PART II

Increases

3. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I to IV (inserted by section 3 of the Act of 1996) of the Second Schedule thereto of the Parts set out in Schedule A to this Act.

(2) This section shall come into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment benefit, on the 5th day of June, 1997,

(b) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, health and safety benefit, injury benefit, disablement gratuity and disablement pension, on the 9th day of June, 1997,

(c) in so far as it relates to retirement pension, invalidity pension and a relevant payment by virtue of section 18 (1) (a) of the Act of 1996, on the 12th day of June, 1997, and

(d) in so far as it relates to death benefit under section 60, 61, 62 or 63 of the Principal Act, old age (contributory) pension, widow's (contributory) pension, widower's (contributory) pension and orphan's (contributory) allowance, on the 13th day of June, 1997.

4. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Part I and II (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 1996) of the Fourth Schedule thereto of the Parts set out in Schedule B to this Act.

(2) This section shall come into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment assistance and disability allowance, on the 4th day of June, 1997,

(b) in so far as it relates to supplementary welfare allowance, on the 9th day of June, 1997,

(c) in so far as it relates to pre-retirement allowance, one-parent family payment (other than where payable in respect of a widow or widower), carer's allowance, prescribed relative allowance and a relevant payment by virtue of section 18(1)(b) or (c) of the Act of 1996, on the 12th day of June, 1997, and

(d) in so far as it relates to old age (non-contributory) pension, blind pension, widow's (non-contributory) pension, one-parent family payment payable in respect of a widow or widower and orphan's (non-contributory) pension, on the 13th day of June, 1997.

5. —(1) The Fourth Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Part III (inserted by section 5 of the Act of 1996) of the following Part:

“PART III

Amounts of Child Benefit

”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1997.

6. —(1) Section 197 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for the definition of “weekly family income” of the following definition:

“‘weekly family income’ means, subject to regulations under section 202, the amount of income received in a week by a family, less—

(i) any allowable contribution referred to in Regulations 59 and 60 (inserted by the Income Tax (Employment) Regulations, 1972 (S.I. No. 260 of 1972)) of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960 (S.I. No. 28 of 1960),

(ii) any amount deducted from reckonable earnings pursuant to—

(A) section 10 and regulations made under section 11,

(B) section 5 of the Health Contributions Act, 1979 , and

(C) section 16 of the Youth Employment Agency Act, 1981 ,

and

(iii) any income of a person who in respect of that family is a child.”.

(2) Subsection (1) shall apply in the case of a claim to family income supplement made on or after the 12th day of June, 1997.

(3) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for section 198 (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1996) of the following section:

“Entitlement to supplement.

198.—Subject to this Act, an allowance (in this Act referred to as ‘family income supplement’) shall be payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas in respect of a family where the weekly family income is less than—

(a) in the case of a family which includes only 1 child, £205,

(b) in the case of a family which includes 2 children, £225,

(c) in the case of a family which includes 3 children, £245,

(d) in the case of a family which includes 4 children, £265,

(e) in the case of a family which includes 5 children, £290,

(f) in the case of a family which includes 6 children, £310,

(g) in the case of a family which includes 7 children, £327,

or

(h) in the case of a family which includes 8 or more children, £344.”.

(4) Subsection (3) shall come into operation on the 12th day of June, 1997.

7. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for section 203A (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1996) of the following section:

“Entitlement to payment.

203A.—(1) Subject to this Act, a continued payment for qualified children (in this Part referred to as a ‘continued payment’) shall be payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas to a person—

(a) other than a person who is engaged in short-time employment, who—

(i) has been in receipt of unemployment benefit, unemployment assistance, or unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance in respect of not less than 312 days of unemployment in—

(A) a period of interruption of employment, within the meaning of section 42 (4) (c), where the person is in receipt of unemployment benefit, or

(B) a continuous period of unemployment, within the meaning of section 120(3), where the person is in receipt of unemployment assistance,

in the immediately preceding period, and

(ii) is in receipt of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance which includes an increase in respect of at least one qualified child, who normally resides with the person, and is not a person to whom sections 45 (3), 124 (1) or 245A (3) (as the case may require) applies, or

(b) who is engaged in employment under a scheme administered by an Foras Áiseanna Saothair and known as Community Employment and who, if he or she were in receipt of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance would be entitled to an increase in respect of at least one qualified child who normally resides with him or her and would not be a person to whom section 45 (3), 124 (1) or 245A (3) (as the case may require), applies, and

(c) who, in the case of a person to whom paragraph (a) or (b) applies, ceases, by virtue of having become engaged in employment which is expected to continue for a period of a minimum of 4 weeks, to be entitled to unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance or ceases to be engaged in Community Employment.

(2) In this Part, ‘employment’ means insurable employment or insurable self-employment, other than—

(a) employment under a scheme administered by an Foras Áiseanna Saothair and known as Community Employment,

(b) employment under any scheme which is funded by an Foras Áiseanna Saothair, other than a scheme known as the Jobs Initiatives Scheme, or

(c) employment of a seasonal nature.”.

8. —(1) Section 10 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (1) (b) of “4.5 per cent.” for “5.5 per cent.”,

(b) the substitution in subsection (1) (c) of “£23,200” for “£22,300” (inserted by section 8 (1) (b) of the Act of 1996),

(c) the substitution in subsection (1) (d) (i) and (ii) of “£260” for “£250” (inserted by section 8 (1) (c) (iii) of the Act of 1996), and

(d) the substitution in subsection (1) (e) of “£27,900” for “£26,800” (inserted by section 8 (1) (d) of the Act of 1996).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1997.

9. —(1) Section 18 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in paragraph (d) of “£23,200” for “£22,300” (inserted by section 9 (1) (c) of the Act of 1996).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1997.