Social Welfare Act , 1978

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

“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 1961” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1961;

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

“the Act of 1965” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1965;

“the Act of 1966” means the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966;

“the Act of 1969” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1969;

“the Act of 1975” means the Social Welfare Act, 1975;

“the Act of 1976” means the Social Welfare Act, 1976;

“the Act of 1977” means the Social Welfare Act, 1977;

“the Regulations of 1977” means the Social Welfare (Variation of Rates of Payments) Regulations, 1977 (S.I. No. 313 of 1977).

2 Old age pensions (new rates).

2.—(1) Section 77 of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) (inserted by the Act of 1977 as varied by the Regulations of 1977) of the following subsection:—

“(2) (a) A pension shall, in lieu of any other rate, be—

(i) where the weekly means of the claimant or pensioner do not exceed £16—at the rate set out in Table A to this subsection,

(ii) where the weekly means of the claimant or pensioner exceed £16—at the rate at which, in accordance with that Table, the pension would be payable if the weekly means of the claimant or pensioner exceeded £15 but did not exceed £16, less £1.40 for each amount (if any) of £1 by which those weekly means exceed £16, any fraction of £1 in those weekly means being treated for this purpose as £1; provided that if the rate calculated pursuant to this paragraph at which, but for this proviso, the pension would be payable is less than 50 new pence, the pension shall not be payable,

(iii) where the pensioner has attained the age of 80 years—at the rate of pension payable to him in accordance with subparagraph (i) or (ii) of this paragraph plus £1.05,

and the rate of pension so determined shall be increased, where the pensioner is one of a married couple, by the amount set out in Table B to this subsection—

(A) if the pensioner is a man, in respect of his wife if he is living with or wholly or mainly maintaining her and she is not in receipt of pension under the Acts or any benefit or pension under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978, or

(B) if the pensioner is a woman, in respect of her husband if she is wholly or mainly maintaining him and he is incapable of self-support by reason of physical or mental infirmity and is not in receipt of pension under the Acts or any benefit or pension under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, weekly means shall be the yearly means divided by fifty-two.

TABLE A

	Weekly Rate
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)
	£	£	£
Where the weekly means of the claimant or pensioner—
do not exceed £6	13.60	17.25	20.90	}	Plus, where there are more than two qualified children, £2.75 for each qualified child in excess of two.
exceed £6 but do not exceed£7	12.20	15.85	19.50
exceed £7but do not exceed£8	10.80	14.45	18.10
exceed £8 but do not exceed£9	9.40	13.05	16.70
exceed £9 but do not exceed£10	8.00	11.65	15.30
exceed £10 but do not exceed£11	6.60	10.25	13.90
exceed £11 but do not exceed£12	5.20	8.85	12.50
exceed £12 but do not exceed£13	3.80	7.45	11.10
exceed £13 but do not exceed£14	2.40	6.05	9.70
exceed £14 but do not exceed£15	1.00	4.65	8.30
exceed £15 but do not exceed£16	no pension	3.25	6.90

TABLE B

Means of claimant or pensioner	Weekly rate of increase
Where the weekly means of the claimant or pensioner—	£
do not exceed £6	6.75
exceed £6 but do not exceed £7	6.00
exceed £7 but do not exceed £8	5.35
exceed £8 but do not exceed £9	4.55
exceed £9 but do not exceed £10	3.80
exceed £10 but do not exceed £11	3.15
exceed £11 but do not exceed £12	2.35
exceed £12 but do not exceed £13	1.65
exceed £13 but do not exceed £14	0.95
exceed £14	Nil

”

(2) Section 77 (5) (inserted by the Act of 1969) of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution of “seven pounds, sixty new pence” for “six pounds, ninety new pence” (inserted by the Regulations of 1977).

(3) Section 77 (6) (inserted by the Act of 1977) of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution of “£1.10” for “£1”.

(4) This section shall come into operation on the 7th day of April, 1978.

3 Old age pensions (modification of residence condition).

3.—The Old Age Pensions Act, 1932, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following for section 2 (1) (inserted by the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1976):

“(1) In lieu of the second statutory condition contained in paragraph (2) (repealed by this Act) of section 2 of the Act of 1908, it is hereby enacted that it shall be a condition for the receipt of an old age pension by any person that he shall satisfy the pension authorities that he has had his residence in the State for an aggregate period of not less than 15 years.”.

4 Unemployment assistance (new rates).

4.—(1) In the Act of 1933, Schedule A to this section is hereby substituted for the Schedule to that Act inserted by the Act of 1977 as varied by the Regulations of 1977.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section—

(a) Schedule B to this section shall apply in the case of a person for whom the yearly value of any advantage accruing to him from the use of land, the rateable valuation of which exceeds £10 but does not exceed £15 and which is personally used or enjoyed by him, is calculated in accordance with section 8 of the Act of 1965 and, accordingly, the rates of unemployment assistance to be taken into account in the case of such a person for the purposes of section 10 (3) (c) (inserted by the Act of 1962) of the Act of 1933 shall be those specified in that Schedule, and

(b) the Schedule to the Act of 1933 inserted by the Act of 1975, as varied by the Social Welfare (Variation of Rates of Payments) Regulations, 1975 (S.I. No. 215 of 1975), shall continue to apply in the case of a person for whom the yearly value of any advantage accruing to him from the use of land, the rateable valuation of which exceeds £15 and which is personally used or enjoyed by him, is calculated in accordance with section 8 of the Act of 1965 and, accordingly, the rates of unemployment assistance to be taken into account in the case of such a person for the purposes of section 10 (3) (c) (inserted by the Act of 1962) of the Act of 1933 shall be those specified in that Schedule as so varied.

(3) This section shall come into operation on the 29th day of March, 1978.

SCHEDULE A

Classes of persons to whom the rates of unemployment assistance set out in this Schedule are applicable	Weekly rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any urban area	Weekly rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any other place
Person without a dependant	£11.75	£11.35
Person with an adult dependant	£20.30	£19.70
Person with an adult dependant and one child dependant	£23.95	£23.35
Person with an adult dependant and two or more child dependants	£27.60	£27.00
	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.75 for each child dependant in excess of two.	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.75 for each child dependant in excess of two.
Person with one child dependant	£15.55	£15.15
Person with two or more child dependants	£19.20	£18.80
	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.75 for each child dependant in excess of two.	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.75 for each child dependant in excess of two.

SCHEDULE B

Classes of persons to whom the rates of unemployment assistance set out in this Schedule are applicable	Weekly rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any urban area	Weekly rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any other place
Person without a dependant	£9.80	£9.40
Person with an adult dependant	£16.90	£16.40
Person with an adult dependant and one child dependant	£19.90	£19.40
Person with an adult dependant and two or more child dependants	£22.90	£22.40
	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.30 for each child dependant in excess of two.	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.30 for each child dependant in excess of two.
Person with one child dependant	£12.95	£12.55
Person with two or more child dependants	£15.95	£15.55
	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.30 for each child dependant in excess of two.	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, £2.30 for each child dependant in excess of two.

5 Unemployment assistance (removal of special conditions applying to certain women).

5.—(1) Section 15 (1) of the Act of 1933 is hereby amended by the deletion of paragraph (f).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of October, 1978.

6 Unemployment assistance (removal of special conditions applying to certain women for entitlement to qualification certificates).

6.—Section 10 (3) of the Act of 1933 is hereby amended by the deletion of paragraphs (e) and (f).

7 Widows' (non-contributory) pensions, deserted wife's allowance, social assistance allowance for unmarried mothers and prisoner's wife's allowance (new rates).

7.—(1) Section 20 (inserted by the Act of 1952) of the Act of 1935 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1) (inserted by the Act of 1977) as varied by the Regulations of 1977:

“(1) (a) A widow's (non-contributory) pension shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be—

(i) where the weekly means of the widow do not exceed £16—at the rate set out in Table B to this subsection, and

(ii) where the weekly means of the widow exceed £16—at the rate at which, in accordance with that Table, the pension would be payable to the widow if her weekly means exceeded £15 but did not exceed £16, less £1.40 for each amount (if any) of £1 by which those weekly means exceed £16, any fraction of £1 in those weekly means being treated for this purpose as £1; provided that if the rate calculated pursuant to this paragraph at which, but for this proviso, the pension would be payable is less than 50 new pence, the pension shall not be payable.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, weekly means shall be the yearly means divided by fifty-two.

TABLE B

Means of Widow	Widow, no qualified child	Widow, one qualified child	Widow, two or more qualified children
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Where the weekly means of the widow—	£	£	£
do not exceed £6	13.60	18.10	22.60	}	Plus, where there are more than two qualified children, £4.50 for each qualified child in excess of two.
exceed £6 but do not exceed £7	12.20	16.70	21.20
exceed £7 but do not exceed £8	10.80	15.30	19.80
exceed £8 but do not exceed £9	9.40	13.90	18.40
exceed £9 but do not exceed £10	8.00	12.50	17.00
exceed £10 but do not exceed £11	6.60	11.10	15.60
exceed £11 but do not exceed £12	5.20	9.70	14.20
exceed £12 but do not exceed £13	3.80	8.30	12.80
exceed £13 but do not exceed £14	2.40	6.90	11.40
exceed £14 but do not exceed £15	1.00	5.50	10.00
exceed £15 but do not exceed £16	no pension	4.10	8.60

”

(2) This section, in so far as it relates to widow's (non-contributory) pension, shall come into operation on the 7th day of April, 1978, and, in so far as it relates to deserted wife's allowance, social assistance allowance for unmarried mothers and prisoner's wife's allowance, on the 6th day of April, 1978.

8 Widows' (non-contributory) pensions (removal of two-year residence condition).

8.—(1) Section 29 (3) of the Act of 1935, as amended by the Act of 1961, is hereby repealed.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of April, 1978.

9 Orphans' (non-contributory) pensions (new rates).

9.—(1) Section 25 (inserted by the Social Welfare Act, 1973) of the Act of 1935 is hereby amended by the substitution for the Table (inserted by the Act of 1977 as varied by the Regulations of 1977) to subsection (1) of the Table to this section.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 7th day of April, 1978.

TABLE

Means of Orphan	Weekly Rates
Where the weekly means of the orphan—	£
do not exceed £1	8.85
exceed £1 but do not exceed £2	7.40
exceed £2 but do not exceed £3	5.90
exceed £3 but do not exceed £4	4.45
exceed £4 but do not exceed £5	3.00
exceed £5 but do not exceed £6	1.50
exceed £6	no pension

10 Single woman's allowance (new rates).

10.—(1) Section 8 of the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1974, is hereby amended by the substitution for the Table to that section (inserted by the Act of 1977 as varied by the Regulations of 1977) of the Table to this section.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1978.

TABLE

Means of Claimant or Beneficiary	Weekly Rate
Where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary	£
do not exceed £1	11.75
exceed £1 but do not exceed £2	10.35
exceed £2 but do not exceed £3	8.95
exceed £3 but do not exceed £4	7.55
exceed £4 but do not exceed £5	6.15
exceed £5 but do not exceed £6	4.75
exceed £6 but do not exceed £7	3.35
exceed £7 but do not exceed £8	1.95
exceed £8 but do not exceed £9	0.55
exceed £9	no allowance

11 Old age (care) allowance (new rate).

11.—(1) Section 21 (1) of the Social Welfare Act, 1970, is hereby amended by the substitution of “£7.60” for “£6.90” (inserted by the Regulations of 1977).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1978.

12 Supplementary welfare allowance (new rates).

12.—(1) The weekly amounts payable under section 10 of the Social Welfare (Supplementary Welfare Allowances) Act, 1975, and set out in the Table to subsection (1) of that section, as varied by the Social Welfare (Variation of Rates of Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (No. 2) Regulations, 1977 (S.I. No. 318 of 1977), shall be the amounts set out in the Table to this section.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 3rd day of April, 1978.

TABLE