Reform history

# Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2008

##### 1. Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement.

(2) The Social Welfare Acts and *sections 2* to *25* shall be read together as one.

(3) *Sections 26* to *29* and the Pensions Acts 1990 to 2007 may be cited together as the Pensions Acts 1990 to 2008.

(6) *Sections 5*, *12* to *17*, *18(2)* to *(4)* and *27* to *31* shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

##### 2. Definitions.

##### 3. Child benefit — new rates.

| Amount for each of first 2 children (1) | Amount for each child in excess of 2 (2) |

| --- | --- |

| €166.00 | €203.00 |

##### 4. Early childcare supplement — increase in rate.

##### 5. Transfer of pension rights to EC institutions scheme.

**5**.— The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 8:

“Transfer of pension rights to EC institutions scheme.

8A.— (1) In this section, “Annex VIII” means Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, being the regulations referred to in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No. 259/68 of 29 February 1968.

(2) Payments required to be made for the purposes of Article 11(2) of Annex VIII shall be made out of the Social Insurance Fund.

(3) Any moneys payable to the State under Article 11(1) of Annex VIII shall be paid into the Social Insurance Fund.

(4) Upon the transfer of a person’s pension entitlements or contributions under subsection (2), any contributions so transferred shall not count for the purposes of calculating entitlements to the benefits or pensions to which this section applies.

(5) For the purposes of this section, regulations may provide for—

(*a*) the calculation of the amounts payable under subsection (2),

(*b*) the benefits and pensions to which this section applies,

(*c*) the claims and administrative procedures, and

(*d*) any matter ancillary or incidental to any of the matters referred to in any of paragraphs (*a*) to (*c*).”.

##### 6. Illness benefit — improvement.

##### 7. State pension (non-contributory) — improvements.

##### 8. One-parent family payment — increase in income limit and amendment.

##### 9. Respite care grant — increase.

##### 10. Detention in legal custody.

##### 11. State pension (contributory) — homemakers.

##### 12. Blind welfare allowance.

*Sections 161G and 196.*

(*d*) in Part 1 of Schedule 4 by inserting the following after reference 5:

“

| 5A. Blind Welfare Allowance | 61.60 | — | 4.40 | — | — | — | — |

| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |

”.

##### 13. Blind welfare allowance — consequential amendments.

##### 14. Blind welfare allowance — commencement and transitional.

##### 15. Domiciliary care allowance.

##### 16. Domiciliary care allowance — consequential amendments.

*Section 186F.*

##### 17. Domiciliary care allowance — commencement and transitional.

##### 18. Supplementary welfare allowance.

##### 19. Claims.

##### 20. Payments to persons other than claimant or beneficiary.

##### 21. Provisions with respect to habitual residence.

##### 22. Proceedings.

##### 23. Schedule 3, Part 2.

##### 24. Supplementary welfare allowance — calculation of weekly means.

##### 25. Amendments of Act of 2007.

##### 26. Definitions.

##### 27. Registered administrators.

##### 28. Trustee training.

##### 29. Miscellaneous amendments of Pensions Act 1990.

##### 30. Amendment of Family Law Act 1995.

##### 31. Amendment of Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996.

## SCHEDULE 1 Amendments Relating to Supplementary Welfare Allowance

| Provision affected (1) | Amendment (2) |

| --- | --- |

| Section 2(1) | Insert the following after the definition of “deciding officer”: “ ‘designated person’ means a person designated by the Minister to perform the functions conferred on a designated person by this Act;”. |

| Section 194 | Repeal the section. |

| Section 195 | Substitute “A designated person” for “The Executive”. |

| Section 198 | (*a*)In subsection (3C)(*b*) (inserted by section 25(1)(*b*) of the Act of 2007), substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive”. (*b*)In subsection (3D) (inserted by section 25(1)(*b*) of the Act of 2007)— (i) substitute “A designated person” for “The Executive”, and (ii) substitute “by the designated person” for “by the Executive”. |

| Section 199 | (*a*)In subsection (3), substitute “A designated person” for “The Executive”. (*b*)In subsection (4)— (i) substitute “a designated person may” for “the Executive may”, and (ii) substitute “opinion of the designated person” for “opinion of the Executive”. (*c*)In subsection (5), substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive”. |

| Section 200 | (*a*)In subsection (1)— (i) substitute “a designated person or” for “the Executive or” where it occurs, and (ii) substitute “by a designated person” for “by the Executive”. (*b*)In subsection (2), substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive”. (*c*)In subsection (3), delete “by the Executive”. |

| Section 201 | Substitute “A designated person or deciding officer may, in any case where the designated person” for “The Executive or deciding officer may, in any case where the Executive”. |

| Section 202 | (*a*) In subsection (1)— (i) substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive” (first occurring), and (ii) substitute “the designated person” for “the Executive” (second occurring). (*b*) In subsection (2)— (i) substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive” (first occurring), and (ii) substitute “the designated person” for “the Executive” (second occurring). |

| Section 203(*a*) | Substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive”. |

| Section 204 | (*a*)In paragraph (*a*), substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive”. (*b*)In paragraph (*c*)— (i) substitute “designated person or” for “Executive or”, and (ii) delete “by the Executive”. |

| Section 205 | (*a*)In paragraph (*a*), substitute “that a designated person” for “the Executive”. (*b*)In paragraph (*c*)— (i) substitute “the designated person or” for “the Executive or”, and (ii) delete “by the Executive”. (*c*)Substitute “the designated person” for “the Executive” (last occurring). |

| Sections 206 and 207 | Repeal the sections. |

| Section 244(1)(*c*) | Insert the following after subparagraph (iii): “(iv) in respect of supplementary welfare allowance, so much of the allowance as the Minister considers reasonable in the circumstances”. |

| Section 246 | In subsection (4) (inserted by section 30 of the Act of 2007), substitute “a designated person” for “the Executive”. |

| Section 249(6) | Insert “supplementary welfare allowance,” after “pre-retirement allowance”. |

| Section 272 | Substitute the following for subsection (1): “(1) A prosecution for a summary offence may be brought at the suit of— (*a*)the Minister, or (*b*)the Collector-General in any case arising out of the exercise of his or her functions under this Act.”. |

| Section 299 | Substitute the following section for section 299: “Appointment of deciding officers and designated persons. 299.—(1) The Minister may appoint such and so many persons as he or she thinks proper to be deciding officers for the purposes of any provision or provisions of this Act, and every person so appointed shall be a deciding officer during the pleasure of the Minister. (2) The Minister may appoint such and so many persons as he or she thinks proper to be designated persons for the purposes of the determination of the entitlement of any person to supplementary welfare allowance and the amount of any such allowance.”. |

| Section 300 | (*a*)In subsection (2)— (i) substitute “Subject to subsections (3) and (3A),” for “Subject to subsection (3),”, and (ii) substitute the following for paragraph (*b*): “(*b*) Part 3 (social assistance), being a question other than one relating to supplementary welfare allowance (unless it relates to a category of claim specified in subsection (3A)),”. (*b*)Insert the following after subsection (3): “(3A) The following categories of claims for supplementary welfare allowance shall be decided by a deciding officer: (*a*) a claim made under section 197 in any case where— (i) a person has made an application for such benefit under Part 2 or such assistance under Part 3, as is prescribed, and (ii) entitlement to that benefit or assistance has not yet been decided or has been decided and that decision is the subject of an appeal under section 311; (*b*) a claim under section 198 for a supplement towards the amount of rent or mortgage interest payable by a person in respect of his or her residence in a case included in such categories of cases as are prescribed.”. |

| Section 301 | (*a*)In subsection (2), substitute “a designated person in relation” for “an employee of the Executive, including an employee of the Executive designated under section 323,”. (*b*)Insert the following after subsection (2): “(2A) A deciding officer may at any time revise any determination of a designated person, where— (*a*) it appears to the deciding officer that the determination was erroneous— (i) in the light of new evidence or of new facts which have been brought to the notice of the deciding officer since the date on which it was made, or (ii) by reason of some mistake having been made in relation to the law or the facts, or (*b*) where it appears to the deciding officer that there has been any relevant change of circumstances since the determination was made, and the provisions of this Part as to appeals shall apply to a decision of a deciding officer under this subsection in the same manner as they apply to an original decision of a deciding officer.”. (*c*)Substitute the following for subsection (4): “(4) Subsection (2) or (2A) does not apply to a determination relating to a matter which is on appeal under section 311 unless the decision of a deciding officer under subsection (2A) or the revised decision under subsection (1), as the case may be, would be in favour of the claimant.”. |

| Section 311 | (*a*)In subsection (1), insert “or the determination of a designated person in relation to a claim under section 196, 197 or 198” after “deciding officer”. (*b*) Substitute the following for subsection (3): “(3) An appeals officer, when deciding a question referred under subsection (1), shall not be confined to the grounds on which the decision of the deciding officer or the determination of the designated person, as the case requires, was based, but may decide the question as if it were being decided for the first time.”. |

| Section 312 | Repeal the section. |

| Section 321 | Insert “of a designated person.” after “determination”. |

| Section 322 | Repeal the section. |

| Section 323 | Substitute the following for section 323: “Appeals from certain determinations. 323.— Where a person is dissatisfied with the determination of a designated person of a claim by him or her under section 200, 201 or 202, an appeal lies against the determination to another person appointed or designated by the Minister.”. |

| Section 324 | Substitute the following section for section 324: “Revision of determination of entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance. 324.—(1) A designated person (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-named designated person’) may at any time— (*a*) revise a determination of another designated person of entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance where— (i) it appears to the first-named designated person that the determination was erroneous— (I) in the light of new evidence or of new facts which have been brought to the notice of the first-named designated person since the date on which the determination was made, or (II) by reason of some mistake having been made in relation to the law or the facts, or (ii) if it appears to the first-named designated person that there has been any relevant change of circumstances since the determination was made, or (*b*) revise the decision of an appeals officer, if it appears to the designated person that there has been any relevant change of circumstances which has come to notice since the decision was given, and the provisions of this Part as to appeals shall apply to the revised determination or the revised decision, as the case may be, in the same manner as they apply to an original determination of a designated person. (2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a determination relating to a matter which is on appeal under section 311 or 323 unless the revised determination would be in favour of the claimant.”. |

| Section 325 | (*a*)Substitute “made by a designated person” for “given by an employee of the Executive”. (*b*)In paragraphs (*a*), (*b*) and (*c*), substitute “the designated person” for “the employee of the Executive” where it occurs. |

| Section 328 | Substitute the following for section 328: “Certificate by deciding officer, appeals officer or designated person. 328.— A document purporting to be— (*a*) a certificate of a decision made under this Act by a deciding officer or an appeals officer, or (*b*) a certificate of a determination made under this Act by a designated person, and to be signed by him or her, is *prima facie* evidence of the making of the decision or determination, as the case may be, and of the terms of that decision or determination, without proof of the signature of the officer or person concerned or of his or her official capacity.”. |

| Section 329 | Substitute “a designated person” for “an employee of the Executive”. |

| Section 330 | (*a*)In paragraph (*b*), substitute “sections 303 and 311” for “sections 303, 311 and 312”. (*b*)Substitute the following for paragraph (*c*): “(*c*) a designated person, when making determinations in relation to supplementary welfare allowance.”. |

| Section 334 | (*a*)In subsection (2)(*a*), delete “(other than supplementary welfare allowance determined by the Executive)”. (*b*)Delete subsection (3). |

| Section 335 | (*a*)Substitute “a designated person” for “an employee of the Executive”. (*b*)In paragraph (*b*), delete “(other than supplementary welfare allowance determined by the Executive under Part 3)”. (*c*)Delete paragraph (*c*). |

| Section 336 | (*a*)In paragraph (i) insert “and” after “benefit,”. (*b*)Substitute the following for paragraph (ii): “(ii) to the Minister, in the case of assistance, child benefit, early childcare supplement, family income supplement or continued payment for qualified children,”. (*c*)Delete paragraph (iii). |

| Section 337 | (*a*)In paragraph (*a*), insert “and” after “benefit,”. (*b*) Substitute the following for paragraph (*b*): “(*b*) to the Minister, in the case of assistance, child benefit, early childcare supplement, family income supplement or continued payment for qualified children,”. (*c*) Delete paragraph (*c*). |

| Section 338 | (*a*)In paragraph (*a*), insert “and” after “benefit,”. (*b*)Substitute the following for paragraph (*b*): “(*b*) to the Minister, in the case of assistance, child benefit, early childcare supplement, family income supplement or continued payment for qualified children,”. (*c*)Delete paragraph (*c*). |

| Section 341 | (*a*)Delete subsection (6). (*b*)In subsection (9)— (i) delete “or the Executive” where it occurs, and (ii) delete “(as the case may be)”. |

| Section 342 | Delete “, or in the case of supplementary welfare allowance determined by an employee of the Executive,”. |

| Section 344 | Substitute the following for the definition of “competent authority”: “ ‘competent authority’ in relation to one-parent family payment and supplementary welfare allowance, means the Minister;”. |

| Schedule 6 | Repeal paragraph 4. |

## SCHEDULE 2 Formal Amendments of the Pensions Act 1990

| Provision affected (1) | Amendment (2) |

| --- | --- |

| Section 2(1) | In the definitions of “employer” and “external member” substitute “, in relation” for “in relation”. |

| Section 3B(2) | (*a*)Substitute “prove,” for “prove”. (*b*)Substitute “signature,” for “signature”. |

| Section 26(2) | Substitute “hearing:” for “hearing.”. |

| Section 37(3)(*b*) | Substitute “terminated;” for “terminated.”. |

| Section 38(2)(*c*) | Substitute “Part,” for “Part.”. |

| Section 43(1) | In paragraph (*d*)by substituting “apply,” for “apply.”. |

| Section 44 | (*a*)In paragraph (*a*)(v) substitute “relates,” for “relates.”. (*b*)Before paragraph (*b*) insert “and”. |

| Section 50(2) | Substitute the following for paragraph (*a*): “(*a*) to the extent specified, override paragraph 2(2) of the Second Schedule and paragraph 4(*b*)(i)(I) of the Third Schedule, and”. |

| Part V heading | Substitute “Schemes and Trust RACs” for “Scheme”. |

| Section 54 | Delete subsection (6). |

| Section 56(6)(*b*) | Substitute “paragraph (*c*)” for “Paragraph (*c*)”. |

| Section 58(2) | Redesignate paragraphs (*a*) and (*b*) (second occurring) as paragraphs (i) and (ii). |

| Section 59A(1) | Substitute the following for paragraph (*e*): “(*e*) is a person who is for the time being subject to the restrictions imposed by section 150 of the Companies Act 1990.”. |

| Section 63(5) | Substitute “from the employer to the trustees” for “from the employer. to the trustees”. |

| Section 94(3)(*b*) | Substitute “the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002” for “this Act”. |

| Section 121(10) | In the definition of “membership” substitute “benefit;” for “benefit.”, and relocate the definition between the definitions of “excluded employee” and “scheme”. |

| Section 126(1) | (*a*) In the definition of “establishment day” substitute “28 April 2003” for “the day on which section 5 of the Pensions (Amendment) Act, 2002, commences”. (*b*) In the definition of “trust Retirement Annuity Contract” substitute “policies.” for “policies;”. |

| Section 131 | (*a*) In paragraphs (*a*) and (*b*) of subsection (2) delete “, as appropriate,”. (*b*)In subsection (5) substitute “on or after 13 April 1996” for all the words after “done” (first occurring). |

| Third Schedule | In paragraph 4(*a*)(i) substitute “exercised” for “excercised”. |

| Fourth Schedule | In reference 30A enclose the passages in columns (3) and (4) in double quotation marks. |