CHAPTER 2

Employed Contributors and Employment Contributions

[1991, s. 40(1)(a)]

9.—(1) Subject to this Act—

(a) every person who, being over the age of 16 years and under pensionable age, is employed in any of the employments specified in Part I of the First Schedule , not being an employment specified in Part II of that Schedule , shall, subject to paragraph (b), be an employed contributor for the purposes of this Act, and

(b) every person, irrespective of age, who is employed in insurable (occupational injuries) employment shall be an employed contributor and references in this Act to an employed contributor shall be construed accordingly, and

(c) every person becoming for the first time an employed contributor shall thereby become insured under this Act and shall thereafter continue throughout his life to be so insured.

[1981, s. 5(4)]

(2) Regulations may provide for including among employed contributors persons employed in any of the employments specified in Part II of the First Schedule .

[1981, s. 5(5)]

(3) Regulations may provide for—

(a) excluding particular employments or any classes of employment from the employments specified in Part I of the First Schedule , or

(b) adding to the employments so specified particular employments or any classes of employment,

and, where the Minister considers that any modifications of this Act are appropriate having regard to the purpose for which the regulations are made, the regulations may make those modifications.

[1981, s. 10(1); 1982, s. 5(1); 1989, s. 8(1); 1991, s. 40(4); 1993, s. 16(1)]

10.—(1) (a) Employment contributions shall be paid by employed contributors and their employers in accordance with this section.

(b) Subject to paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of this subsection and to regulations under section 11, where in any contribution year a payment is made to or for the benefit of an employed contributor in respect of reckonable earnings of that employed contributor, there shall be payable an employment contribution comprising—

(i) a contribution by the employed contributor at the rate of 5.5 per cent., and

(ii) a contribution by his employer at the rate of 12.2 per cent.,

of the amount of the reckonable earnings to which such payment relates.

(c) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor's reckonable earnings have amounted to the sum of £21,300 and contributions under paragraph (b) (ii) have been paid in respect of those reckonable earnings, no further such contribution shall be payable in respect of any reckonable earnings of that employed contributor by his employer in that contribution year.

(d) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor's reckonable earnings have amounted to the sum of £20,000 and contributions under paragraph (b) (i) have been paid in respect of those reckonable earnings, no further such contribution shall be payable in respect of any reckonable earnings of that employed contributor by the employed contributor in that contribution year.

(e) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor is employed by two or more employers concurrently (as defined in regulations under section 13), the provisions of paragraph (c) shall, in relation to contributions mentioned in paragraph (b) (ii), apply to the reckonable earnings from each of the employments separately.

[1981, s. 10(2); 1989, s. 8(1)]

(2) (a) The Minister may by regulations vary the sums specified in paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) and such variation shall take effect from the beginning of the contribution year following that in which the regulations are made.

(b) When making regulations under this subsection to vary the sum specified in subsection (1)(d) the Minister shall take into account any changes in the average earnings of workers in the transportable goods industries so recorded by the Central Statistics Office since the date by reference to which the sum specified in subsection (1)(d) was last determined.

[1981, s. 10(3)]

(3) The employer shall, as respects any employment contribution, be liable in the first instance to pay both the employer's contribution comprised therein and also, on behalf of and to the exclusion of the employed contributor, the contribution comprised therein payable by such contributor.

[1981, s. 10(4)]

(4) An employer shall be entitled, subject to and in accordance with regulations, to recover from an employed contributor the amount of any contribution paid or to be paid by him on behalf of that contributor and, notwithstanding anything in any enactment, regulations for the purposes of this subsection may authorise recovery by deductions from the employed contributor's remuneration, but any such regulations shall provide that—

(a) where the employed contributor does not receive any pecuniary remuneration either from the employer or from any other person, the employer shall not be entitled to recover the amount of any such contribution from him, and

(b) where the employed contributor receives any pecuniary remuneration from the employer, the employer shall not be entitled to recover any such contribution otherwise than by deductions.

[1981, s. 10(5)]

(5) Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, an employer shall not be entitled to deduct from the remuneration of a person employed by him, or otherwise to recover from such a person, the employer's contribution in respect of that person.

[1981, s. 10(6)]

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

[1990, s. 9]

(7) (a) Where but for this subsection, an employment contribution would be payable by and in respect of an employed contributor at the rates specified in subsection (1)(b), the employed contributor shall, subject to regulations, be exempted from the employment contribution payable under subsection (1)(b)(i) where his weekly reckonable earnings are below a prescribed amount.

(b) Regulations under paragraph (a) may in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing specify—

(i) the manner in which the amounts of weekly reckonable earnings are to be calculated for the purposes of that paragraph,

(ii) the manner in which the provisions of that paragraph are to be applied in the case of an employed contributor who is employed by two or more employers concurrently, and

(iii) the manner in which the provisions of that paragraph are to be applied in the case of an employed contributor remunerated other than on a weekly basis.

[1993, s. 18]

(8) An employer who, during the period commencing on the 19th day of October, 1992, and ending on the 19th day of September, 1993, employed additional employees under and by virtue of the scheme administered by the Department of Social Welfare known as the Employers' Pay-Related Social Insurance Exemption Scheme, shall not, during the period commencing on the 6th day of April, 1993, and ending on the 5th day of April, 1995, be liable to pay in respect of additional employees who constitute a net increase in the employer's workforce under the scheme above that applying on the 9th day of September, 1992, all or any of the following, namely—

(a) the contribution specified in section 10 (1)(b)(ii) of this Act;

(b) the health contribution payable by an employer under section 5 (1)(b) of the Health Contributions Act, 1979 ;

(c) the employment and training levy payable by an employer under section 16 (c) of the Youth Employment Agency Act, 1981 (as extended by section 25 of the Labour Services Act, 1987 ).

[1981, s. 7(1); 1991, s. 40(2)]

11.—(1) Regulations may modify the provisions of this Part in their application in the case of—

(a) persons employed in any of the employments specified in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10 of Part I of the First Schedule , or

(b) persons employed in a statutory transport undertaking, or

(c) persons employed as teachers in comprehensive schools established by the Minister for Education, or

(d) persons employed as teachers in national schools under the Rules and Regulations for National Schools, or

(e) persons employed as teachers in training colleges recognised by the Minister for Education for teachers in national schools, or

(f) persons employed as teachers in secondary schools recognised by the Minister for Education under the Rules and Programme for Secondary Schools, or

(g) persons employed as teachers in domestic science training colleges recognised by the Minister for Education, or

(h) persons employed as members of the Army Nursing Service, or

(i) persons employed in voluntary hospitals to which grants are paid from moneys provided by the Oireachtas in recoupment of revenue deficits, or

(j) persons employed by voluntary organisations which are providing district nursing services, or

(k) persons employed in an employment which is an insurable (occupational injuries) employment pursuant to section 50.

[1981, s. 7(4)]

(2) The provisions of this section are without prejudice to the generality of any other provision of this Part providing for regulations.

[1981, s. 13(2)]

12.—(1) For the purposes of this Part, reckonable earnings may be calculated or estimated, either for a person or a class of persons, in such manner, by reference to such matters and on such basis as may be prescribed.

[1981, s. 13(3)]

(2) Regulations may provide for the calculation of the amounts payable in respect of employment contributions in accordance with prescribed scales, and for adjustments of such amounts to facilitate computation and to avoid fractions of one penny in the amounts.

[1981, s. 6]

13.—Regulations may—

(a) provide for the determination of liability for the payment of employment contributions in the case of a person who works under the general control or management of a person who is not his immediate employer, and

(b) determine the circumstances in which a person is to be regarded for the purposes of section 10(1)(e) as being concurrently employed by two or more employers.

[1981, s. 15(1); 1988, s. 9]

14.—(1) Regulations may provide for—

(a) the time and manner of payment of employment contributions,

(b) the collection and the recovery of, and the furnishing of returns by employers in relation to, employment contributions,

(c) the charging of interest on arrears of employment contributions,

(d) the waiving of interest due on arrears of employment contributions,

(e) the estimation of amounts due in respect of employment contributions and appeals in relation to such estimates,

(f) the furnishing of returns by employers in relation to periods of insurable employment,

(g) the deduction by an employer from the reckonable earnings of an employed contributor of any employment contribution reasonably believed by the employer to be due by the contributor, and adjustment in any case of over-deduction, and

(h) any matter ancillary or incidental to any of the matters referred to in any of the preceding paragraphs of this subsection.

[1981, s. 15(2); 1993, s. 19]

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under that subsection may provide for—

(a) the assignment of any function relating to any matter referred to in that subsection to the Collector-General or to such other person engaged under contract by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, for this purpose,

(b) the assignment to the Collector-General of any function conferred on the Minister by section 224 and the modification for that purpose of any provision of that section,

(c) the inspection by or on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners of records prescribed under subsection (5),

(d) treating, for the purpose of any right to benefit, contributions paid after the due dates as paid on those dates or on such later dates as may be prescribed, or as not having been paid, and

(e) treating as paid, for the purpose of any right to benefit, employment contributions payable by an employer in respect of an insured person which have not been paid, where the failure to pay such contributions is shown not to have been with the consent or connivance of the insured person or attributable to any negligence on the part of the insured person.

[1981, s. 15(3)]

(3) Nothing in any regulations under this section shall affect the liability of the employer under section 10(3) to pay employment contributions.

[1981, s. 15(4)]

(4) The provisions of any enactment, regulation or rule of court relating to the inspection of records, the estimation, collection and recovery of, or the furnishing of returns by employers in relation to, income tax, or relating to appeals in relation to income tax, shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to employment contributions which the Collector-General is obliged to collect as they apply in relation to income tax.

[1981, s. 15(5)]

(5) For the purposes of this Part, regulations may require employers to keep such records as may be prescribed in relation to the earnings of persons employed by them and the periods during which the persons were employed, and to retain the records for prescribed periods.

[1990, s. 45(2)]

15.—(1) For the purposes of section 285 (2)(e) of the Companies Act, 1963 —

(a) the amount referred to in that subsection shall be deemed to include any amount—

(i) which, apart from the provisions of Article 22 of the Regulations of 1988 (as amended by the Social Welfare (Collection of Contributions by the Collector-General) Regulations, 1989 (S.I. No. 72 of 1989)), or Article 22 of the Regulations of 1989, would otherwise have been an amount due at the relevant date in respect of sums which an employer is liable under Chapter 2 or 3 of Part II of this Act, and any regulation thereunder (other than the said Article 22 of the Regulations of 1988 or Article 22 of the Regulations of 1989) to deduct from reckonable earnings or reckonable emoluments, to which the said Chapters 2 and 3 apply, paid by him during the period of 12 months next before the relevant date, and

(ii) with the addition of any interest payable under Article 23 of the Regulations of 1988 or Article 13 of the Regulations of 1989,

and

(b) the relevant date shall, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of section 285 of the Companies Act, 1963 , be deemed to be the date which is the ninth day after the end of the income tax month in which the relevant date (within the meaning of the said subsection (1)) occurred.

[1990, s. 45(3)]

(2) In this section—

“the Regulations of 1988” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions for Self-Employed Contributors) Regulations, 1988 (S.I. No. 62 of 1988);

“the Regulations of 1989” means the Social Welfare (Collection of Employment Contributions by the Collector-General) Regulations, 1989 (S.I. No. 298 of 1989).

[1981, s. 120(1)]

16.—(1) In this section “the Act of 1889” means the Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy (Ireland) Act, 1889.

[1991, s. 36(1)]

(2) The assets of a limited company in a winding-up under the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990, shall not include—

(a) any sum deducted by an employer from such remuneration of an employee of his as was paid prior to the winding-up in respect of an employment contribution due and unpaid by the employer in respect of such contribution, or

(b) any sum which would have been deducted from the remuneration of an employee in respect of an employment contribution for a period of employment prior to a winding-up had such remuneration been paid prior to such winding-up,

and in such a winding-up a sum equal in amount to the sum so deducted and unpaid or which would have been deducted and payable, shall notwithstanding anything in those Acts, be paid to the Social Insurance Fund in priority to the debts specified in section 285 (2) of the Companies Act, 1963 .

[1981, s. 120(3); 1991, s. 36(2)]

(3) A sum equal in amount to any sum deducted by an employer from the remuneration of an employee of his in respect of an employment contribution due by the employer 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 Social Insurance Fund in priority to the debts specified in section 4 of the Act of 1889.

[1981, s. 120(4)]

(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 .

[1981, s. 120(5)]

(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 employment contributions payable by the bankrupt or arranging debtor during the twelve 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.