S.I. No. 248/1990 - Social Welfare (Payments To Appointed Persons) Regulations, 1990

S.I. No. 248 of 1990.

SOCIAL WELFARE (PAYMENTS TO APPOINTED PERSONS) REGULATIONS, 1990.

The Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 3 , 148 (4) and 170 (4) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 (No. 1 of 1981) and by section 156C (2) (d) of that Act (inserted by section 28 of the Social Welfare Act, 1988 (No. 7 of 1988)), hereby makes the following Regulations:—

1 Citation.

1.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Payments to Appointed Persons) Regulations, 1990.

2 Interpretation.

2.

2. In these Regulations—

"the Principal Act" means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 ;

"the Regulations of 1952" means the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) Regulations, 1952 ( S.I. No. 374 of 1952 );

"the Regulations of 1972" means the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 277 of 1972 );

"applicant" means a person who has applied for or has been awarded unemployment assistance, old age (non-contributory) pension, blind pension or pre-retirement allowance.

3 Commencement.

3.

3. Articles 7 and 8 of these Regulations shall come into operation—

( a ) in so far as they relate to pre-retirement allowance, on the 18th day of October, 1990,

( b ) in so far as they relate to old age pension or blind pension, on the 19th day of October, 1990, and

( c ) in so far as they relate to unemployment assistance, on the 21st day of November, 1990.

4 Revocation of regulations.

4.

4. The Social Welfare (Payments to Appointed Persons) Regulations, 1973 ( S.I. No. 143 of 1973 ), the Social Welfare (Payments to Appointed Persons) (No. 2) Regulations, 1973 ( S.I. No. 219 of 1973 ) and the Social Welfare (Payments to Appointed Persons) (Amendment) Regulations, 1975 ( S.I. No. 117 of 1975 ) are hereby revoked.

5 Application of article 16A of the Regulations of 1952.

5.

5. Article 16A of the Regulations of 1952 (inserted by article 2 of the Regulations of 1972), modified in the manner appearing in article 6 of these Regulations, shall apply to unemployment assistance, old age (non-contributory) pension, blind pension and pre-retirement allowance.

6 Payment to appointed persons.

6.

6. The Minister may, where it appears to him that the circumstances so warrant, appoint a person to receive and deal with, on behalf of an applicant—

( a ) in respect of unemployment assistance—

• (i) where the weekly rate payable is a scheduled rate, so much of the assistance as is payable by virtue of subsections 139 (a) and 139 (b) of the Principal Act,

• (ii) where the weekly rate payable is less by reason of means than the applicable scheduled rate, so much of the assistance as is payable by virtue of subsections 139 (a) and 139 (b) of the Principal Act, reduced in the proportion that the weekly rate actually payable bears to the applicable scheduled rate;

( b ) in respect of an old age (non-contributory) pension or a blind pension, so much of the pension as is payable in respect of a qualified child or qualified children together with any increase of pension for a spouse:

Provided that, in the case of a person in respect of whom no increase is payable for a spouse, the rate payable in respect of a child dependant of such person shall be so much of the pension as is equal to the difference between the pension actually payable to the applicant and the pension that would be payable to an applicant who has no qualified child when the means as duly calculated in both cases fall within the same range in the appropriate statutory table of rates;

( c ) in respect of pre-retirement allowance—

• (i) where the weekly rate payable is a scheduled rate, so much of the allowance as is payable by virtue of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of section 156B of the Principal Act,

• (ii) where the weekly rate payable is less by reason of means than the applicable scheduled rate, so much of the assistance as is payable by virtue of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of section 156B of the Principal Act, reduced in the proportion that the weekly rate actually payable bears to the applicable scheduled rate.

7 Application of article 16B of the Regulations of 1952.

7.

7. Articles 16B of the Regulations of 1952 (inserted by the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations, 1990 ( S.I. No. 247 of 1990 )), modified in the manner appearing in article 8 of these Regulations, shall apply to unemployment assistance, old age (non-contributory) pension, blind pension and pre-retirement allowance.

8 Payment to appointed persons living together with the applicant.

8.

8. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 6 of these Regulations, in the case of an applicant who is living together with a person in respect of whom he is entitled to or in receipt of—

( a ) an increase of unemployment assistance for an adult dependant, the Minister may, where it appears to him that the circumstances so warrant, appoint the adult dependant to receive and deal with on behalf of the applicant—

• (i) where the weekly rate payable is a scheduled rate, so much of the assistance as is payable by virtue of section 139 (b) of the Principal Act, together with one half of the aggregate sum of the appropriate rate of unemployment assistance as set out in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule to that Act and the increase in assistance payable by virtue of section 139 (a) of the said Act,

• (ii) where the weekly rate payable is less by reason of means than the applicable scheduled rate, so much of the assistance as is payable by virtue of section 139 (b) of the Principal Act, together with one half of the aggregate of—

• (A) the appropriate rate of unemployment assistance as set out in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule to that Act, and

• (B) the increase in assistance payable by virtue of section 139 (a) of the said Act,

reduced in the proportion that the weekly rate actually payable bears to the applicable scheduled rate;

( b ) an increase of old age (non-contributory) pension or blind pension for a spouse, the Minister may, where it appears to him that the circumstances so warrant, appoint the spouse in respect of whom the increase in pension is payable to receive and deal with on behalf of the applicant—

• (i) where the weekly rate payable is a scheduled rate, any increase of pension payable in respect of a qualified child or qualified children by virtue of section 161 (1) of the Principal Act, together with one half of the aggregate of—

• (A) the rate of pension as set out in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule to that Act, and

• (B) the increase in pension payable by virtue of section 162 (d) of the said Act,

• (ii) where the weekly rate payable is less by reason of means than that applicable scheduled rate, any increase of pension payable in respect of a qualified child or qualified children by virtue of section 161(1) of the Principal Act, together with one half of the difference between the pension payable to the applicant and any increase of pension payable in respect of a qualified child or qualified children by virtue of section 161 (1) of that Act;

( c ) an increase of pre-retirement allowance for an adult dependant, the Minister may, where it appears to him that the circumstances so warrant, appoint the adult dependant to receive and deal with on behalf of the applicant—

• (i) where the weekly rate payable is a scheduled rate, so much of the allowance as is payable by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 156B of the Principal Act, together with one half of the aggregate sum of the appropriate rate of pre-retirement allowance as set out in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule to that Act and the increase in allowance payable by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 156B of the said Act,

• (ii) where the weekly rate payable is less by reason of means than the applicable scheduled rate, so much of the allowance as is payable by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 156B of the Principal Act, together with one half of the aggregate of—

• (A) the appropriate rate of pre-retirement allowance as set out in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule to that Act, and

• (B) the increase in allowance payable by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 156B of the said Act,

reduced in the proportion that the weekly rate actually payable bears to the applicable scheduled rate.

9 Provisions relating to appointments under these Regulations.

9.

9. (1) The Minister may at any time revoke an appointment made under these Regulations and a person appointed may resign on giving to the Minister one month's notice of his intention to do so.

• (2) The receipt of a person appointed under article 6 or article 8 of these Regulations shall be a good discharge to the Minister for any sums paid to such person on behalf of the applicant.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare

this 10th day of October, 1990.

MICHAEL WOODS,

Minister for Social Welfare.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

Under existing arrangements, increases in respect of adult and child dependants can be paid directly to the spouse of a claimant where it appeares to the Minister that the circumstances so warrant (these payments are referred to as "separate payments"). These Regulations, which apply to social assistance payments, enable a greater proportion of the overall payment to be made to the dependent spouse in cases where the husband and wife are living together.

Under these Regulations the spouse will receive half of the combined sum of the personal rate of payment and the adult dependant allowance together with the full child dependant allowance in these circumstances. These Regulations will come into effect from the end of October, 1990 in the case of old age and blind pensions and pre-retirement allowance and from the end of November, 1990 in the case of unemployment assistance.