Social Welfare Act , 1990

PART I Preliminary

1 Short title, construction and collective citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare Act, 1990.

(2) The Social Welfare Acts, 1981 to 1989, and this Act (other than section 15 and sections 25 to 30 of this Act and subsections (3), (4) and (5) of this section) shall be construed together as one and may be cited together as the Social Welfare Acts, 1981 to 1990.

(3) Section 25 of this Act and the Employers' Employment Contribution Scheme Acts, 1981 and 1988, may be cited together as the Employers' Employment Contribution Scheme Acts, 1981 to 1990.

(4) Sections 26, 27 and 29 of this Act and the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 1984, may be cited together as the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 1990.

(5) Section 28 of this Act and the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act, 1984, may be cited together as the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Acts, 1984 and 1990.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

“the Act of 1982” means the Social Welfare Act, 1982;

“the Act of 1988” means the Social Welfare Act, 1988;

“the Act of 1989” means the Social Welfare Act, 1989;

“the Principal Act” means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981.

PART II Increases

3 Social insurance benefits (new rates).

3.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I to IV (inserted by section 3 of the Act of 1989) of the Second Schedule thereto of the Parts set out in Schedule A to this Act.

(2) This section shall come into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment benefit, on the 19th day of July, 1990,

(b) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, maternity allowance, injury benefit, disablement gratuity and disablement pension, on the 23rd day of July, 1990,

(c) in so far as it relates to deserted wife's benefit, invalidity pension and retirement pension, on the 26th day of July, 1990, and

(d) in so far as it relates to death benefit under section 50, 51 or 52 of the Principal Act, old age (contributory) pension, widow's (contributory) pension and orphan's (contributory) allowance, on the 27th day of July, 1990.

4 Social assistance payments (new rates).

4.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I and III (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 1989) of the Fourth Schedule thereto of the Parts set out in Schedule B to this Act.

(2) This section shall come into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment assistance, on the 18th day of July, 1990,

(b) in so far as it relates to pre-retirement allowance, deserted wife's allowance, prisoner's wife's allowance, social assistance allowance, single woman's allowance, widower's (non-contributory) pension and deserted husband's allowance, on the 26th day of July, 1990,

(c) in so far as it relates to old age pension, blind pension, widow's (non-contributory) pension and orphan's (non-contributory) pension, on the 27th day of July, 1990,

(d) in so far as it relates to supplementary welfare allowance, on the 23rd day of July, 1990, and

(e) in so far as it relates to carer's allowance, on the commencement of Chapter 5B (inserted by section 17 of this Act) of the Principal Act.

5 Child benefit.

5.—(1) The Fourth Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Part IV (inserted by section 5 of the Act of 1989) of the following Part:

“PART IV

Amount for each of first four children	Amount for each child in excess of four
(1)	(2)
£15.80	£22.90

”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 2nd day of October, 1990.

6 Definition of “qualified child”.

6.—(1) Section 2 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for the definition of “qualified child” (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1989) of the following definition:

“‘qualified child’ means a person who is ordinarily resident in the State, is not detained in a reformatory or an industrial school, and—

(a) for the purposes of—

(i) sections 21 (2), 26A (1) and 32 (2),

(ii) section 44 (2) as it applies to injury benefit, and

(iii) section 139 (b) in the case of an applicant for unemployment assistance other than as referred to in paragraph (b),

is under the age of 18 years,

(b) for the purposes of—

(i) section 44 (2) as it applies to disablement pension,

(ii) sections 81 (2), 86 (2), 91 (2), 156B (1) (b), 161 (1) and 198I (1), and

(iii) section 139 (b) in the case of an applicant who, in any continuous period of unemployment as construed in accordance with section 135 (2), has been in receipt of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance for not less than 390 days—

(I) is under the age of 18 years, or

(II) is of or over the age of 18 years and under the age of 20 years, and is receiving full-time instruction by day at any university, college, school or other educational establishment,

(c) for the purposes of sections 50 (9), 95 (1), 103 (1), 178 (1), 195 (1), 196 (1), 197 (1), 198A, 198B and 198C (1)—

(i) is under the age of 18 years, or

(ii) is of or over the age of 18 years and under the age of 21 years, and is receiving full-time instruction by day at any university, college, school or other educational establishment;”.

(2) Section 161 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (1) (inserted by section 3 of the Act of 1982) of the following subsection:

“(1) The rate (in this Chapter referred to as the scheduled rate) of old age pension shall be the weekly rate set out in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule increased, where there is a qualified child or there are qualified children, by the appropriate amount set out in column (4) or (5) of that Part in respect of each qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or pensioner.”.

(3) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1990, except in so far as it relates to the definition of “qualified child” (inserted by subsection (1) of this section) in section 2 (1) of the Principal Act for the purposes of section 139 (b) of that Act it shall come into operation on the 29th day of August, 1990.

7 Pay-related social insurance contributions (increase in earnings ceiling).

7.—(1) Section 10 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in paragraph (c) (inserted by section 8 of the Act of 1989) of subsection (1) of “£18,600” for “£18,000”, and

(b) the substitution in paragraph (cc) (inserted by section 8 of the Act of 1989) of subsection (1) of “£17,300” for “£16,700”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1990.

8 Self-employment contributions (increase in earnings ceiling).

8.—(1) Section 17C (d) (inserted by section 11 of the Act of 1988) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of “£17,300” for “£16,700” (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 1989).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1990.

9 Exemption of employed contributors from payment of contributions.

9.—Section 10 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (8) (inserted by section 14 of the Social Welfare Act, 1983) of the following subsection:

“(9) (a) Where but for this subsection, an employment contribution would be payable by and in respect of an employed contributor at the rates specified in subsection (1) (b) increased by the amount specified in section 65 (2) (b), the employed contributor shall, subject to regulations, be exempted from the employment contribution payable under subsection (1) (b) (i) where his weekly reckonable earnings are below a prescribed amount.

(b) Regulations under paragraph (a) may in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing specify—

(i) the manner in which the amounts of weekly reckonable earnings are to be calculated for the purposes of that paragraph,

(ii) the manner in which the provisions of that paragraph are to be applied in the case of an employed contributor who is employed by two or more employers concurrently, and

(iii) the manner in which the provisions of that paragraph are to be applied in the case of an employed contributor remunerated other than on a weekly basis.

(c) An employer who adjusts the method of payment of reckonable earnings to an employed contributor who was employed in consecutive weeks in order to ensure that the employed contributor is exempted in any week from the employment contribution payable under subsection (1) (b) (i) by virtue of paragraph (a) and regulations made thereunder shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £10,000.”.

10 Exemption from payment of contributions, etc.

10.— An employer who, during the period commencing on the 23rd day of October, 1989, and ending on the 28th day of February, 1990, employed additional employees under and by virtue of the scheme administered by the Department of Social Welfare and known as the Employers' Pay-Related Social Insurance Exemption Scheme, shall not, during the period commencing on the 6th day of April, 1990, and ending on the 5th day of April, 1991, be liable to pay in respect of additional employees who constitute a net increase in the employer's workforce under the scheme all or any of the following, namely—

(a) the contribution specified in section 10 (1) (b) (ii) of the Principal Act (inserted by section 5 of the Act of 1982);

(b) the employment contribution specified in subsection (2) (a) (ii) and the increase specified in subsection (2) (b) of section 65 (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1988) of the Principal Act;

(c) the health contribution payable by an employer under section 5 (1) (b) of the Health Contributions Act, 1979;

(d) the employment and training levy payable by an employer under section 16 (c) of the Youth Employment Agency Act, 1981 (as extended by section 25 of the Labour Services Act, 1987); or

(e) the employers' redundancy contribution payable under section 28 (inserted by section 3 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1979, and extended by section 2 of the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act, 1984) of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967.

11 Pay-related benefit.

11.— (1) Section 73 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of “£72” for “£69” (inserted by section 10 of the Act of 1989).

(2) This section shall have effect in relation to any period of interruption of employment commencing on or after the 9th day of April, 1990.

PART III Lone Parent's Allowance

12 Lone parent's allowance.

12.— (1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Chapter 5A (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1989) of Part III of the following Chapter:

Interpretation (lone parent's allowance).

198A.— (1) In this Chapter—

‘lone parent’ means, subject to regulations under section 198F—

(a) a widow,

(b) a widower,

(c) a separated spouse,

(d) an unmarried person, or

(e) a person whose spouse has been committed in custody to a prison or place of detention for a period of not less than 6 calendar months,

who has at least one qualified child normally residing with that person;

‘allowance’ means a lone parent's allowance;

‘weekly means’ means the yearly means divided by 52.

(2) For the purposes of this Chapter—

(a) means shall be calculated in accordance with the Rules contained in the Third Schedule, and

(b) a widow who has remarried shall not be regarded as the widow of her former husband and a widower who has remarried shall not be regarded as the widower of his former wife.

Right to allowance.

198B.— (1) Subject to this Act and to regulations made under this Act, a lone parent's allowance shall be payable to a lone parent.

(2) A lone parent's allowance payable to a lone parent shall, subject to this Act and regulations made under this Act, continue to be payable unless the lone parent marries or remarries, as the case may be, and in such a case the allowance shall cease as and from the date of marriage or remarriage, as the case may be.

Rate of allowance and increases for child dependants.

198C.— (1) The rate (in this section referred to as the ‘scheduled rate’) of lone parent's allowance shall be the weekly rate set out in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule increased by the appropriate amount set out in column (4) or (5) of that Part in respect of each qualified child who normally resides with the lone parent.

(2) A lone parent's allowance shall be payable—

(a) where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary do not exceed £6, at the scheduled rate, and

(b) where such weekly means exceed £6, at the scheduled rate reduced by £2 for each amount (if any) of £2 by which those weekly means exceed £6, any fraction of £2 in those weekly means being treated for this purpose as £2:

Provided that, if the rate calculated pursuant to this paragraph at which, but for this proviso, the allowance would be payable is less than £2, the allowance shall not be payable.

Disqualifications.

198D.— (1) Except where regulations otherwise provide, a lone parent shall be disqualified for receiving an allowance (including any increase for a qualified child) for any period during which he is undergoing penal servitude, imprisonment or detention in legal custody.

(2) A lone parent shall not, if and so long as he and any person are cohabiting as man and wife, be entitled to and shall be disqualified for receiving payment of an allowance.

Prisoners' spouses.

198E.— In the case of a person who qualifies for an allowance by virtue of being a prisoner's spouse, such allowance shall continue to be paid for a period of four weeks after the release of the prisoner from a prison or place of detention.

Regulations.

198F.— The Minister shall make regulations in relation to lone parent's allowance and the regulations may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing—

(a) specify the circumstances in which, for the purposes of this Chapter—

(i) a person is to be regarded as being a separated spouse,

(ii) a person is to be regarded as being an unmarried person, and

(b) apply (with or without modification), or make provisions corresponding (with or without modification) to, any provisions of, or regulations under, this Act.”.

(2) The reference in section 315 (inserted by section 12 of the Act of 1989) of the Principal Act to section 198B of that Act shall be construed as a reference to the section bearing that number inserted into the Principal Act by this section.

13 Miscellaneous amendments to Principal Act for purposes of Part III.

13.— Each provision of the Principal Act mentioned in column (1) of Schedule C to this Act is hereby amended in the manner specified in column (2) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that provision in column (1).

14 Amendment of Fourth Schedule to Principal Act.

14.— The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Part I (inserted by section 4 of this Act) of the Fourth Schedule of the Part set out in Schedule D to this Act.

15 Amendment of section 3 (1) of Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976.

15.— Section 3 (1) of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976, is hereby amended by the substitution for the definition of “allowance” (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1989) of the following definition:

“‘allowance’ means deserted wife's allowance under section 195, lone parent's allowance under section 198B or supplementary welfare allowance under section 200 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981;”.

16 Commencement of Part III.

16.— This Part shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders and different days may be so appointed for different provisions of this Part.

PART IV Carer's Allowance

17 Carer's allowance.

17.— The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 198F (inserted by section 12 of this Act) of the following sections:

“Chapter 5B

Interpretation (carer's allowance).

198G.— (1) Subject to this Act and regulations made under this Act, in this Chapter—

‘carer’ means a person who resides with and provides full-time care and attention to a relevant pensioner;

‘relevant pensioner’ means a person (other than a person in receipt of a payment in respect of need for constant attendance under section 46) who is so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention, and who under the provisions of this Act—

(a) is in receipt of—

(i) old age (contributory) pension,

(ii) invalidity pension,

(iii) old age (non-contributory) pension, or

(iv) blind pension, or

(b) who has attained pensionable age and is in receipt of—

(i) death benefit by way of widow's or widower's pension,

(ii) death benefit by way of parent's pension,

(iii) retirement pension,

(iv) widow's (contributory) pension,

(v) deserted wife's benefit,

(vi) widow's (non-contributory) pension,

(vii) deserted wife's allowance,

(viii) prisoner's wife's allowance,

(ix) social assistance allowance,

(x) widower's (non-contributory) pension,

(xi) deserted husband's allowance, or

(xii) lone parent's allowance,

or who is in receipt of a prescribed payment under section 69 of the Health Act, 1970;

‘prescribed relative allowance’ means an increase for a prescribed relative under section 50 (11), 51 (2) (a), 81 (3), 86 (3), 91 (3), 95 (2), 103 (2), 162 (1) (a), 179 (a) or under regulations applying the provisions of section 179 (a) to any pension or allowance under this Act;

‘weekly means’ means the yearly means divided by 52.

(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, means shall be calculated in accordance with the Rules contained in the Third Schedule.

Right to carer's allowance.