Reform history

# Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009

##### 1. Interpretation.

**1**.— In this Act—

“ Civil Service ” means the Civil Service of the Government and the Civil Service of the State;

“ Minister ” means the Minister for Finance;

“ public servant ” means—

(*a*) a person who is employed by, or who holds any office or other position in, a public service body,

(*b*) a member of either House of the Oireachtas or of a local authority (within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001),

(*c*) a member of the European Parliament for a constituency in the State, being a member who is in receipt of the allowance referred to in section 2 of the European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act 1979, or

(*d*) the holder of a qualifying office,

but does not include the President, a member of the judiciary or a military judge appointed under Chapter IVC of Part V of the Defence Act 1954 (as amended by the Defence (Amendment) Act 2007);

“ public service body ” means—

(*a*) the Civil Service,

(*b*) the Garda Síochána,

(*c*) the Permanent Defence Force,

(*d*) a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001,

(*e*) the Health Service Executive,

(*f*) the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland,

(*g*) a vocational education committee established under section 7 of the Vocational Education Act 1930,

(*h*) a body (other than a body specified or referred to in the Schedule) established—

(i) by or under an enactment (other than the Companies Acts), or

(ii) under the Companies Acts in pursuance of powers conferred by or under another enactment, and financed wholly or partly by means of money provided, or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government,

in respect of which a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made,

(*i*) a body (other than a body specified or referred to in the Schedule) that is wholly or partly funded directly or indirectly out of money provided by the Oireachtas or from the Central Fund or the growing produce of that Fund and in respect of which a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made,

(*j*) any subsidiary of, or company controlled (within the meaning given by section 10 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997) by, a body to which *paragraph (d)*, *(e)*, *(f)*, *(g)*, *(h)* or *(i)* relates and in respect of which a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made;

“ public service pension scheme ” means an occupational pension scheme or pension arrangement, by whatever name called, for any part of the public service which—

(*a*) is provided for under—

(i) the Superannuation Acts 1834 to 1963, or

(ii) any other enactment or administrative measure for the like purpose and to the like effect as those Acts, or

(*b*) is made by a relevant Minister or has been approved or requires the approval or consent, however expressed, of either or both a relevant Minister and the Minister,

but does not include such a scheme or arrangement in respect of a body specified or referred to in the Schedule;

“ qualifying office ” has the same meaning as it has in section 13 (inserted by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices (Amendment) Act 1977) of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938, that is to say—

(*a*) a ministerial office within the meaning of that section (as amended by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act 1973), or

(*b*) a secretarial office within the meaning of that section (as amended by the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices (Amendment) Act 1983 and the Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices and Oireachtas Members (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2001);

“ relevant Minister ”, in relation to a public service pension scheme, means the Minister or Ministers of the Government responsible for the making or approval of, or the giving of consent to, the scheme;

“ remuneration ” means emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies or is applied and payable by or on behalf of a public service body to a public servant for his or her services as a public servant;

“ subsidiary ” means a subsidiary within the meaning of the Companies Acts.

##### 2. Deduction to be made from remuneration of public servants.

(2) In this section, a person to whom this section applies is referred to as a “relevant person”.

(3) The person who is responsible for, or authorises, the payment of remuneration to a relevant person shall deduct or cause to be deducted an amount at the applicable rate or rates specified in the Table in this subsection—

(*a*) in the case of the period 1 March 2009 to 31 December 2009, in respect of that period, and

(*b*) in the case of the year 2010 and each subsequent year, in respect of the year concerned,

from the remuneration from time to time payable to the relevant person during that period or any such year.

TABLE

| Amount of Remuneration | Rate of deduction |

| --- | --- |

| Up to €15,000 | 3 per cent |

| Any excess over €15,000 but not over €20,000 | 6 per cent |

| Any amount over €20,000 | 10 per cent |

##### 3. Regulations in relation to collection arrangements, etc.

##### 4. Obligation to make payments into Exchequer, etc.

##### 5. Certain public servants’ right to give notice.

##### 6. Deductions made from remuneration of certain persons who cease to be public servants.

##### 7. No additional benefit, etc.

##### 8. Exemption, etc., from deductions in certain circumstances.

##### 9. Reduction of payments to health professionals.

**9**.— (1) Notwithstanding any other enactment, contract, arrangement, understanding, expectation, circular or instrument or other document, the Minister for Health and Children may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by regulation, reduce, whether by formula or otherwise, the amount or the rate of payment to be made to health professionals, or classes of health professionals, in respect of any services that they render to or on behalf of a health body from the date of the regulation.

(*e*) the impact on the State’s ability to continue to provide health services at existing levels if reductions are not made; and

(*f*) the fairness and efficiency of any method of effecting any reductions in payments having regard to the requirements of good and effective administration.

“ health body ” means the Health Service Executive and any other body under the aegis of the Minister for Health and Children wholly or partly funded by the Exchequer to which, or on behalf of which, health professionals render services; and

##### 10. Reduction of other payments.

**10**.— (1) Notwithstanding any other enactment, contract, arrangement, understanding, expectation, circular or instrument or other document, any Minister of the Government may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by regulation, reduce, whether by formula or otherwise, the amount or the rate of payment to be made to persons, or classes of persons, in respect of any service that they render to or on behalf of that Minister of the Government or under the aegis of that Minister.

##### 11. Non-applicability to public servants.

**11**.— The provisions of *sections 9* and *10* and of regulations made under those sections shall not apply to the remuneration of a person in respect of which a deduction is made under *section 2*.

##### 12. Farm Waste Management Scheme.

**12**.— (1) The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food may by order defer to a specified date any liability, accrual or payment under the Farm Waste Management Scheme in whole or in part if, having consulted the Minister, he or she is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so, having regard to—

(*a*) the purposes of this Act, and

(*b*) the resources available to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from time to time to make payments under the Scheme.

(2) The date specified in an order under *subsection (1)* may be in the financial year after the one during which the order is made or any subsequent financial year.

(3) If the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food defers a liability, accrual or payment under *subsection (1)*—

(*a*) no obligation to make any payment arises in respect of the amount deferred, and

(*b*) there is no liability to pay, nor accrual of, the amount,

before the date specified by that Minister in the order concerned.

(4) A deferral under this section has effect notwithstanding the terms of the Farm Waste Management Scheme or any entitlement however arising.

(5) An order under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the order.

(6) In this section “Farm Waste Management Scheme” means the scheme which came into effect on 23 March 2006, and is known as the Scheme of Investment Aid for Farm Waste Management.

##### 13. Annual review and report to the Houses of the Oireachtas.

**13**.— Before 30 June in 2010 and every year after 2010, the Minister shall—

(*a*) carry out a review of the operation, effectiveness and impact of this Act, having regard to the overall economic conditions in the State and national competitiveness,

(*b*) consider whether or not any of the provisions of this Act continue to be necessary having regard to the purposes of this Act, the overall economic conditions in the State, national competitiveness and Exchequer commitments in respect of public service pensions,

(*c*) make such findings as he or she thinks appropriate consequent on such review and consideration, and

(*d*) cause a written report of his or her findings resulting from the review and consideration to be prepared and laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

##### 14. Regulations.

**14**.— (1) The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of this Act or in consequence of any of its provisions or for the purpose of enabling any provision to have full effect.

(2) Regulations made by the Minister under this section may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(3) Regulations under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made and if a resolution annulling the regulations is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulations are laid before it, the regulations shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the regulations.

##### 15. Removal of doubts.

**15**.— Where a doubt, question or dispute arises in the operation of this Act in respect of whether a person is or is not a person subject to deduction under this Act, then such doubt, question or dispute shall—

(*a*) be submitted to the Minister by the person who authorises or would authorise the payment of the remuneration concerned, and

(*b*) be determined by the Minister after consulting such persons (if any) as the Minister considers appropriate in the circumstances,

and the determination of the doubt, question or dispute by the Minister shall be final.

##### 16. Amendment of Income Tax Acts.

**16**.— (1) The Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 is amended in Chapter 4 of Part 30 by inserting the following section after section 790B:

“Relief for deduction under *Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009*.

790C.— Any deduction made under the *Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009* in respect of a public servant (within the meaning of that Act) shall, in assessing income tax under Schedule E, be allowed to be deducted as an expense incurred in the year in which the deduction is made.”.

(2) The Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 559 of 2001) are amended in Regulation 41—

(*a*) by substituting “ ‘allowable contribution’ means a contribution or a deduction payable by an employee” for “ ‘allowable contribution’ means a contribution payable by an employee”,

(*b*) in paragraph (*c*) by substituting “paid,” for “paid, or”, and in paragraph (*d*) by substituting “paid, or” for “paid.”, and

(*c*) by inserting the following after paragraph (*d*):

“(*e*) by virtue of section 790C of the Act (inserted by *section 16* of the *Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009*) allowable as a deduction from such emoluments for the purposes of assessment under Schedule E.”.

(3) Nothing in *subsection (2)* shall be read so as to affect the powers conferred on the Revenue Commissioners under section 986 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to make, amend or revoke Regulations under that section, including Regulation 41 of the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 as amended by that subsection.

##### 17. Amendment of Local Government Act 1998 — payments into Local Government Fund by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

**17**.— The Local Government Act 1998 is amended in section 4—

(*a*) by deleting subsections (1) to (5), and

(*b*) by inserting the following before subsection (6):

“(5A) The Minister shall pay into the Fund for the financial year 2009 and each subsequent financial year an amount, such as he or she shall determine, with the consent of the Minister for Finance.”.

##### 18. Amendment of Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 — early childcare supplement.

**18**.— (1) The Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 is amended in Part 4A (inserted by section 28> of the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006)—

(*a*) in section 223A (substituted by section 21 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008) by substituting “5 years” for “5 years and 6 months”, and

(*b*) in section 223B (as so substituted)—

(i) in subsection (1) by substituting “€996” for “€1,104” and “€83” for “€92”,

(ii) in subsection (2) by substituting “5 years” for “5 years and 6 months”, and

(iii) in subsection (3) by substituting “5 years” for “5 years and 6 months”,

and sections 223A and 223B, as so amended, are set out in the Table to this section.

(2) This section comes into operation, or is to be taken to have come into operation, on 1 March 2009.

TABLE

| Entitlement to early childcare supplement. | 223A.—Subject to this Part, a person who is a qualified person for the purposes of Part 4 shall, so long as he or she remains so qualified, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas a monthly payment (in this Act referred to as ‘early childcare supplement’) in accordance with section 223B in respect of each qualified child (within the meaning of section 219) until such time as the qualified child attains the age of 5 years. |

| --- | --- |

| Amount of early childcare supplement. | 223B.—(1) Subject to this Act, the maximum amount of early childcare supplement payable under section 223A in respect of each qualified child shall not exceed €996 in any year, payable in equal monthly instalments of €83. (2) Early childcare supplement shall be payable in respect of the month following the month of the birth of the child and shall continue to be payable up to and including the month in which the child attains the age of 5 years. (3) Early childcare supplement shall be paid monthly in arrears and the final payment shall be in respect of the month in which the child attains the age of 5 years. (4) Regulations which may be made under section 242(1)(*a*) providing for the time and manner of payment of early childcare supplement shall be subject to the consent of the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Health and Children. |

##### 19. Short title.

**19**.— This Act may be cited as the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009.

## SCHEDULE Bodies to which the definition of “Public Service Body” does not apply

1. Any body corporate established by Act of Parliament before 6 December 1922 that, upon its establishment, was of a commercial character.

2. Dublin Airport Authority, public limited company.

3. Cork Airport Authority, public limited company.

4. Shannon Airport Authority, public limited company.

5. Bord Gáis Éireann.

6. Bord na gCon.

7. Bord na Móna.

8. Córas Iompair Éireann.

9. Coillte Teoranta.

10. Electricity Supply Board.

11. Eirgrid.

12. A harbour authority within the meaning of the Harbours Act 1946 or company to which section 7 of the Harbours Act 1996 relates.

13. Horse Racing Ireland.

14. Irish National Stud Company Limited.

15. Irish Aviation Authority.

16. An Post.

17. An Post National Lottery Company.

18. Radio Teilifís Éireann.

19. Teilifís na Gaeilge.

20. Railway Procurement Agency.

21. Voluntary Health Insurance Board.

22. A subsidiary of a body to which this Schedule relates, including a subsidiary of any such subsidiary.