10s. 0d.	32	6	42	6	52	6
exceed £78 10s. 0d. but do not exceed £104 15s. 0d.	27	6	37	6	47	6
exceed £104 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £117 15s. 0d.	22	6	32	6	42	6
exceed £117 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £130 15s. 0d.	17	6	27	6	37	6
exceed £130 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £143 15s. 0d.	12	6	22	6	32	6
exceed £143 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £156 15s. 0d.	7	6	17	6	27	6

”.

(2) Section 8 of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1924, is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (1) of “one hundred and fifty-six pounds” for “one hundred and forty-three pounds” (inserted by the Act of 1964).

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall come into operation on the 1st day of August, 1965.

3 Increase of rates of unemployment assistance.

3.—(1) In the Act of 1933, for the Schedule thereto inserted by section 3 of the Act of 1964, there is hereby substituted the following:

“SCHEDULE

Classes of persons to whom the rates of unemployment assistance set out in this Schedule are applicable	Rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any urban area	Rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any other place
	per week	per week
Person without a dependant	34s. 0d.	28s. 0d.
Person with an adult dependant	62s. 6d.	54s. 6d.
Person with an adult dependant and one child dependant	72s. 6d.	64s. 6d.
Person with an adult dependant and two or more child dependants	82s. 6d. plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 5s. for each child dependant in excess of two.	74s. 6d. plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 5s. for each child dependant in excess of two.
Person with one child dependant	44s. 0d.	38s. 0d.
Person with two or more child dependants	54s. 0d. plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 5s. for each child dependant in excess of two.	48s. 0d. plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 5s. for each child dependant in excess of two.

”.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 1st day of August, 1965.

4 Increase of rates of widows' (non-contributory) pensions.

4.—(1) Section 20 (inserted by the Act of 1952) of the Act of 1935 is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution of “two hundred and eight pounds and fifteen shillings” for “one hundred and ninety-five pounds and fifteen shillings” (inserted by the Act of 1964) in paragraph (b) (inserted by the Act of 1962) of subsection (1),

(b) the substitution of “two hundred and twenty-one pounds and fifteen shillings” for “two hundred and eight pounds and fifteen shillings” (inserted by the Act of 1964) in subparagraph (i) of the said paragraph (b),

(c) the substitution of “one hundred and ninety-five pounds and fifteen shillings” for “one hundred and eighty-two pounds and fifteen shillings” (inserted by the Act of 1964), “two hundred and eight pounds and fifteen shillings” for “one hundred and ninety-five pounds and fifteen shillings” (inserted by the Act of 1964) and “one hundred and ninety-five pounds, fifteen shillings and one penny” for “one hundred and eighty-two pounds, fifteen shillings and one penny” (inserted by the Act of 1964) in subparagraph (ii) of the said paragraph (b), and

(d) the substitution for Table B of the following Table :

“TABLE B

Weekly Rates of Widows' (Non-Contributory) Pensions

Means of Widow	Widow, no qualified child		Widow, one qualified child		Widow, two or more qualified children
(1)	(2)		(3)		(4)
	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.
Where the yearly means of the widow, as duly calculated—
do not exceed £26 5s. 0d.	46	0	56	0	66	0	}	Plus, where there are more than two qualified children, five shillings for each qualified child in excess of two.
exceed £26 5s. 0d. but do not exceed £52 10s. 0d.	41	0	51	0	61	0
exceed £52 10s. 0d. but do not exceed £65 10s. 0d.	36	0	46	0	56	0
exceed £65 10s. 0d. but do not exceed £78 10s. 0d.	31	0	41	0	51	0
exceed £78 10s. 0d. but do not exceed £104 15s. 0d.	26	0	36	0	46	0
exceed £104 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £117 15s. 0d.	21	0	31	0	41	0
exceed £117 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £130 15s. 0d.	16	0	26	0	36	0
exceed £130 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £143 15s. 0d.	11	0	21	0	31	0
exceed £143 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £156 15s. 0d.	6	0	16	0	26	0
exceed £156 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £169 15s. 0d.	No pension		11	0	21	0
exceed £169 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £182 15s. 0d.	No pension		6	0	16	0
exceed £182 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £195 15s. 0d.	No pension		No pension		11	0
exceed £195 15s. 0d. but do not exceed £208 15s. 0d.	No pension		No pension		6	0

”.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 1st day of August, 1965.

5 Increase of rates of orphans' (non-contributory) pensions.

5.—(1) In the Table to section 25 of the Act of 1935, being the section inserted by section 106 of the Act of 1952, for the rates (inserted by the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1960) set forth therein, there are hereby substituted the rates set forth in the Table to this section.

“TABLE

Weekly Rates of Orphans' (Non-contributory) Pensions

Means of orphan	Weekly rates
	s.	d.
Where the yearly means of the orphan as duly calculated—
do not exceed £6 12s. 6d.	20	0
exceed £6 12s. 6d. but do not exceed £13 2s. 6d.	16	0
exceed £13 2s. 6d. but do not exceed £19 12s. 6d.	12	0
exceed £19 12s. 6d. but do not exceed £26 5s. 0d.	8	0
exceed £26 5s. 0d. but do not exceed £32 17s. 6d.	4	0
exceed £32 17s. 6d.	Nopension

”.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 1st day of August, 1965.

6 Remuneration limit in respect of insured persons.

6.—(1) The First Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph 1 (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1958) of Part II of the following paragraph:

“1. Employment, otherwise than by way of manual labour, at a rate of remuneration exceeding in value twelve hundred pounds a year, or in cases where such employment involves part-time service only, at a rate of remuneration which is equivalent to a rate of remuneration exceeding twelve hundred pounds a year for whole-time service.”

(2) (a) The Government may from time to time by order vary the rates of remuneration specified in the said paragraph 1.

(b) The Government may from time to time by order amend or revoke an order under this subsection (including an order under this paragraph).

(c) Where an order is proposed to be made under this subsection, a draft thereof shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.

7 Crediting of contributions.

7.—The Minister may provide by regulations under this section for crediting contributions, in respect of such periods as the Minister may specify in the regulations, to an insured person who, on the commencement of subsections (1) and (2) of section 6 of this Act, becomes by virtue of that section an employed contributor and who by virtue of paragraph 1 of Part II of the First Schedule to the Act of 1952 was not immediately before such commencement an employed contributor subject to the condition that the contributions to be so credited shall not be reckonable for the purposes of widow's (contributory) pension or old age (contributory) pension and to such other conditions (if any) as the Minister may specify in the regulations.

8 Calculation of means of certain persons for purposes of unemployment assistance.

8.—(1) Subject to the provisions of sections 9 and 10 of this Act, the yearly value of any advantage accruing to a person who is resident in an area standing specified for the time being in an order under subsection (3) of this section from the use of land which is personally used or enjoyed by the person shall, for the purposes of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 13 of the Act of 1933, be deemed to be an amount calculated at the rate of twenty pounds for every pound of the rateable valuation of the land and at a proportionate rate for any portion of a pound of the valuation.

(2) (a) The Government may from time to time by order vary the rate specified in subsection (1) of this section.

(b) The Government may from time to time by order revoke or amend an order under this subsection, including an order under this paragraph.

(3) (a) The Government may from time to time by order specify areas for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.

(b) The Government may from time to time by order revoke or amend an order under this subsection, including an order under this paragraph.

(4) Every order made by the Government under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

9 Application of alternative method of calculation of means of certain persons for purposes of unemployment assistance.

9.—If, after consultation with the Minister for Agriculture and having regard to special circumstances, it appears to the Minister necessary so to do for the purpose of preventing the occurrence of inequalities or injustices, he may, notwithstanding the provisions of section 8 of this Act, direct that the yearly value of any advantage accruing to a person who is resident in an area standing specified for the time being in an order under subsection (3) of that section from the use of land which is personally used or enjoyed by the person shall, for the purposes of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 13 of the Act of 1933, be calculated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (3) of Regulation 3 of the Unemployment Assistance (Calculation of Means Regulations) Order, 1934.

10 Special provision for limited period in relation to calculation of means of certain persons for purposes of unemployment assistance.

10.—(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 8 of this Act, during the period of five years commencing on the 3rd day of January, 1966—

(a) where immediately before the 3rd day of January, 1966, a person—

(i) is the holder of a qualification certificate under the Acts,

(ii) is the occupier of land which is personally used or enjoyed by him,

(iii) is resident in an area standing specified in an order under subsection (3) of section 8 of this Act,

the yearly value of any advantage accruing to such person from the use of such land shall, for the purposes of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 13 of the Act of 1933, be either the value calculated in accordance with section 8 of this Act or the value calculated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (3) of Regulation 3 of the Unemployment Assistance (Calculation of Means Regulations) Order, 1934, whichever is the less, and

(b) subject to the provisions of section 9 of this Act, whenever at any time the yearly value aforesaid when calculated in accordance with the provisions of the said paragraph (3) equals or exceeds such yearly value when calculated in accordance with the provisions of section 8 of this Act, such yearly value shall, for the purposes of the said paragraph (c), be calculated in accordance with the provisions of the said section 8 and shall thereafter continue to be so calculated.

(2) Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply in relation to a person who—

(a) is the holder of a qualification certificate under the Acts immediately before the 3rd day of January, 1966,

(b) received the certificate before the beginning of the year ending on the 3rd day of January, 1966, and

(c) has not, during the year ending on the 3rd day of January, 1966, applied for or been in receipt of unemployment assistance under the Acts.

11 Amendment of section 8 of Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1960.

11.—Section 8 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1960, is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) Where the pension of a person is appropriated under subsection (1) of this section, the person in charge, within the meaning of the aforesaid Act, of the place where the person is detained, or, if the person is detained in the Dundrum Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum, within the meaning of the aforesaid Act, the Resident Physician and Governor thereof may, in his absolute discretion, do either or both of the following, that is to say:

(a) pay to the person for his own use such portion (not exceeding one pound per week) of the pension as he considers proper in the particular circumstances, if, in his opinion, the person is capable of making proper use of the portion so paid,

(b) make out of the pension all or part of such of the following payments as the person in charge thinks proper in the circumstances to make and fall to be made by the person, that is to say, rent, ground rent, rates (including water rates), land purchase annuities, payments in respect of charges or mortgages, cottage purchase annuities, instalments payable under hire purchase or credit sale agreements and insurance or assurance premiums.”

12 Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1952.

12.—(1) Section 6 of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by—