Social Welfare Act , 1996

PART I Preliminary

1 Short title and construction.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare Act, 1996.

(2) The Social Welfare Acts and this Act (other than Parts X and XI and section 15 (5)) shall be construed together as one.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

“the Principal Act” means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993;

“the Act of 1994” means the Social Welfare Act, 1994;

“the Act of 1995” means the Social Welfare Act, 1995;

“the No. 2 Act of 1995” means the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1995.

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 1995) 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 6th day of June, 1996,

(b) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, health and safety benefit, injury benefit, disablement gratuity and disablement pension, on the 10th day of June, 1996,

(c) in so far as it relates to retirement pension, invalidity pension and deserted wife's benefit, on the 13th day of June, 1996, and

(d) in so far as it relates to death benefit under section 60, 61, 62 or 63 of the Principal Act, old age (contributory) pension, survivor's pension and orphan's (contributory) allowance, on the 14th day of June, 1996.

4 Social assistance payments (new rates).

4.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I and II (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 1995) 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 5th day of June, 1996,

(b) in so far as it relates to supplementary welfare allowance, on the 10th day of June, 1996,

(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), carer's allowance and prescribed relative allowance, on the 13th day of June, 1996, and

(d) in so far as it relates to old age (non-contributory) 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 14th day of June, 1996.

5 Child benefit (new rates, etc.).

5.—(1) The Fourth Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Part III (inserted by section 5 of the Act of 1995) of the following Part:

“PART III

Amount for each of first 2 children	Amount for each child in excess of 2
(1)	(2)
£29	£34

”.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1996.

(3) Section 194 (as amended by section 5 of the Act of 1994) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (4) of “£500” for “£200”,

(b) the insertion after subsection (6) of the following subsection:

“(6A) Subject to this Act, a person, other than a person to whom subsection (2) applies, who is qualified for child benefit shall be paid a grant in respect of twins (being qualified children) of £500 on the 4th and 12th anniversary of the birth of the last-born of the twins.”, and

(c) the insertion in subsection (7) after “subsection (3)” of “or subsection (6A)”.

(4) Subsection (3) of this section shall apply in the case of twins (being qualified children) who are born or attain the age of 4 years or 12 years, as the case may be, on or after the 1st day of January, 1996.

(5) Section 192 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) (as amended by section 5 of the Act of 1995) of the following subsection:

“(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a child who resides with a qualified person and such person's spouse while the qualified person or such person's spouse—

(a) being a member of the Defence Forces or a civil servant in the civil service of the Government or the State, is in the service, outside the State, of the Government, the State or an international organisation,

(b) is a volunteer development worker, or

(c) is an insured person employed outside the State in respect of whom employment contributions under Part II are payable in accordance with regulations made under section 25,

shall be a qualified child for the purposes of this Part.”.

6 Family income supplement (new weekly rates).

6.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for section 198 (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1994) of the following section:

“Entitlement to supplement.

198.—Subject to this Act, an allowance (in this Act 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 1 child, £195,

(b) in the case of a family which includes 2 children, £215,

(c) in the case of a family which includes 3 children, £235,

(d) in the case of a family which includes 4 children, £255,

(e) in the case of a family which includes 5 children, £280,

(f) in the case of a family which includes 6 children, £300,

(g) in the case of a family which includes 7 children, £317, or

(h) in the case of a family which includes 8 or more children, £334.”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 13th day of June, 1996.

7 Continued payment for qualified children.

7.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after Part V of the following Part:

“PART VA

Entitlement to payment.

203A.—(1) Subject to this Act, a continued payment for qualified children (in this Part referred to as a ‘continued payment’) shall be payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas to a person, other than a person who is engaged in short-time employment, who—

(a) has been in receipt of unemployment benefit, unemployment assistance, or unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance for not less than 312 days in—

(i) a period of interruption of employment, within the meaning of section 42 (4) (c), where the person is in receipt of unemployment benefit, or

(ii) a continuous period of unemployment, within the meaning of section 120 (3), where the person is in receipt of unemployment assistance,

in the immediately preceding period,

(b) is in receipt of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance which includes an increase in respect of at least one qualified child, who normally resides with the person, and is not a person to whom section 45 (3) or section 124 (1) (as the case may require) applies, and

(c) ceases to be entitled to unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance by virtue of having become engaged in employment which is expected to continue for a period of a minimum of 4 weeks.

(2) In this Part, ‘employment’ means insurable employment or insurable self-employment, other than—

(a) employment under a scheme administered by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair and known as Community Employment,

(b) employment under any scheme which is funded by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair, or

(c) employment of a seasonal nature.

The Weekly rate of payment.

203B.—The weekly rate of continued payment shall be the amount payable to the person by way of an increase in unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance (as the case may require) in respect of each qualified child normally residing with the person immediately prior to that person taking up employment:

Provided that, in the case of a person who immediately prior to taking up employment was in receipt of unemployment assistance, if the rate calculated pursuant to this section exceeds the rate of unemployment assistance which was payable to the person, the continued payment shall be payable at the said rate of unemployment assistance.

Period of payment.

203C.—A continued payment shall be payable for the period during which the person is engaged in employment, up to a maximum of 13 weeks, beginning on the date on which it is receivable in accordance with regulations and the weekly rate of continued payment shall not be affected by any change of circumstances during that period.

Disqualification.

203D.—(1) Except as provided for in subsection (2), receipt of a continued payment by a person shall be a disqualification for the receipt by that person of family income supplement.

(2) Where a person is in receipt of or entitled to a continued payment and would but for subsection (1) be qualified for the receipt of family income supplement, the person may be paid the family income supplement for any period during which the rate of supplement payable would be greater than the rate of continued payment and the Minister may reduce any such supplement which is or may become payable to such person by the amount of the continued payment which shall be treated as having been paid on account of the family income supplement.

Regulations.

203E.—(1) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to this Part.

(2) Regulations under this section may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), require employers to furnish such information as the Minister may require for the purpose of determining a claim for a continued payment.”.

(2) Section 209 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (7) of the following subsections:

“(7A) Where a continued payment for qualified children under Part VA is payable to a person for any period, any child who is regarded as a qualified child of that person shall not, for the said period, be regarded as a qualified child for the purposes of entitling any person to an increase in benefit or assistance under this Act.

(7B) In the case of a person who is participating in an initiative administered by the Minister and known as Back-to-Work Allowance and who is not entitled to, or in receipt of, family income supplement, any sums paid by way of a continued payment for qualified children under Part VA shall be treated as paid on account of the allowance payable under the Back-to-Work Allowance initiative.”.

(3) 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).

(4) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.

PART III Social Insurance Contributions

8 Employment contributions (new rates of contributions and increases in earnings ceilings).

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

(a) the substitution in subsection (1) (b) of “£80” for “£50”(inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1995),

(b) the substitution in subsection (1) (c) of “£22,300” for “£21,500” (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1995),

(c) the substitution in subsection (1) (d) (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1994) of—

(i) “8.5 per cent.” for “9 per cent.”,

(ii) “12 per cent.” for “12.2 per cent.”, and

(iii) “£250” for “£231” (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1995) in both places where it occurs,

(d) the substitution in subsection (1) (e) of “£26,800” for “£25,800” (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1994), and

(e) the deletion of subsection (7).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1996.

9 Self-employment contributions (new rates of contributions and increase in earnings ceiling).

9.—(1) Section 18 (1) (as amended by section 7 of the Act of 1995) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in paragraphs (a) and (c) of “£1,040” for “£520” in each place where it occurs,

(b) the substitution in paragraphs (a), (c) and (h) of “£215” for “£230” in each place where it occurs, and

(c) the substitution in paragraph (d) of “£22,300” for “£21,500”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1996.

10 Optional contributions (new rates of contributions).

10.—(1) Section 24B (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of “£1,040” for “£520” (inserted by section 8 of the Act of 1995).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1996.

11 Voluntary contributions by former self-employed contributors.

11.—(1) Section 23 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (1) of “£215” for “£230” (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 1995).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1996.

12 Insurable employment.

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

(a) the insertion in Part I of the First Schedule after paragraph 11 of the following paragraph:

“12. Employment under a scheme administered by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair and known as Community Employment or employment under a programme known as the Part Time Job Opportunities Programme administered by or on behalf of the Conference of Religious of Ireland, where—

(a) the said employment commences on or after the 6th day of April, 1996, or

(b) in any other case, where, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as may be prescribed, the person employed in either of the said employments, elects to be an employed contributor within the meaning of section 9 (1) (a).”,

(b) the insertion in paragraph 6 of Part II of the First Schedule (as amended by section 18 of the Act of 1995) after “Community Employment” of “, where the said employment commenced before the 6th day of April, 1996.”,

(c) the insertion in section 50(11) (as amended by section 18 of the Act of 1995) after “insurable (occupational injuries) employment” of “, where the person's said employment commenced before the 6th day of April, 1996”,

(d) the substitution in section 10 (1) (d) (as amended by section 8 of this Act) of “Subject to paragraphs (e) and (f), subsection (7)” for “Subject to paragraphs (e) and (f)”, and

(e) the insertion after section 10 (6) of the following subsection:

“(7) In the case of employment specified in paragraph 12 of Part I of the First Schedule, subsection (1) (d) shall be construed as if ‘0.5 per cent.’ were substituted for ‘8.5 per cent.’ and ‘12 per cent.’.”.

(2) Section 11 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(aa) in such cases as may be prescribed, persons employed in Bord Telecom Éireann, or”.

PART IV Disability Allowance

13 Disability allowance.

13.—Part III of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after Chapter 11 of the following Chapter:

“CHAPTER 12

Interpretation.

191A.—(1) In this Chapter—

‘institution’ means a hospital, convalescent home or home for people suffering from physical or mental disability or ancillary accommodation, nursing home for the care and maintenance of dependent elderly people and any other similar establishment providing residence, maintenance or care where the cost of a person's maintenance therein is being met in whole or in part by or on behalf of a health board;

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

Provided that the amount so calculated shall be rounded up to the nearest £1 where it is a multiple of 50p but not also a multiple of £1 and shall be rounded to the nearest £1 where it is not a multiple of 50p or £1.

(2) In this Chapter, references to means shall be construed as references to means as calculated in accordance with the Rules contained in Part I of the Third Schedule.

Entitlement to allowance.

191B.—(1) Subject to this Act, an allowance (‘disability allowance’) shall be payable to a person—

(a) who has attained the age of 16 years but has not attained pensionable age,

(b) who is by reason of a specified disability substantially handicapped in undertaking employment (in this Chapter referred to as ‘suitable employment’) of a kind which if the person was not suffering from that disability, would be suited to that person's age, experience and qualifications, whether or not the person is availing of a service for the training of disabled persons under section 68 of the Health Act, 1970, and

(c) whose weekly means, subject to subsection (2), do not exceed the amount of disability allowance (including any increases thereof) which would be payable to the person under this Chapter if that person had no means.

(2) Where the spouse of a claimant for disability allowance is not the claimant's adult dependant, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.

(3) A person shall not be entitled to receive disability allowance for any period during which that person is resident in an institution, except and in so far as that person is undergoing medical or other treatment of a temporary nature therein for a period not exceeding 13 weeks.

(4) The conditions under which a person shall be regarded for the purposes of this section as being substantially handicapped in undertaking suitable employment by reason of a specified disability shall be specified by regulations.

Rate of allowance (including increases for adult and child dependants).

191C.—(1) The rate (in this Chapter referred to as ‘the scheduled rate’) of disability allowance shall be the weekly rate set out in column (2) of Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule increased by—

(a) the amount set out in column (3) of that Part for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has an adult dependant, subject to the restriction that, except where regulations otherwise provide, the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled to an increase under this paragraph in respect of more than one person, and

(b) the appropriate amount set out in column (4) of that Part in respect of each qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary.

(2) Disability allowance shall be payable—

(a) where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary do not exceed £2, at the scheduled rate, and