PART II

Increases

4. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I to IV (inserted by section 3 of the Act of 1997) 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 28th day of May, 1998,

(b) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, health and safety benefit, injury benefit, disablement gratuity and disablement pension, on the 1st day of June, 1998,

(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 4th day of June, 1998, 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 and widower's (contributory) pension and orphan's (contributory) allowance, on the 5th day of June, 1998.

5. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I and II (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 1997) 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 27th day of May, 1998,

(b) in so far as it relates to supplementary welfare allowance, on the 1st day of June, 1998,

(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 4th day of June, 1998, and

(d) in so far as it relates to old age (non-contributory) pension, blind pension, widow's and widower's (non-contributory) pension, one-parent family payment payable in respect of a widow or widower and orphan's (non-contributory) pension, on the 5th day of June, 1998.

6. —(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 1997) of the following Part:

“PART III

Amounts of Child Benefit

”.

(2) Section 194 of the Principal Act (as amended by section 5 of the Act of 1996) is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Part, the monthly benefit payable to a qualified person in respect of a qualified child whose birth was part of—

(a) a multiple birth of two children, of whom two remain qualified, shall be 150 per cent. of the amount as set out in Part III of the Fourth Schedule, or

(b) a multiple birth of three or more children, of whom—

(i) not less than three remain qualified, shall be 200 per cent. of the amount as set out in Part III of the Fourth Schedule,

(ii) not less than two remain qualified, shall be 150 per cent. of the amount as set out in Part III of the Fourth Schedule, and

(iii) one remains qualified, shall be payable at the amount set out in Part III of the Fourth Schedule.”,

(b) the substitution for subsection (4) of the following subsection:

“(4) The amount of the grant payable in accordance with subsection (3) shall be £500.”,

and

(c) the substitution for subsections (6A) (inserted by section 5 of the Act of 1996) and (7) of the following subsections:

“(7) Subject to this Act, a person who is qualified for child benefit shall be paid a grant of £500 in respect of a multiple birth of two or more qualified children, on the 4th and 12th anniversary of the birth of the last born of such multiple birth.

(8) Payment of a grant under subsection (3) or subsection (7) shall be in addition to any child benefit payable by way of a monthly benefit under this Part in respect of the children concerned.”.

(3) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1998.

7. —(1) Section 197 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for the definition of “weekly family income” (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1997) 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 (Employments) Regulations, 1972 (S.I. No. 260 of 1972)) of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960 (S.I. No. 28 of 1960),

(ii) any income tax payable under the provisions of the Income Tax Acts as defined in section 1 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 , applicable to Schedule E,

(iii) any contributions payable under section 10(1)(b) or regulations made under section 11,

(iv) any contributions payable under section 5 of the Health Contributions Act, 1979 ,

(v) any contributions payable under section 16 of the Youth Employment Agency Act, 1981 , or

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

(2) Subsection (1) shall come into operation on the 1st day of October, 1998.

(3) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for section 198 (inserted by section 6 of the Act of 1997) 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, £212,

(b) in the case of a family which includes 2 children, £232,

(c) in the case of a family which includes 3 children, £252,

(d) in the case of a family which includes 4 children, £272,

(e) in the case of a family which includes 5 children, £297,

(f) in the case of a family which includes 6 children, £317,

(g) in the case of a family which includes 7 children, £334, or

(h) in the case of a family which includes 8 or more children, £351.”.

(4) Subsection (3) shall come into operation on the 4th day of June, 1998.

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

(a) the substitution in subsection (1)(b) of “£100” for “£80” (inserted by section 8(1)(a) of the Act of 1996),

(b) the substitution in subsection (1)(c) of “£24,200” for “£23,200” (inserted by section 8(1)(b) of the Act of 1997),

(c) the substitution in subsection (1)(d)(i) and (ii) of “£270” for “£260” (inserted by section 8(1)(c) of the Act of 1997), and

(d) the substitution in subsection (1)(e) of “£29,000” for “£27,900” (inserted by section 8(1)(d) of the Act of 1997).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1998.

9. —(1) Section 18(1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in paragraph (d) of “£24,200” for “£23,200” (inserted by section 9(1) of the Act of 1997).

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1998.