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10 1997

SOCIAL WELFARE ACT, 1997

PART VII

Miscellaneous Amendments

Adult dependant — change in title and payment of reduced rate.

28. —(1) Section 120(2) (inserted by section 22 of the Act of 1996) is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (d) of the following paragraph:

“(d) Where the spouse of a claimant for unemployment assistance is not the claimant's qualified adult, or is a spouse in respect of whom an increase is payable by virtue of regulations made under section 245A, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.”.

(2) Section 127 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) (inserted by section 22 of the Act of 1996) of the following subsection:

“(2) Where the spouse of a claimant for pre-retirement allowance is not the claimant's qualified adult, or is a spouse in respect of whom an increase is payable by virtue of regulations made under section 245A, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.”.

(3) Section 191B (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1996) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) Where the spouse of a claimant for disability allowance is not the claimant's qualified adult, or is a spouse in respect of whom an increase is payable by virtue of regulations made under section 245A, the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.”.

(4) Each provision of the Principal Act mentioned in column (1) of Schedule F to this Act is hereby amended in the manner specified in column (2) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that provision in column (1).

(5) Every reference in the Principal Act or any other enactment to “adult dependant” shall be construed as a reference to “qualified adult”.

Liability to maintain family.

29. —(1) Section 247 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) Subject to this Act, every question to which this section applies shall, save where the context otherwise requires, be decided by a deciding officer.”, and

(b) the substitution in subsection (1) for paragraph (dd) (inserted by section 7(3) of the Act of 1996) and (e) of the following paragraphs:

“(e) Part VA (continued payment for qualified children),

(f) Part VI (general provisions relating to social insurance, social assistance and insurability), and

(g) Part IX (liability to maintain family).”.

(2) Section 284(1) (as amended by section 19 of the Act of 1996) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution for the definition of “allowance” and “order of the Court” of the following definitions:

“‘allowance’ means one-parent family payment, supplementary welfare allowance or a relevant payment payable by virtue of section 18(1)(b) of the Social Welfare Act, 1996;”,

“‘order of the Court’ means a maintenance order (including maintenance specified in the order to be in respect of a child), including a lump sum order, a variation order or an interim order, made by a court under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 , the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , the Status of Children Act, 1987 , the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989 , the Family Law Act, 1995 or under any other enactment relating to maintenance, as the case may be, or an order of the court made on foot of a separation agreement;”,

(b) the insertion after the definition of “earnings” of the following definition—

“‘husband’ in relation to a woman who has been married more than once, refers only to her last husband and for this purpose that last husband shall be construed as including the man to whom, but for the fact the marriage has been dissolved, being a dissolution recognised as valid in the State, she would be married;”, and

(c) the insertion after the definition of “order of the Court” of the following definition—

“‘wife’ in relation to a man who has been married more than once, refers only to his last wife and for this purpose that last wife shall be construed as including the woman to whom, but for the fact that the marriage has been dissolved, being a dissolution recognised as valid in the State, he would be married.”.

(3) Section 286 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (1) for “that authority may determine” of “may be determined”, and

(b) the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1A) Subject to subsection (1), the Minister may make regulations, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of this Part to provide for the basis on which the amount which a liable relative, within the meaning of section 286(2), is liable to contribute by virtue of section 286(1) is determined, and for this purpose the regulations may—

(a) disregard in whole or in part any amount of the income of a liable relative from any source specified in the regulations, and

(b) require an employer or any other person to furnish such information as may be required for the purposes of determining the amount which a liable relative is required to contribute.”.

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

Unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance — relaxation of waiting days requirement etc.

30. —(1) Section 42 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution for subsection (4A) (inserted by section 19(1)(c) of the Act of 1994) of the following subsections:

“(4A) Notwithstanding subsection (4)(c), where in respect of any day of unemployment (referred to in this subsection as ‘the relevant day of unemployment’) which forms part of a period of interruption of employment a person has not, before the relevant day of unemployment, been entitled, in the said period of interruption of employment, to unemployment benefit in respect of a day of unemployment within the period of two years prior to the relevant day of unemployment, that day shall be treated as the first day of unemployment in a separate period of interruption of employment subject to the provisions of subsection (3) not applying as respects such separate period of interruption of employment.

(4B) For the purposes of this Chapter and Chapter 2 of Part III, the Minister shall make regulations specifying the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be regarded as being available for or genuinely seeking employment and these circumstances may vary in relation to—

(a) the person's previous work experience,

(b) the period for which he has been unemployed, and

(c) the prevailing employment conditions.”,

(b) the insertion in section 42(5), after paragraph (d), of the following paragraph—

“(e) participation in a scheme administered by the Commission of the European Union and known as the European Voluntary Service Initiative.”.

(2) Section 120 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (2) (inserted by section 22(1)(a) of the Act of 1996) for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(a) otherwise than as provided for in regulations, a person shall not be entitled to unemployment assistance in respect of the first 3 days of unemployment in any continuous period of unemployment.”, and

(b) the insertion in subsection (5) after paragraph (d) of the following paragraph:

“(e) participation in a scheme administered by the Commission of the European Union and known as the European Voluntary Service Initiative.”.

(3) Section 4(4)(a) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after “42(4),” of “42(4B),”.

Repayment of benefit, assistance etc. on personation.

31. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion after section 279 of the following section:

“279A.—Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 32 of the Larceny Act, 1916, by virtue of having received any benefit, assistance, child benefit or family income supplement which he was not entitled to receive, that person shall be liable to pay—

(a) to the Social Insurance Fund, in the case of benefit,

(b) to the Minister, in the case of assistance (other than supplementary welfare allowance), child benefit or family income supplement, and

(c) to the health board, in the case of supplementary welfare allowance,

on demand a sum not exceeding the amount of such benefit, assistance, child benefit or family income supplement to which, the said conviction applies.”, and

(b) the substitution in subsections (6) and (7) of section 281 for “or section 279” of “, 279 or 279A” in each place where it occurs.

Disqualifications for claims made outside prescribed time.

32. —(1) Section 205 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsections:

“(2) Where a person fails to make a claim for benefit (including any increases thereof) within the prescribed time, he or she shall be disqualified for payment—

(a) in the case of old age (contributory) pension, retirement pension, widow's (contributory) pension, widower's (contributory) pension or orphan's (contributory) allowance, in respect of any period more than 12 months before the date on which the claim is made,

(b) in the case of invalidity pension, in respect of any period more than 6 months before the date on which the claim is made,

(c) in the case of unemployment benefit, health and safety benefit, adoptive benefit, occupational injuries benefit, death grant, unemployment assistance, pre-retirement allowance, old age (non-contributory) pension, blind pension, widow's (non-contributory) pension, widower's (non-contributory) pension, orphan's (non-contributory) pension, one-parent family payment, carer's allowance and family income supplement, in respect of any period before the date on which the claim is made,

(d) in the case of disability benefit, sickness allowance or disability allowance, in respect of any period more than 7 days before the date on which the claim is made, and

(e) in the case of maternity benefit—

(i) where the claim is made before the end of the week of confinement, payment in respect of any period before the beginning of the week in which the claim is made,

(ii) where the claim is made after the end of the week of confinement, payment in respect of any period before the beginning of the 7th week before the week in which the claim is made not being earlier than the commencement of the week of confinement:

Provided that in the case of a benefit to which paragraphs (c), (d) or (e) apply, where a claimant proves to the satisfaction of a deciding officer or an appeals officer that—

(I) on a date earlier than the date on which his or her claim for benefit (including any increases thereof) was made, apart from satisfying the condition of making a claim, he or she was entitled thereto, and

(II) throughout the period between the earlier date and the date on which his or her claim was made there was good cause for the delay in making a claim,

he or she shall not be disqualified for receiving payment in respect of any such period referred to in subparagraph (I) which does not exceed 6 months before the date on which the claim is made.

(2A) A person who fails to make a claim for child benefit within the prescribed time shall be disqualified for payment in respect of any day before the date on which the claim is made unless a deciding officer or appeals officer is satisfied that there was good cause for delay in making the claim, in which case, child benefit shall be payable from the 1st day of the month following that in which the claimant became a qualified person within the meaning of section 193.

(2B) A claimant for disability benefit or injury benefit who fails or neglects for a period exceeding 6 months to submit or to continue to submit medical or other satisfactory evidence of the incapacity, shall be disqualified for receiving benefit in respect of any such period but where a deciding officer or an appeals officer is satisfied that there was good cause for delay in submitting or continuing to submit evidence of incapacity, he or she may extend the period of 6 months to the date on which the evidence is submitted.

(2C) Where a person fails to make a claim for continued payment for qualified children within the prescribed time, he or she shall be disqualified for receiving the said payment.

(2D) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the periods specified in that subsection in respect of which payment may be made before the date on which a claim is made may, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as may be prescribed, be extended by an officer of the Minister appointed by the Minister for this purpose.”.

(2) Section 4 (4) (a) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after “203(1),” of “205(2D),”.

(3) Articles 104, 104A, 105, 107 (4), 107 (5), 109 (1)(b) and 109 (2) of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) Regulations, 1994 (S.I. No. 417 of 1994), and Articles 11A (3), 11A (4), 11A (7) and 11B (inserted by Article 9 of the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations, 1967 (S.I. No. 85 of 1967), of the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) Regulations, 1952 (S.I. No. 374 of 1952), are hereby revoked.

(4) This section shall apply in respect of a claim for any benefit, assistance, family income supplement, child benefit or continued payment for qualified children under the Principal Act made on or after the 1st day of January, 1997.

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

Collection and refund of contributions.

33. —(1) Section 20 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (1) for “18 (1) (b) and (c)” of “18 (1) (a), (b) and (c)”, and

(b) the substitution in subsection (4) for “Self-employment contributions payable” of “Other than in the case of such class or classes of self-employed contributors as may be prescribed, self-employment contributions payable”.

(2) Section 29 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (6) of the following subsection:

“(7) Regulations shall provide for the return, subject to any conditions, restrictions and deductions specified in the regulations, of so much of any self-employment contribution paid by a self-employed contributor or a voluntary contribution paid under section 23 by a voluntary contributor, who—

(a) had attained the age of 56 years on the 6th day of April, 1988, and

(b) became a self-employed contributor within the meaning of section 17 on or after the 6th day of April, 1988,

as may be determined in accordance with the regulations to have been paid in respect of old age (contributory) pension.”.

(3) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 29 of the following section:

“Return of employment contributions.

29A.—Regulations shall provide for the return, subject to any conditions, restrictions and deductions specified in regulations, of so much of any employment contribution, as may be prescribed, paid by virtue of section 10(1)(d), in respect of a master or a seaman (within the meaning of section 742 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894), in respect of his or her employment on such class or classes of vessel as may be prescribed.”.

Appeals to Circuit Court.

34. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 253 of the following section:

“Appeals to Circuit Court.

253A.—(1) Whenever a person has appealed a decision of a deciding officer then, where the Chief Appeals Officer certifies that the ordinary appeals procedures set out in this Chapter are inadequate to secure the effective processing of such appeal, the Chief Appeals Officer shall cause a direction to be issued to the person who has submitted the appeal directing him or her to submit the appeal to the Circuit Court and the Circuit Court may, on hearing the appeal as it thinks proper, affirm the decision or substitute the decision of the deciding officer in accordance with this Act and upon the same evidence as would otherwise be available to the Appeals Officer.

(2) The appellant shall give notice of the appeal as submitted to the Circuit Court to the deciding officer.

(3) No appeal shall lie from a decision of the Circuit Court on an appeal under this section.”.

Amendment to references following consolidation of regulations.

35. —Each provision of the Principal Act mentioned in column 1 of Schedule G to this Act is hereby amended in the manner specified in column (2) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that provision in column (1).

Continuance of instruments.

36. —An instrument that is made under a provision of the Principal Act (other than section 205(2)) that is amended by this Act and that is in force immediately before the commencement of the amendment shall continue in force as if made under the provision so amended.