Social Welfare Act , 1993

PART I Preliminary

1 Short title, construction and collective citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare Act, 1993.

(2) This Act, other than Part VII, shall be construed together as one with the Social Welfare Acts and may be cited together with those Acts.

2 Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

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

“the Act of 1984” means the Social Welfare Act, 1984;

“the Act of 1986” means the Social Welfare Act, 1986;

“the No. 2 Act of 1987” means the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1987;

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

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

“the Act of 1990” means the Social Welfare Act, 1990;

“the Act of 1991” means the Social Welfare Act, 1991;

“the Act of 1992” means the Social Welfare Act, 1992;

“the Pensions Act” means the Pensions Act, 1990.

(2) References in this Act or in any other enactment to the “Social Welfare Acts” means the Principal Act and every enactment which is to be construed with it as one.

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 1992) 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 22nd day of July, 1993,

(b) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, injury benefit, disablement gratuity and disablement pension, on the 26th day of July, 1993,

(c) in so far as it relates to deserted wife's benefit, invalidity pension and retirement pension, on the 29th day of July, 1993, 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, survivor's benefit, widow's (contributory) pension and orphan's (contributory) allowance, on the 30th day of July, 1993.

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 1992) 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 21st day of July, 1993,

(b) in so far as it relates to supplementary welfare allowance, on the 26th day of July, 1993,

(c) in so far as it relates to pre-retirement allowance, deserted wife's allowance, prisoner's wife's allowance, lone parent's allowance (other than lone parent's allowance payable in respect of a widow or widower) and carer's allowance, on the 29th day of July, 1993, and

(d) in so far as it relates to old age pension, blind pension, widow's (non-contributory) pension, lone parent's allowance payable in respect of a widow or widower and orphan's (non-contributory) pension, on the 30th day of July, 1993.

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 1991) of the following Part:

“PART IV

Amount for each of first three children	Amount for each child in excess of three
(1)	(2)
£20.00	£23.00

”.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1993.

(3) Section 225 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (3) (as amended by section 17 of the Act of 1986) of the following subsections:

“(3) Subject to this Act, a person who is qualified for child benefit shall be paid a grant in accordance with subsection (3A) in respect of two or more qualified children where the birth of each child was part of the same multiple birth.

(3A) The amount of the grant payable in accordance with subsection (3) shall be £200 if the qualified children are two in number, £300 where they are three in number and £400 if they exceed three in number.”.

(4) Subsection (3) of this section shall apply in the case of any multiple birth occurring on or after the 1st day of July, 1993.

6 Pay-related benefit.

6.—(1) Section 73 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of “£80” for “£78” (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 1992).

(2) This section shall have effect in relation to any period of interruption of employment commencing on or after the 6th day of April, 1993.

7 Family income supplement (new weekly rates).

7.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for section 232B (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1992) of the following section:

“Entitlement to family income supplement.

232B.—Subject to this Act, an allowance (in this Part referred to as ‘family income supplement’) shall be payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas in respect of a family where the weekly family income is less than—

(a) in the case of a family which includes only one child, £175, or

(b) in the case of a family which includes two children, £195, or

(c) in the case of a family which includes three children, £215, or

(d) in the case of a family which includes four children, £235, or

(e) in the case of a family which includes five children, £260, or

(f) in the case of a family which includes six children, £280, or

(g) in the case of a family which includes seven children, £297, or

(h) in the case of a family which includes eight or more children, £314.”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 29th day of July, 1993.

PART III Amendments to Existing Schemes

8 Maternity allowance.

8.—(1) Section 24 (inserted by section 19 of the Act of 1992) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1A) Regulations may provide for entitling to maternity allowance, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as may be prescribed, such class or classes of women who would be entitled thereto but for the fact that the conditions set out in subsections (1) (b) and (1) (c) are not satisfied.”.

(2) Section 26 (inserted by section 19 of the Act of 1992) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (3) of the following subsection:

“(3) In this section ‘reckonable weekly earnings’ means the average amount, calculated in accordance with regulations, of reckonable earnings and such other income as may be prescribed, received in a week up to such limit as may be prescribed.”.

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

9 Invalidity pension — conditions for receipt.

9.—Section 89 (as amended by section 9 of the No. 2 Act of 1987) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsections:

“(2) In this section ‘relevant date’ means—

(a) any date subsequent to the completion of one year of continuous incapacity for work, or

(b) such lesser period as may be prescribed, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as may be prescribed,

where the insured person has entered into a continuous period of incapacity for work and he is subsequently proved to be permanently incapable of work.

(2A) Regulations for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section shall be subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance.”.

10 Payments after death.

10.—Section 125 (2) (as amended by section 9 of the Act of 1991) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph (e) of the following paragraph:

“(f) subject to paragraph (a), where a person is in receipt of a carer's allowance and the relevant pensioner in respect of whom that carer is providing full-time care and attention, dies, and the carer is the spouse of that pensioner, any benefit payable under paragraph (a) shall include an increase in respect of an adult dependant provided that the person in receipt of the carer's allowance would otherwise have qualified as an adult dependant but for the fact that he was in receipt of the said allowance.”.

11 Extension of definition of adult dependant.

11.—Section 2 (as amended by section 15 of the Act of 1992) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1A) For the purposes of determining the entitlement of a person to an increase in respect of an adult dependant, references to a spouse in the definition of ‘adult dependant’ contained in subsection (1) and regulations made thereunder shall be construed as meaning each person of a married couple who are living together, or a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting as husband and wife.”.

12 Periods of interruption of employment to be taken into account in determining entitlement to benefit.

12.—(1) Section 22 (1) (inserted by section 55 of the Act of 1991) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

“(b) before that day has been entitled, in respect of any period of interruption of employment (whether including that day or not) during the period beginning on the date one year immediately prior to that day, to disability benefit for 312 days,”.

(2) This section shall apply to any claim for disability benefit which is made on or after the 5th day of April, 1993.

13 Unemployment assistance — calculation of means.

13.—(1) Section 146 (1) (inserted by section 27 of the Act of 1992) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution for subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of the following subparagraph:

“(ii) any moneys received by way of benefit, pension, assistance, allowance or supplement under Part II, III, IV or IVA,”,

(b) the insertion after subparagraph (xii) of the following subparagraph:

“(xiii) such amount as may be prescribed of all moneys earned by him in respect of current personal employment under a contract of service;”, and

(c) the deletion of paragraph (f).

(2) Regulations for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section shall be subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance.

14 Unemployment assistance — disqualifications.

14.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 140 (inserted by section 27 of the Act of 1992) of the following section:

“Disqualifications.

140A.—(1) A person shall not be entitled to receive unemployment assistance while attending a course of study, other than in such circumstances and subject to such conditions and for such periods as may be prescribed.

(2) In this section—

‘academic year’ means a period in which a course of study commences in one year and finishes in the next following year and includes term vacations;

‘a course of study’ means, subject to subsection (3), a full-time day course of study, instruction or training at an institution of education;

‘institution of education’ means—

(a) a school,

(b) a university,

(c) a college of a university,

(d) any institution which the Minister for Education has designated in regulations made pursuant to section 1 of the Higher Education Authority Act, 1971, as an institution of higher education for the purposes of that Act,

(e) any institution to which the National Council for Education Awards Act, 1979, applies,

(f) any institution established under the Regional Technical Colleges Act, 1992,

(g) any institution incorporated under the Dublin Institute of Technology Act, 1992,

(h) any institution which is not an institution for the purposes of paragraphs (a) to (g) and to which the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts, 1968 to 1992 apply, or

(i) such other institution as may be prescribed.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be regarded, subject to regulations made under subsection (1), as attending a course of study—

(a) for the period of three months immediately following the completion or the leaving by that person of second level education or the completion of the Leaving Certificate Examination of the Department of Education, (whichever is the later),

(b) for the duration of an academic year, or

(c) for the period immediately following the completion of one academic year, other than the final academic year of a course of study, up to the commencement of the following academic year.”.

(2) Section 2 (1) (as amended by sections 15 and 27 of the Act of 1992) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion in paragraph (a) of the definition of “qualified child” after “is under the age of 18 years” of “or is of or over the age of 18 years and is regarded as attending a course of study within the meaning of section 140A (3) (a),”.

(3) Section 201 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) A person shall not be entitled to receive supplementary welfare allowance while attending a course of study within the meaning of section 140A.”.

15 Pre-retirement allowance — couples.

15.—(1) Section 138 (inserted by section 27 of the Act of 1992) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (6) of the following subsection:

“(7) For the purposes of this section, a reference to ‘unemployment assistance’ shall be construed as including a reference to pre-retirement allowance.”.

(2) Section 156B (as amended by section 40 of the Act of 1990) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (1) for “Subject to subsection (2)” of “Subject to this section and section 138”.

PART IV Social Insurance Contributions

16 Pay-related social insurance contributions (increase in earnings ceilings).

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

(a) the substitution in paragraph (c) (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1992) of “£21,300” for “£20,300”, and

(b) the substitution in paragraph (cc) (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1992) of “£20,000” for “£19,000”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1993.

17 Self-employment contributions (increase in earnings ceiling and minimum contributions).

17.—(1) Section 17C of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in paragraphs (a), (c) and (i) (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1991) of “£250” for “£234”,

(b) the substitution in paragraph (b) (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1991) of “£124” for “£116”, and

(c) the substitution in paragraph (d) (inserted by section 8 of the Act of 1992) of “£20,000” for “£19,000”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1993.

18 Exemption from payment of contributions, etc.

18.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 10 (as amended by section 7 of the Act of 1992) of the following section:

“10A.—An employer who, during the period commencing on the 19th day of October, 1992, and ending on the 19th day of September, 1993, employed additional employees under and by virtue of the scheme administered by the Department of Social Welfare known as the Employers' Pay-Related Social Insurance Exemption Scheme, shall not, during the period commencing on the 6th day of April, 1993, and ending on the 5th day of April, 1995, be liable to pay in respect of additional employees who constitute a net increase in the employer's workforce under the scheme above that applying on the 9th day of September, 1992, all or any of the following, namely—

(a) the contribution specified in section 10 (1) (b) (ii) of this Act;

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

(c) 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).”.

19 Regulations for contributions.

19.—Section 15 (2) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(a) the assignment of any function relating to any matter referred to in that subsection to the Collector-General or to such other person engaged under contract by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, for this purpose,”.

20 Old age (contributory) pension, widow's (contributory) pension — self-employment contributions.

20.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion after section 79 (as amended by section 10 of the Act of 1992) of the following section:

“79A.—(1) A person, having been a self-employed contributor, shall not be regarded as having satisfied the contribution conditions contained in section 79 unless all self-employment contributions payable by him in accordance with section 17C have been paid.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Minister may, if he is satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case it would be appropriate to do so, direct that subsection (1) shall not be applied in that case.”,

(b) the insertion after section 93A (inserted by section 14 of the Act of 1988) of the following section:

“93B.—(1) Where the insurance record of a person, who, having been a self-employed contributor, is being used to establish entitlement to widow's (contributory) pension, the contribution conditions contained in section 93 shall not be regarded as having been satisfied unless all self-employment contributions payable by him in accordance with section 17C have been paid.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Minister may, if he is satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case it would be appropriate to do so, direct that subsection (1) shall not be applied in that case.”.

(2) This section shall apply to any claim for pension under Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 of Part II of the Principal Act, made on or after the 6th day of April, 1993.

21 Exemption of recipients of pre-retirement allowance from social insurance.