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1 1981

SOCIAL WELFARE (CONSOLIDATION) ACT, 1981

PART V

Intermittent Unemployment Insurance

Preliminary and General

Interpretation.

[1942 IU, ss. 2, 6, 7, 8, 9]

233. —(1) In this Part—

calendar week” means the period of 7 days commencing from midnight between Sunday and Monday;

the Fund” means the Supplementary Unemployment Fund established under the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Act, 1942 ;

inclement weather” means weather that, owing to rain, storm, snow, hail, frost, flood or other adverse climatic condition, renders temporarily unsafe or impracticable the performance of work in an insurable employment, having regard to the health or safety of the persons engaged therein or to the nature or technical requirements of the work;

insurable employment” has the meaning assigned by section 234 ;

insurance year” means such period as may be prescribed;

insured person” means any person of the age of 16 years or upwards who is employed in insurable employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship, written or oral, whether expressed or implied and whether such person is paid by the employer or some other person, and whether paid by time or by the piece or partly by time and partly by the piece, or otherwise, or without any money payment, but does not include a person employed under a contract of apprenticeship under which no money is payable by the employer, or a person who is for the time being an excepted person within the meaning of section 236 (2);

intermittent unemployment” means unemployment and consequent loss of wages due to stoppage of work which is unavoidable owing to inclement weather, in an insurable employment and the expression “intermittently unemployed” shall be construed accordingly;

local office” means an employment exchange or other place appointed by the Minister as a local office;

local officer” means an officer who for the time being is in charge of a local office; “skilled worker” means—

[S.I. No. 82 of 1955]

(a) as respects employment in the building, civil engineering or painting trades, an insured person who is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship in—

(i) the capacity of carpenter, joiner, wood-cutting machinist, bricklayer, mason, stonecutter, stonelayer, terrazzo and mosaic worker; floor and wall tiler, plasterer, slater, roof-tiler, painter, paperhanger, decorator, glazier, plumber, heating-fitter, gas-fitter, french-polisher or electrician, or

(ii) such other capacity as the Minister may decide generally or in a particular case to be employment as a skilled worker,

(b) as respects employment in any other trade that is declared by an order made by the Minister under this Part to be insurable employment for the purposes of this Part, an insured person who is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship in—

(i) a capacity which constitutes such person as a skilled worker as defined by such order, or

(ii) such other capacity as the Minister may decide generally or in a particular case to be employment as a skilled worker;

unskilled worker” means an insured person who is not a skilled worker;

[1963 MP, s. 17]

young person” means an insured person who has attained the age of 16 years but has not attained the age of 18 years.

[1942 IU, s. 7; 1963 MP, s. 17]

(2) A person shall not be regarded as a skilled worker or an unskilled worker until the first day after the termination of the insurance year in which he attains the age of 18 years.

[1963 MP, s. 17]

(3) A person who attains the age of 18 years shall be regarded as a young person until the last day of the insurance year in which he attains that age.

[1942 IU, s. 7]

(4) An insured person who is a skilled worker and whose normal occupation alters in such a way as to make him an unskilled worker shall be regarded as a skilled worker until such date as it is proved to the satisfaction of the Minister that the normal occupation of the insured person has so altered.

(5) An insured person who is an unskilled worker and whose normal occupation alters in such a way as to make him a skilled worker shall be regarded as an unskilled worker until such date as it is proved to the satisfaction of the Minister that the normal occupation of the insured person has so altered.

Insurable employment.

[1942 IU, s. 4; S.I. No. 82 of 1955]

234. —In this Part “insurable employment” means employment by way of manual labour that is either employment in the building, civil engineering or painting trades or employment (in any other trade that is declared by an order made by the Minister under this Part to be insurable employment for the purposes of this Part and is not—

(a) employment in the building trade which is—

(i) under any local or other public authority, in any pensionable office, situation or employment in a permanent capacity, or

(ii) in the military service of the State, or

(iii) employment of unskilled workers and of young persons on works undertaken by or on behalf of the Irish Land Commission for the improvement of lands purchased or agreed to be purchased under the Land Purchase Acts, or

(b) employment in the civil engineering or painting trades which is—

(i) under any local or other public authority, or

(ii) employment of unskilled workers and of young persons on work undertaken for the development of bogs or in the course of the establishment and maintenance of forests, or

(iii) employment by the State on work in the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, alteration, repair or demolition of public roads, or

(iv) employment on works undertaken under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945 , or under the Land Reclamation Act, 1949 , or any Acts for the time being in force replacing or amending those Acts, or

(v) employment by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs on all work in the erection or laying, alteration, repair, painting, decoration or demolition of poles, masts, standards, pylons, wires or cables for telephone, telegraph or radio communication or for broadcasting, or

(vi) employment by Córas Iompair Éireann where no deductions are made from the wages of employed persons on account of time lost owing to inclement weather, or

(vii) employment by the Electricity Supply Board on work carried out directly by the Board in accordance with its statutory functions.

Employment in the building, civil engineering and painting trades.

[1942 IU, s. 3; S.I. No. 82 of 1955]

235. —(1) In this Part “employment in the building trade” means employment on work of a kind commonly undertaken or carried out by builders or building contractors, and includes employment on work of the following descriptions—

(a) all work in the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, painting, decoration or demolition of buildings;

(b) all work in the installation, alteration, fitting, repair, painting, decoration, maintenance or demolition in any building or its site of articles, fittings, pipes, containers, tubes, wires or instruments (including central heating apparatus or machinery or fuel containers connected thereto), for the heating, lighting, power or water supply of such building but excluding work in the construction or laying of public mains for the supply of water, gas or electricity or the connection of buildings and their sites with such mains.

(c) all work usually carried out or undertaken by a builder or building contractor—

(i) in the clearing and laying out of sites for buildings,

(ii) in the construction of foundations on such sites,

(iii) in the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance within such sites of all sewers, drains or other works for use in connection with the sanitation of buildings or the disposal of waste,

(iv) in the erection on such sites of boundary walls or fences for the use, protection or ornamentation of buildings, and

(v) in the making of roads and paths within the boundaries of such sites;

(d) all work in the manufacture, alteration, fitting or repair of articles of wood, worked stone, marble, slate, plaster, cement (including concrete blocks) or of cement-like material, for use in the construction, reconstruction, alteration, fitting, repair, decoration or maintenance of buildings and of a type commonly made in builders' workshops or yards, but excluding—

(i) the manufacture, alteration or repair of any article or monument designed as a memorial to living or dead persons,

(ii) the quarrying and cutting of slate at a quarry,

(iii) the quarrying in rough blocks of marble or stone,

(iv) the manufacture of articles of movable furniture,

(v) the manufacture of articles requiring treatment in an oven or kiln in the process of manufacture,

(vi) the manufacture of sewer pipes, drain pipes, bricks, floor tiles, roof tiles, and

(vii) the manufacture of articles composed wholly or mainly of a combination of cement and asbestos.

(2) “Employment in the civil engineering trade” means employment on work of a kind commonly undertaken or carried out by civil engineering or public works contractors and includes employment on work of the following descriptions—

(a) the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, painting, decoration or demolition of—

(i) roads, paths, kerbs, bridges, viaducts, aqueducts, harbours, docks, wharves, piers, jetties, quays, promenades, landing places, lighthouses, beacons, sea defences, airports, railroads, tunnels, tramways or canals,

(ii) waterworks, reservoirs, filter beds, wells, works for the production of gas or electricity, sewage works, public mains for the supply of water, gas or electricity or for the disposal of sewage and all work in the connection of buildings and their sites with such mains,

(iii) river works, dams, weirs, embankments, breakwaters, moles, works for the purpose of land or road or river drainage, land reclamation or the prevention of coastal erosion, and

(iv) sports-grounds, playgrounds, tennis courts, ball alleys, swimming pools and public baths or bathing places in concrete, stone, tarmacadam, asphalt, or such like material;

(b) the erection or laying, alteration, repair, painting, decoration or demolition of poles, masts, standards, pylons, wires or cables for telephone, telegraph or radio communication or for broadcasting; and

(c) ground levelling, ground formation or drainage in connection with the construction or reconstruction of grass sports-grounds, public parks, playing fields, tennis courts, golf links, playgrounds, race courses and greyhound racing tracks, but excluding the sowing of grass seed on such grounds,

(3) “Employment in the painting trade” means employment on work of a kind commonly undertaken or carried out by painting contractors.

Excepted persons.

[1942 IU, s. 5]

236. —(1) Whenever the Minister is satisfied, in respect of any class of persons employed by a particular employer in an insurable employment, that—

(a) having regard to the normal practice of the employer, the employment of such class of persons is permanent in character, and

(b) no deductions are made on account of time lost owing to inclement weather from the wages of such class of persons, and

(c) the other circumstances of the employment of such class of persons render it unnecessary that persons belonging to such class should be insured under this Part,

he may issue to the employer a certificate (in this Part referred to as a certificate of exception) that he is so satisfied.

(2) Where a certificate of exception in respect of a class of persons has been issued to an employer, then, any person employed by the employer who belongs to such class and who has completed three years or more permanent service with the employer shall, so long as such certificate is in force and he remains in the employment of the employer, be an excepted person for the purposes of this Part, and “excepted persons” shall in this Part be construed accordingly.

(3) The Minister may at any time revoke any certificate of exception.

Persons employed by the State.

[1942 IU, s. 11]

237. —This Part shall apply to persons employed in insurable employment by the State to whom this Part would apply if the employer were a private person, except to such of those persons as are serving in an established capacity in the permanent service of the State or having been granted certificates by the Civil Service Commissioners are serving a probationary period preliminary to establishment.

Extension of meaning of “insurable employment” and “skilled worker”.

[1942 IU, s. 15]

238. —(1) The Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit, by order—

(a) declare that employment in any trade (defined in such manner as the Minister thinks fit) shall be insurable employment for the purposes of this Part, and

(b) define, by reference to employment in such capacities as the Minister thinks proper and specifies in the order, the expression “skilled worker” in relation to the employment declared by the order to be insurable employment.

(2) No order made under this section shall come into force unless and until it has been laid before each House of the Oireachtas and has been confirmed by resolution of each such House.

Insured Persons and Contributions

Insurance against intermittent unemployment.

[1942 IU, s. 16]

239. —Every insured person shall be insured in the manner provided by this Part against intermittent unemployment.

Contributions.

[1942 IU, s. 17]

240. —The funds required for providing supplementary benefit (within the meaning of section 251 (1)) and for making any other payments that under this Part are to be made out of the Fund shall be derived partly from weekly contributions by insured persons and partly from weekly contributions by the employers of those persons.

Liability for contributions.

[1942 IU, s. 18]

241. —(1) Every insured person of the classes set out in column (1) of Part I of the Fifth Schedule and every employer of any such insured person shall be liable to pay contributions (in this Part referred to as weekly contributions) weekly at the respective rates set out in columns (2) and (3) of that Part of that Schedule.

(2) Except where otherwise prescribed under this Part, the employer of an insured person shall in the first instance be liable to pay both the weekly contribution payable by himself (in this Part referred to as the employer's contribution) and also on behalf of and to the exclusion of the insured person, the weekly contribution payable by the insured person (in this Part referred to as the insured person's contribution), and for the purposes of this Part weekly contributions paid by an employer on behalf of an insured person shall be deemed to be weekly contributions by the insured person.

(3) A weekly contribution shall be payable for each calendar week during the whole or any part of which an insured person has been employed by an employer, subject however as follows—

(a) where one weekly contribution has been paid in respect of an insured person in any calendar week, no further weekly contribution shall be payable in respect of him for the same calendar week, and

(b) where no services are rendered by an insured person during any calendar week and no remuneration is paid in respect of that calendar week, the employer shall not be liable to pay any weekly contribution either on his own behalf or on behalf of the insured person in respect of that calendar week.

(4) Where a person is employed in any calendar week under the same employer partly in insurable employment and partly in other employment, then, notwithstanding subsection (3), no weekly contribution shall be payable in respect of that person for that calendar week unless half or more than half of the time during which he is so employed is in the insurable employment.

Employer's contribution irrecoverable from insured person.

[1942 IU, s. 19]

242. —Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, the employer of an insured person shall not be entitled to deduct from the wages of, or otherwise to recover from, the insured person the employer's contribution.

Recovery by employer of insured person's contribution.

[1942 IU, s. 20]

243. —(1) Subject to this section and any regulations which the Minister may make under this Part, the employer of an insured person shall be entitled to recover from the insured person in accordance with this section the amount of any weekly contributions paid by him on behalf of the insured person.

(2) Where an insured person receives wages or other pecuniary remuneration from his employer, the amount of any weekly contribution paid by the employer on behalf of the insured person shall, notwithstanding the provisions of any Act or any contract to the contrary, be recoverable by means of deductions from the wages of the insured person or from any other remuneration due from the employer to the insured person and not otherwise, but no such deductions may be made from any wages or remuneration other than such as are paid in respect of the period or part of the period in respect of which the weekly contribution is payable, or in excess of the sum which represents the amount of the weekly contributions for the period in respect of which the wages or other remuneration are paid.

(3) Where a weekly contribution paid by the employer of an insured person on behalf of the insured person is recoverable from the insured person, but is not recoverable by means of deductions under subsection (2), it shall (without prejudice to any other means of recovery) be recoverable as a simple contract debt in a court of competent jurisdiction but no such weekly contribution shall be recoverable unless proceedings for the purpose are instituted within three months from the date when the contribution was payable.

(4) Where an insured person is not paid wages or other money payments by his employer or any other person, the employer shall be liable to pay the weekly contributions payable both by himself and the insured person and shall not be entitled to recover any part thereof from the insured person.

(5) Any sum deducted by an employer from wages or other remuneration under this section shall be deemed to have been entrusted to him for the purpose of paying the weekly contribution in respect of which it was deducted.

Persons treated as employers.

[1942 IU, s. 21]

244. —Where an insured person is employed by more than one person in any calendar week, the first person employing him in that week shall be deemed to be the employer of the insured person for the purposes of the provisions of this Part relating to the payment of weekly contributions.

Dates of payment of contributions.

[1942 IU, s. 22; S.I. No. 11 of 1953]

245. —(1) Where it has been decided in accordance with section 271 that weekly contributions under this Part are not payable in respect of any person or class of persons and that decision is subsequently revised or reversed in accordance with sections 295 to 300 or, on appeal, by the High Court, so as to make weekly contributions payable in respect of that person or that class of persons, weekly contributions shall be so payable only as from the date on which the decision was revised or reversed.

(2) Where it has been decided in accordance with section 271 that weekly contributions in respect of a person or class of persons are payable at a particular rate under this Part and that decision is subsequently revised or reversed in accordance with sections 295 to 300 or, on appeal, by the High Court, so as to make weekly contributions payable at another rate in respect of that person or class of persons, weekly contributions shall be so payable at such other rate only as from the date on which the decision was revised or reversed.

Repayment of contributions.

[1942 IU, s. 23]

246. —Any weekly contributions paid by a person and his employer respectively under the erroneous belief that the weekly contributions were payable in respect of that person under this Part may be returned to them by the Minister on application being made to him in that behalf in such form as he may require before the expiration of 12 months from the date the weekly contributions were paid, subject, in the case of the insured person's contributions, to the deduction of any amount of supplementary benefit received by him to which he would not have been entitled if these weekly contributions had not been paid.

Regulations as to payment of contributions by stamps, etc.

[1942 IU, s. 24; 1952, s. 122]

247. —(1) The Minister may make regulations providing for any matters incidental to the payment and collection of weekly contributions and in particular for—

(a) the payment of weekly contributions by means of adhesive stamps (in this Part referred to as supplementary insurance stamps) affixed to books or cards (in this Part respectively referred to as supplementary unemployment books and supplementary unemployment cards) or otherwise, and for regulating the manner, times and conditions in, at and under which supplementary insurance stamps are to be affixed or payments are otherwise to be made;

(b) the entry in or upon supplementary unemployment books or cards of particulars of weekly contributions paid in respect of any specified period or of such other particulars as may be required in the case of the persons to whom the supplementary unemployment books or cards relate, and for the acceptance of such entry as sufficient evidence of the number of weekly contributions so paid or of the other particulars so entered;

(c) the application for, and the issue, sale, custody, production and delivery up of supplementary unemployment books or cards and the replacement of supplementary unemployment books or cards which have been lost, destroyed or defaced;

(d) the rendering by employers to the Minister of such particulars relating to persons employed by them as the Minister may require or prescribe.

[1952, s. 122]

(2) Regulations under this section providing for the payment of weekly contributions, at the option of the persons liable to pay, either—

(a) by means of supplementary insurance stamps, or

(b) by some alternative method, the use of which involves greater expense in administration to the departments of State concerned than would be incurred if the contributions were paid by means of supplementary insurance stamps,

may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, include provision for the payment to the Minister by any person who adopts any alternative method, and for the recovery by the Minister, of the prescribed fees. The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of such fees and all such fees shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs from time to time and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of that Minister.

Issue of supplementary insurance stamps.

[1942 IU, s. 25]

248. —Supplementary insurance stamps shall be prepared and issued in such manner as the Revenue Commissioners, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may direct and the said Commissioners may, by regulations, provide for applying, with the necessary adaptations, as respects supplementary insurance stamps, all or any of the provisions, including penal provisions, of sections 21, 35 and 36 of the Inland Revenue Regulation Act, 1890, the Stamp Duties Management Act, 1891, section 9 of the Stamp Act, 1891, and section 65 of the Post Office Act, 1908, and may, with the consent of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, provide for the sale of supplementary insurance stamps at Post Offices.

Powers of Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in relation to supplementary insurance stamps.

[1942 IU, s. 26]

249. —The Government may by order provide that any powers and duties of the Revenue Commissioners with reference to supplementary insurance stamps shall be exercised and performed by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, either to the exclusion of the Revenue Commissioners or concurrently with the Revenue Commissioners, and any such order may contain such provisions as appear to the Government to be necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the exercise and performance of the duties to which the order relates in the manner provided by such order.

Winding-up and bankruptcy.

[1976 (No. 2), s.7]

250. —(1) In this section—

the Act of 1889” means the Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy (Ireland) Act, 1889.

(2) Any sum deducted by an employer from the remuneration of an employee of his and so deducted under section 243 in respect of a weekly contribution under this Part and unpaid by the employer in respect of such contribution shall not form part of the assets of a limited company in a winding-up under the Companies Act, 1963 , and in such a winding-up a sum equal in amount to the sum so deducted shall, notwithstanding anything in that Act, be paid to the Fund in priority to the debts specified in section 285 (2) of that Act.

(3) Any sum deducted by an employer from the remuneration of an employee of his and so deducted under section 243 in respect of a weekly contribution under this Part and unpaid by the employer in respect of such contribution before the date of the order of adjudication or the filing of the petition for arrangement (as the case may be) shall not form part of the property of the bankrupt or arranging debtor so as to be included among the debts which under section 4 of the Act of 1889 are in the distribution of such property to be paid in priority to all other debts, but shall, before such distribution and notwithstanding anything in the Act of 1889, be paid to the Fund in priority to the debts specified in section 4 of that Act.

(4) Formal proof of a debt to which priority is given by this section shall not be required except where required by or under the Act of 1889 or the Companies Act, 1963 .

[1942 IU, s. 27 (3)]

(5) There shall be included among the debts which, under section 4 of the Act of 1889, are, in the distribution of the property of a bankrupt or arranging debtor, to be paid in priority to all other debts all weekly contributions payable by the bankrupt or arranging debtor in respect of insured persons during the 4 months before the date of the order of adjudication in the case of a bankrupt or the filing of the petition for arrangement in the case of an arranging debtor and that Act shall have effect accordingly and formal proof of the debts to which priority is given under this subsection shall not be required except in cases where it may otherwise be provided by general orders made under that Act.

Supplementary Benefit

Right to supplementary benefit.

[1942 IU, s. 28]

251. —(1) Every insured person who is intermittently unemployed on any day (other than a Sunday or a public holiday within the meaning of the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973 , or the first day of a spell of insurable employment with the person who was his employer when such intermittent unemployment occurred) and in whose case the conditions in section 253 are fulfilled shall, subject to this Part, be entitled to receive payment (in this Part referred to as supplementary benefit) in respect of each hour of intermittent unemployment occurring on such day during working hours.

(2) Where the duration of a period of intermittent unemployment occurring during working hours on any day is a fraction of an hour only or is one or more hours and a fraction of an hour, supplementary benefit shall not be payable in respect of such fraction of an hour and, for the purposes of this subsection, where two or more periods of intermittent unemployment occur during working hours on any day such periods shall be deemed to be one continuous period:

[1963 MP, s. 18]

Provided that, where the working hours on any day consist of a number of hours and a fraction of an hour (not being less than half-an-hour) supplementary benefit shall be payable in respect of such fraction of an hour where intermittent unemployment occurs during the working hours on that day and extends over the whole of such hours.

(3) In this section “working hours” means, in relation to an insured person, the hours, exclusive of overtime and mealtime, during which, if there was not inclement weather, work in an insurable employment would have been performed by the insured person.

Rates of supplementary benefit.

[1942 IU, s. 29; 1963 MP, s. 19]

252. —Subject to this Part, supplementary benefit in the case of an insured person of any class set out in column (1) of Part II of the Fifth Schedule shall be at the hourly rate set out in column (2) of that Part opposite the mention of that class: provided that, where supplementary benefit is payable in respect of a fraction of an hour, the amount of supplementary benefit so payable shall be half the appropriate hourly rate.

Conditions for receipt of supplementary benefit.

[1942 IU, s. 30; 1978 AM, s. 15]

253. —(1) The first condition for the receipt of supplementary benefit in respect of intermittent unemployment by an insured person in any insurance year is that prior to the week in which such intermittent unemployment occurs at least 12 weekly contributions have been paid in respect of him as an insured person since—

(a) in case such insurance year is the first insurance year, the beginning of that insurance year, and

(b) in any other case, the beginning of the insurance year next preceding the insurance year in which the intermittent unemployment occurs.

(2) The second condition for the receipt by an insured person of supplementary benefit in respect of any period of intermittent unemployment is that the person to whom a report relating to that period is sent under section 254 has received the report within three days (or such longer period as the Minister may in a particular case accept) after the day on which the intermittent unemployment occurred and that that person has acknowledged the receipt of such report.

Notification of intermittent unemployment.

[1942 IU, s. 31]

254. —(1) Where a stoppage of work has occurred on any day and the employer of an insured person or the insured person claims that such stoppage constitutes intermittent unemployment, the employer shall on that day transmit to such person as the Minister may in any particular case direct or, in the absence of such direction, to a local officer a report stating that the stoppage has occurred, the duration thereof and the nature of the weather conditions alleged to have caused it.

(2) Where an insured person claims that he has been intermittently unemployed on any day, he may send to such person as the Minister may in any particular case direct or, in the absence of such direction, to a local officer a report stating that such intermittent unemployment has occurred, the duration thereof and the nature of the weather conditions alleged to have caused it, but this provision shall not be construed as relieving the employer of the insured person of the obligation imposed on him by subsection (1).

(3) Where a person receives a report under this section he shall as soon as may be acknowledge the receipt thereof.

Payment of supplementary benefit by employers.

[1942 IU, s. 32]

255. —(1) Subject to this Part and to such directions as may be given by the Minister either generally or in any particular case, any amount or amounts of supplementary benefit to which an insured person becomes entitled shall be paid to him by his employer, and the insured person and his employer shall, in respect of each such payment, supply to the Minister such particulars, and complete and transmit such forms, including the insured person's acknowledgment of the amount received by him, as may be prescribed.

(2) An insured person who is not satisfied that the amount of supplementary benefit paid to him by his employer is the amount which he is entitled to receive under this Part or his employer, at his request, shall be entitled to apply to a deciding officer to determine, in accordance with the provisions of this Part relating to the determination of questions as to payment of supplementary benefit, the amount of supplementary benefit to which he is entitled.

(3) Where a local officer or other person to whom a report in relation to the intermittent unemployment of an insured person has been sent in accordance with section 254 sends to the employer of the insured person a notification that he is not satisfied that the stoppage of work to which the report relates was due to inclement weather or that the other provisions of this Part governing the payment of supplementary benefit are fulfilled, or where in any case an employer is in doubt whether supplementary benefit is payable or as to the amount or rate of supplementary benefit payable, the employer shall forthwith apply to a deciding officer to determine the question in accordance with the provisions of this Part relating to determination of questions as to payment of supplementary benefit.

(4) If in any case an insured person has not received payment of any supplementary benefit to which he believes he is entitled under this Part and is not satisfied that the question of his title to receive such benefit has been referred to a deciding officer under subsection (3), he shall be entitled either to request his employer so to refer it or himself to refer the question to a deciding officer for determination.

(5) An employer who receives an insured person's request to refer a question of his title to supplementary benefit for a deciding officer's determination shall, unless he has already done so, forthwith refer the question to a deciding officer for determination.

(6) Where in accordance with subsection (3) or subsection (4) any question has to be referred to a deciding officer, the insured person shall not be entitled to receive payment from his employer under subsection (1) unless and until it is determined by the deciding officer that he is so entitled, and the employer shall not make such payment pending such determination or except in accordance therewith.

Payment of supplementary benefit by Minister.

[1942 IU, s. 33]

256. —In any special case in which the Minister is of opinion that it would be impossible or unduly burdensome for an employer to pay under this Part the amount of supplementary benefit due to an insured person, the Minister may excuse the employer from the duty of so paying and where an employer is so excused the Minister shall pay or cause to be paid from the Fund any amount of supplementary benefit payable to the insured person by the employer if he were not so excused.

Repayment by Minister of benefit paid by employers.

[1942 IU, s. 34]

257. —The amount of any supplementary benefit duly paid in accordance with this Part by an employer shall be repaid to him by the Minister out of the Fund on application being made, in such manner as may be prescribed, by the employer for such repayment.

Circumstances in which no repayments are to be made to employers.

[1942 IU, s. 35]

258. —Whenever an employer makes a payment of supplementary benefit to a person not entitled to receive supplementary benefit under this Part or in excess of the amount to which he was entitled, the amount or the excess so paid shall not be repayable to the employer out of the Fund.

Recovery of amounts improperly paid.

[1942 IU, s. 36]

259. —(1) Any amount of supplementary benefit received by an insured person from his employer that is not repayable to the employer out of the Fund by reason of section 258 shall be repayable by the insured person to the employer on demand made in that behalf by the employer and, if not so repaid, may be recovered by the employer as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or by deduction from any payment or payments of supplementary benefit to which the insured person subsequently becomes entitled.

(2) Every payment of supplementary benefit received by an insured person from the Minister that he was not entitled to receive under this Part shall be repayable by him to the Minister on demand made in that behalf by the Minister and, if not so repaid, may be recovered as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or by deduction from any payment or payments of supplementary benefit to which the insured person subsequently becomes entitled.

(3) Where under subsection (2) an amount may be deducted from the supplementary benefit to which an insured person becomes entitled, it shall be the duty of an employer to make such deduction as the Minister may direct from any supplementary benefit payable to the insured person by that employer under this Part and to pay to the Minister any amount or amounts so deducted.

(4) Any amount paid to an employer out of the Fund to which, under this Part, he was not entitled shall be repayable by the employer on demand made in that behalf by the Minister and, if not so repaid, may be recovered as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or by deduction from any amount or amounts that subsequently become payable to that employer out of the Fund.

(5) Every sum recovered by or repaid to the Minister under this section shall be paid into the Fund.

Notification of amounts improperly paid.

[1942 IU, s. 37]

260. —Where it has been determined in accordance with this Part that an amount paid by an employer is not repayable out of the Fund, the employer who paid the amount and the person who received it shall be informed by the deciding officer of the determination.

Procedure.

[1942 IU, s. 42]

261. —(1) The Minister may—

(a) prescribe the evidence to be required as to the fulfilment of the conditions set out in section 253 and the other provisions of this Part relating to an insured person's title to supplementary benefit, and for that purpose require the attendance of insured persons at such offices or places and at such times as may be required, and require employers to answer inquiries relating to any matters in connection with which information is required to enable an insured person's title to supplementary benefit to be determined;

(b) prescribe the time, manner and form of—

(i) the payment by employers to insured persons of supplementary benefit due to them,

(ii) the repayment out of the Fund to employers of amounts of supplementary benefit paid by them,

(iii) raising questions for determination by deciding officers, and

(iv) the doing of any other thing incidental to the reporting of intermittent unemployment, the acknowledgment of the receipt of reports of intermittent unemployment and the paying of supplementary benefit and the repayment out of the Fund of supplementary benefit paid by employers;

(c) by regulations require employers, insured persons and others to furnish such information as the Minister may consider desirable in connection with payments of supplementary benefit and the occurrence of intermittent unemployment;

(d) prescribe the practice and procedure to be followed on the consideration and examination of questions to be considered and determined by appeals officers and deciding officers;

(e) by regulations provide for the appointment of a person to receive, on behalf of or as representative of a person who becomes of unsound mind or dies, any sums payable out of the Fund to or in respect of him.

(2) Regulations made by the Minister by virtue of subsection (1) (a) shall not be construed as affecting the operation of section 262 .

Additional methods of fulfilling conditions.

[1942 IU, s. 43; 1978 AM, s. 15]

262. —(1) Where supplementary benefit has been paid to an insured person, in respect of any day or part thereof a certificate, in the prescribed form, signed by the insured person or the person who was the employer of the insured person on such day certifying any one or more of the following matters—

(a) that the insured person was intermittently unemployed on such day,

(b) that the hours during which the insured person was intermittently unemployed on such day were working hours,

(c) that such day was not a Sunday or a public holiday within the meaning of the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973 , and

(d) that such day was not the first day of a spell of insurable employment with the person who was the employer of the insured person,

shall, for the purposes of this Part, be sufficient evidence of the facts so certified, unless and until the contrary is shown to be the case.

(2) Where supplementary benefit has been paid to an insured person a certificate, in the prescribed form, by the insured person that he is the rightful holder of a particular supplementary unemployment book or a certificate, in the prescribed form, by the person who was the employer of that person at the time such supplementary benefit was paid that he is satisfied that the insured person is the rightful holder of such book shall, for the purposes of this Part, be sufficient evidence of the identity of that insured person, unless and until the contrary is shown to be the case.

[1952, s. 122]

(3) Where weekly contributions in respect of an insured person are paid by affixing supplementary insurance stamps to his supplementary unemployment book or otherwise, and supplementary benefit has been paid to the insured person in any insurance year, the following provisions shall, for the purposes of the first condition in section 253 , have effect—

(a) a certificate, in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars, by the person (in this subsection referred to as the employer) who was the employer of the insured person at the time such supplementary benefit was paid that, prior to the week in which occurred the intermittent unemployment for which such supplementary benefit was paid, a specified number of weekly contributions had been paid for that insured person in respect of such insurance year shall be sufficient evidence of the facts so certified, unless and until the contrary is shown to be the case;

(b) a certificate, in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars, by the employer that there was entered, in accordance with regulations made under section 247 on the current supplementary unemployment book of the insured person a statement that a specified number of weekly contributions had been paid for that insured person in respect of the immediately preceding insurance year shall, unless and until the contrary is shown to be the case, be sufficient evidence that there were paid the number of weekly contributions so certified to be so entered.

Restriction on payment of unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance.

[1942 IU, s. 44]

263. —Unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance shall not be payable for a day in respect of which or part of which supplementary benefit is paid or payable under this Part.

Administration

Inspectors.

[1942 IU, ss. 48, 49; 1952, Sch. 6]

264. —(1) The Minister may, with the sanction of the Minister for the Public Service, appoint such and so many persons as he thinks fit to be inspectors for the purposes of this Part.

(2) In this Part “inspector” means a person who is either—

(a) a person appointed to be an inspector under subsection (1), or

(b) a person who is an inspector appointed under section 114 .

(3) An inspector shall, for the purposes of this Part, have power to do all or any of the following things—

(a) to enter at all reasonable times any premises or place where he has reasonable grounds for supposing that any persons employed in an insurable employment are employed or any records in relation to any such persons are kept;

(b) to make such examination and inquiry as may be necessary for ascertaining whether the provisions of this Part are complied with in any such premises or place;

(c) to examine, either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, in relation to any matters under this Part every person whom he finds in any such premises or place, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been an employed person, and to require every such person to be so examined and to sign a declaration of the truth of the matters in respect of which he is so examined;

(d) to exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying this Part into effect.

(4) The occupier of any such premises or place and any other person employing any insured person, and the servants and agents of any such occupier or other person, and any employed person shall furnish to any inspector all such information and shall produce for inspection all such registers, books, cards, wages sheets, records of wages and other documents as the inspector may reasonably require.

(5) If any person wilfully delays or obstructs an inspector in the exercise of any power under this section or fails to give such information or to produce such documents as aforesaid, or conceals or prevents or attempts to conceal or prevent any person from appearing before or being examined by an inspector, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding £5.

(6) No one shall be required under this section to answer any question or give any evidence tending to incriminate himself.

(7) Every inspector shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment, and on applying for admission to any premises or place for the purposes of this Part shall, if so required, produce the certificate to the occupier.

Provisions in relation to excepted persons whose employment is terminated.

[1942 IU, s. 50]

265. —Where a person (in this section referred to as the employer) terminates the employment in an insurable employment of a person (in this section referred to as the employee) who immediately before such termination was an excepted person, the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) in case the employee was an excepted person during the 12 weeks immediately preceding such termination, the employer shall pay to the Minister, in respect of those 12 weeks, a sum equal to the amount of the weekly contributions which would, if the employee had not been an excepted person during those 12 weeks, have been payable in respect of the employee under this Part for those 12 weeks;

(b) in case the employee was not an excepted person during the 12 weeks immediately preceding such termination, the employer shall pay to the Minister, in respect of the weeks immediately preceding such termination during which the employee was an excepted person, a sum equivalent to the amount of the weekly contributions which would, if the employee had not been an excepted person during those weeks, have been payable under this Part in respect of the employee for those weeks;

(c) no part of any sum paid by the employer under this section shall be recoverable by the employer from the employee;

(d) any sum payable to the Minister by the employer under this section shall, for the purposes of the other provisions (including penal provisions) of this Part, be deemed to be weekly contributions, and those provisions shall apply accordingly;

(e) any sum recovered by or paid to the Minister under this section shall be paid into the Fund;

(f) any sums recovered by or paid to the Minister under this section in respect of any weeks shall, for the purposes of the first condition in section 253 , be deemed to be weekly contributions paid under this Part in respect of the employee for those weeks.

Offences, including offences relating to bodies corporate.

[1942 IU, s. 51; 1976 (No. 2), s. 8]

266. —(1) (a) If any person—

(i) buys, sells or offers for sale, takes or gives in exchange, or pawns or takes in pawn any supplementary unemployment card, supplementary unemployment book or any used supplementary insurance stamp,

(ii) affixes any used supplementary insurance stamp to any supplementary unemployment card or supplementary unemployment book, or

(iii) affixes to any supplementary unemployment card or supplementary unemployment book a forged or counterfeit supplementary insurance stamp,

he shall be guilty of an offence.

(b) If any person, for the purpose of obtaining any supplementary benefit or payment or repayment under this Part, whether for himself or some other person, or for any purpose connected with this Part—

(i) knowingly makes any false statement or false representation or knowingly conceals any material fact, or

(ii) produces or furnishes, or causes or knowingly allows to be produced or furnished, any document or information which he knows to be false in a material particular,

he shall be guilty of an offence.

(c) Where a person aids, abets, counsels or procures an employee of his to commit any offence under paragraph (a) or (b) or conspires with the employee for the commission by the employee of any such offence, that person shall be guilty of an offence.

(d) A person who is guilty of an offence under this subsection shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500 or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and such imprisonment, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £2,000 or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(e) In any proceedings under this subsection in respect of used supplementary insurance stamps, a supplementary insurance stamp shall be deemed to have been used if it has been affixed to a supplementary unemployment card or supplementary unemployment book or has been cancelled or defaced in any way, and whether or not it has actually been used for the purpose of payment of a weekly contribution.

(2) (a) If any employer fails to pay at or within a prescribed time any weekly contribution which he is liable under this Part to pay, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(b) If any employer deducts or attempts to deduct the whole or any part of any employer's contribution in respect of a person from that person's remuneration, the employer shall be guilty of an offence.

(c) If any employer makes a deduction from the remuneration of a person in respect of any weekly contribution which the employer is liable under this Part to pay, and fails to pay at or within a prescribed time the weekly contribution in respect of which the deduction was made, the employer shall be guilty of an offence.

(d) A person who is guilty of an offence under this subsection shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500 or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and such imprisonment, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £2,000 or such amount as is equivalent to twice the amount so unpaid or deducted, whichever is the greater, or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(3) Regulations may provide for offences consisting of contraventions of or failures to comply with regulations and for the imposition, at the discretion of the court—

(a) on summary conviction of such offences, of fines not exceeding specified amounts of not more than £500 or of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or of both such fines and such imprisonment, or

(b) on conviction on indictment of such offences, of fines not exceeding specified amounts of not more than £2,000 or of imprisonment for terms not exceeding two years, or of both such fines and such imprisonment, together with, in the case of continuing offences, further such fines in respect of each day on which the offences are continued.

(4) (a) Where an employer has been convicted under this section of the offence of failing to pay any weekly contributions which he is liable under this Part to pay, he shall be liable to pay to the Fund a sum equal to the amount which he has so failed to pay and, on such a conviction, if notice of the intention to do so has been served with the summons or warrant, evidence may be given of the failure on the part of the employer to pay other weekly contributions in respect of the same person during the three years preceding the date when the notice was so served, and on proof of such failure the court may order the employer to pay to the Fund a sum equal to the total of all the weekly contributions which he is so proved to have failed to pay, and the employer's right of appeal against the conviction under the section shall include a right to appeal against such an order.

(b) Any sum paid by an employer under this subsection shall be treated as a payment in satisfaction of the unpaid weekly contributions, and the insured person's portion of these weekly contributions shall not be recoverable by the employer from the insured person.

(5) (a) In any proceedings under this section or under regulations made under this section or involving any question as to the payment of weekly contributions under this Part or the recovery of any sums due to the Fund, section 119 shall apply in like manner, but with the necessary modifications, in relation to a decision under this Part which is relevant to such proceedings.

(b) Section 301 shall apply in relation to a decision made pursuant to this Part or regulations made thereunder.

(6) Any sum that an employer is liable to pay under subsection (4) or any sum due to the Fund for which a court has made an order for payment may, without prejudice to other methods of recovery, be deducted by the Minister from any sums payable out of the Fund to that employer under this Part and any amounts so deducted shall be paid by the Minister into the Fund.

(7) Nothing in this section or in regulations made under this section shall be construed as preventing the Minister from recovering by means of civil proceedings any sums due to the Fund and all such sums shall be recoverable as debts due to the State and without prejudice to any other remedy may be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

[1976 (No. 2), s. 6]

(8) Where an offence under this Part or under regulations made under this Part is committed by a body corporate, every person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate or was purporting to act in any such capacity shall also be guilty of that offence.

(9) It shall be a good defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (8) for a person to show that the offence was committed without his knowledge and that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised, having regard to the nature of his position as director, manager, secretary or other officer and to all the circumstances.

(10) Any summons or other document required to be served for the purpose of proceedings under this Part on a body corporate may be served—

(a) by leaving it at or sending it by post to the registered office of the body corporate,

(b) by leaving it at or sending it by post to any place in the State at which the body corporate conducts business, or

(c) by sending it by post to any person who is a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate or is purporting to act in any such capacity at the place where that person resides.

Prosecutions.

[1942 IU, s. 52]

267. —(1) Proceedings for an offence under this Part shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Minister or by an inspector or other officer appointed for the purpose of this Part and authorised in that behalf by special or general directions of the Minister.

(2) A prosecution for an offence under any section of this Part may be brought at the suit of the Minister.

[1976 (No. 2), s. 5]

(3) Notwithstanding any provision in any Act specifying the period within which proceedings may be commenced, a prosecution for an offence under this Part or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of this Part may be brought at any time within whichever of the following periods later expires—

(a) the period of three months commencing on the date on which it is certified in writing sealed with the official seal of the Minister that evidence sufficient to justify the institution of that prosecution came into the procurement or possession of the Minister, or

(b) the period of two years commencing on the date on which the offence was committed.

[1976 (No. 2), s. 11]

(4) Where in a prosecution for an offence under this Part or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of this Part, it is shown to the satisfaction of the court—

(a) that an application has been made by a person (in this section referred to as the defendant) for supplementary benefit, and

(b) that as a result of that application such benefit has been paid to any person (whether or not such benefit was that applied for and whether or not it was paid to the defendant),

the defendant shall be presumed to have given any information contained in the application (or to have caused it to be given on his behalf) and, where such information is false, with full knowledge of such falsity and with intent that it should deceive; but this presumption may be rebutted.

Civil proceedings against employer.

[1942 IU, s. 53]

268. —(1) Where any employer has failed or neglected to pay any weekly contributions which under this Part he is liable to pay in respect of any insured person in his employment or has failed or neglected to comply in relation to any such person with any other requirements of this Part and the regulations made thereunder and by reason thereof that person has lost in whole or in part the supplementary benefit to which he would have been entitled under this Part, he shall be entitled to recover from the employer as a simple contract debt a sum equal to the amount of the supplementary benefit so lost.

(2) Proceedings may be taken under this section notwithstanding that proceedings have been taken under any other provision of this Part in respect of the same failure or neglect.

Continuance, etc., of the Fund.

[1942 IU, s. 45]

269. —(1) The Fund shall continue in being under the control and management of the Minister. There shall be paid into the Fund all weekly contributions payable by employers and insured persons and any other moneys required to be so paid under this Part and there shall be paid out of the Fund all payments required to be so made under this Part.

(2) The accounts of the Fund shall be kept in such form as the Minister for Finance may direct or approve.

(3) The accounts of the Fund for every year of account shall be submitted for audit to the Comptroller and Auditor General and when examined and certified shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(4) Any moneys forming part of the Fund may from time to time be paid over to the Minister for Finance and by him invested and kept invested at his discretion on behalf of the Fund in all or any of the following ways, that is to say, in the purchase of any stock, fund or security in which trustees are authorised by the law for the time being in force to invest trust funds or in the purchase of any stock, shares or security the principal and interest of which are guaranteed under statutory authority by the Government and any interest received from such investment shall be paid into the Fund.

(5) Moneys available for investment under subsection (4) shall be Government moneys within the meaning of the Approved Investments Act, 1933 , and that Act shall apply in regard thereto accordingly.

[1942 IU, s. 46]

(6) Whenever and so often as it appears to the Minister that the Fund is or is likely to be either insufficient or more than sufficient to discharge the liabilities imposed or about to be imposed upon the Fund under this Part or that the rates of weekly contributions are or are likely to be excessive or deficient the Minister may by regulations do either or both of the following things—

(a) amend Part I of the Fifth Schedule by substituting for the respective rates of weekly contributions set out in columns (2) and (3) of that Part such other rates of weekly contributions as he thinks fit, but not so as to vary the rates of weekly contributions unequally as between employers and insured persons,

(b) amend Part II of the Fifth Schedule by substituting for the hourly rates of supplementary benefit set out in column (2) of that Part such other hourly rates of supplementary benefit as he thinks fit.

(7) References in subsection (6) to the Fifth Schedule shall be construed as references to that Schedule as amended by any regulations previously made under subsection (6).

Advances out of Central Fund.

[1942 IU, s. 47]

270. —(1) The Minister for Finance may out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof advance any sums required for the purpose of discharging the liabilities of the Fund, and for the purpose of providing the sums to be so advanced the Minister for Finance may borrow money in such manner as he may think proper and all moneys so borrowed shall be paid into the Exchequer.

(2) Any sums advanced under subsection (1) together with interest (if any) thereon at such rate as may be fixed by the Minister for Finance shall be charged on and be repayable out of the Fund and when so repaid shall be paid into the Exchequer.

(3) The principal of and interest on any securities issued by the Minister for Finance for the purpose of borrowing under subsection (1) and the expenses incurred in connection with the issue of such securities shall be charged on and payable out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

Decisions.

[1942 IU, s. 40; S.I. No. 11 of 1953]

271. —Every question arising—

(a) as to whether a stoppage of work in an insurable employment was due to inclement weather; or

(b) as to the fulfilment of the conditions for the receipt of supplementary benefit by an insured person; or

(c) as to the title to supplementary benefit of an insured person or as to the rate or the amount of such benefit; or

(d) as to the title of an employer to repayment from the Fund; or

(e) as to the fulfilment of any provision of sections 251 to 263 relating to payment of supplementary benefit or to repayment from the Fund; or

(f) as to whether any employment or any class of employment is, was or will be such employment as to make the person employed therein an insured person within the meaning of this Part or whether a person is or was an insured person within the meaning of this Part; or

(g) as to whether an insured person is or was a skilled worker or an unskilled worker or a young person within the meaning of this Part; or

(h) as to who is or was the employer of any insured person; or

(i) as to the rate of weekly contribution to be paid under this Part in respect of an insured person; or

(j) on any such other matter relating to this Part as may be prescribed,

shall be decided by a deciding officer.

Application of administration provisions.

[1952, s. 123]

272. —Regulations may apply any of the provisions of or made under sections 111 , 112 , 113 , 128 , 295 , 296 , 297 , 298 , 299 and 300 to insurance against intermittent unemployment, and any such application may be either with or without modifications and either in addition to or in substitution for existing provisions of this Part and sections 295 to 300 .