PART 1

Amendments to the Social Welfare Acts

1. —In this Act—

“Act of 1996” means the Social Welfare Act, 1996 ;

“Act of 1997” means the Social Welfare Act, 1997 ;

“Act of 1998” means the Social Welfare Act, 1998 ;

“Act of 1999” means the Social Welfare Act, 1999 ;

“Act of 2000” means the Social Welfare Act, 2000 ;

“Act of 2001” means the Social Welfare Act, 2001 ;

“Principal Act” means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 .

2. —(1) The Fourth Schedule to the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for Part III (inserted by section 34 of the Act of 2001):

“PART III

AMOUNTS OF CHILD BENEFIT

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 April 2002.

3. —(1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 82F(1) (as amended by section 37 of the Act of 2001), by substituting “€1,270” for “€1,016” and “€635” for “€508”, and

(b) in section 168A(2) (as amended by section 37 of the Act of 2001), by substituting “€1,270” for “€1,016” and “€635” for “€508”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 June 2002.

4. —Section 116A(1) (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 2000) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting “€2,500” for “£1,000”.

5. —Section 31(3) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after paragraph (d):

“(dd) notwithstanding paragraph (d), in the case of a person who, on or after 1 April 2002, has been in receipt of disability benefit for not less than 1,560 days in respect of a period of incapacity for work and who, within the same period of interruption of employment, has subsequent periods of incapacity for work, any two such subsequent periods of incapacity within that period of interruption of employment not separated by a period of more than 13 weeks shall be treated as one period of incapacity for work,”.

6. —(1) Section 120(5) (as amended by section 30 of the Act of 1997) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in paragraph (g), by deleting “or”, and

(b) by substituting the following for paragraph (h):

“(h) participation in, employment under or attendance at a prescribed scheme or course, or

(i) receipt of or entitlement to pre-retirement allowance,”.

(2) Section 127 (inserted by section 18 of the Act of 1998) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (4):

“(5) For the purposes of subsection (6), any two periods of retirement not separated by more than 52 weeks shall be treated as one continuous period of retirement.

(6) Subsection (1)(c) shall not apply in the case of a claim to pre-retirement allowance made by a person in respect of a period of retirement which is a continuous period of retirement as construed in accordance with subsection (5).”.

(3) This section comes into operation on 27 March 2002.

7. —(1) Section 2 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (4) (inserted by section 38 of the Act of 1996):

“(4A) (a) Subject to paragraph (b)—

(i) notwithstanding subsection (3)(a), a person who reaches the age of 18 years while attending a full-time day course of study, instruction or training at an institution of education, shall continue to be regarded as a qualified child for the purposes of that subsection until the next following 30 June or until he or she completes the full-time day course, whichever is earlier, and

(ii) notwithstanding section 170, a person who reaches the age of 18 years while attending a full-time day course of study, instruction or training at an institution of education, shall continue to be regarded as a child dependant for the purposes of that section until the next following 30 June or until he or she completes the full-time day course, whichever is earlier.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a), the Minister may prescribe the conditions subject to which a person shall be regarded as attending a full-time day course of study, instruction or training at an institution of education.

(c) In this subsection, ‘institution of education’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 126(2).”.

(2) This section comes into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment assistance, pre-retirement allowance and farm assist, on 27 March 2002,

(b) in so far as it relates to unemployment benefit, on 28 March 2002, and

(c) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, health and safety benefit, injury benefit and supplementary welfare allowance, on 1 April 2002.

8. —Section 191A(1) (as amended by section 37 of the Act of 2001) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for the definition of “weekly means”:

“‘weekly means’ means, subject to Rule 1(1) of Part I of the Third Schedule, the yearly means divided by 52:

Provided that the amount so calculated shall be rounded to the nearest €1 where it is not a multiple of 50 cent or €1.”.

9. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for paragraph (b) of section 38 (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001):

“(b) in the case of a person in insurable self-employment—

(i) that the claimant has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than 52 contribution weeks in the last complete contribution year or in the second last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year in which the relevant day occurs, or in a subsequent complete contribution year before the relevant day, or

(ii) where the claimant was previously an employed contributor, that she satisfies the contribution conditions in paragraph (a)(i) or that she has employment contributions in respect of not less than 39 contribution weeks in the 12 months immediately preceding the relevant day.”,

and

(b) by substituting the following for paragraph (b) of section 41H(1) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001):

“(b) in the case of a person in insurable self-employment—

(i) that the claimant has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than 52 contribution weeks in the last complete contribution year or in the second last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year in which the relevant day occurs, or in a subsequent complete contribution year before the relevant day, or

(ii) where the claimant was previously an employed contributor, that he or she satisfies the contribution conditions in paragraph (a)(i) or that he or she has employment contributions in respect of not less than 39 contribution weeks in the 12 months immediately preceding the relevant day.”.

10. —(1) For the purposes of determining a person's entitlement to benefit under—

(a) section 32(1) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001),

(b) section 32(3) (as amended by section 17 of the Act of 1997),

(c) section 38(a), 41B(1)(a), 41H(1)(a) or 43(1) (each as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001), or

(d) section 82C(1)(a) (inserted by section 10 of the Act of 2000),

of the Principal Act, in respect of the benefit year commencing on 6 January 2003 and ending on 4 January 2004, those sections shall be read as if “second last complete contribution year” were substituted for “last complete contribution year”.

(2) For the purposes of determining a person's entitlement to benefit under section 38(b) or 41H(1)(b) (both as amended by section 9 of this Act) of the Principal Act, in respect of the benefit year commencing on 6 January 2003 and ending on 4 January 2004, those sections shall be read as if “in the second last complete contribution year or in the third last complete contribution year” were substituted for “in the last complete contribution year or in the second last complete contribution year”.

(3) For the purposes of determining a person's entitlement to benefit under—

(a) section 32(1), 38(a), 41B(1)(a), 41H(1)(a) or 43(1), or

(b) section 82C(1)(c) (inserted by section 10 of the Act of 2000),

of the Principal Act, in respect of the benefit year commencing on 6 January 2003 and ending on 4 January 2004, those sections shall be read as if “in the second last and third last complete contribution years” were substituted for “in each of the last 2 complete contribution years”.

(4) For the purposes of determining a person's entitlement to bereavement grant under section 115(1)(b)(ii) (inserted by section 19 of the Act of 1999) of the Principal Act, in respect of the benefit year commencing on 6 January 2003 and ending on 4 January 2004, that section shall be read as if “the 3 or 5 complete contribution years immediately preceding the last complete contribution year” were substituted for “the last 3 or 5 complete contribution years”.

11. —The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 29B (inserted by section 23 of the Act of 2000):

12. —(1) Section 223 (as amended by section 32 of the Act of 2000) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by inserting the following before the definition of “primary account number”:

“‘personal public service number’ means a number allocated and issued in accordance with subsection (2);”,

(ii) by inserting the following after the definition of “primary account number”:

“‘public service identity’, in relation to a person, means the information specified in subsection (3) and the person's personal public service number;”,

(iii) in the definition of “specified body”, by inserting the following after paragraph (c):

“(cc) the Civil Service Commissioners,”,

and

(iv) in the definition of “transaction”, by substituting “relating to a public function of a specified body” for “relating to public funds to or from a specified body”,

and

(b) by substituting the following for subsections (2) to (6):

“(2) The Minister may allocate and issue a personal public service number to each person who is the subject of any transaction with a specified body.

(3) (a) For the purposes of allocating and issuing a personal public service number, a person or, in the case of a deceased person, a personal representative, who has any transaction with a specified body shall furnish to the Minister the following information in relation to the person or the deceased person, as the case may be:

(i) surname;

(ii) forename;

(iii) date of birth;

(iv) place of birth;

(v) sex;

(vi) all former surnames (if any);

(vii) all former surnames (if any) of his or her mother;

(viii) address;

(ix) nationality;

(x) date of death;

(xi) such other information as may be prescribed which, in the opinion of the Minister, is relevant to and necessary for the allocation of a personal public service number.

(b) Where a person who has a transaction with a specified body is under the age of 18 years, the following information in relation to the person shall be furnished to the Minister—

(i) the information specified in paragraph (a), and

(ii) the public service identity of his or her mother and father.

(4) A person shall give to a specified body his or her personal public service number and the personal public service numbers of his or her spouse and children, where relevant, as required by the body for the purposes of the person's transaction.

(5) Where a specified body collects from a person any of the information specified in subsection (3), that information shall also be collected for the purpose of maintaining the person's public service identity.

(6) (a) Where a specified body has a transaction with a person, the Minister may share the person's public service identity with the specified body to the extent necessary for authentication by the specified body of the person's public service identity.

(b) A specified body may use a person's public service identity in performing its public functions insofar as those functions relate to the person concerned.

(7) Where an tArd-Chláraitheoir collects information relating to the registration of the birth of a person, the information shall also be collected for the purpose of allocating the person's personal public service number.

(8) In this section a reference to a personal public service number shall be read as including a reference to a number known as a revenue and social insurance number.

(9) A person, other than—

(a) the person to whom the personal public service number concerned refers,

(b) a specified body,

(c) a person who has a transaction with a specified body where the personal public service number is relevant to the transaction between the person and the specified body, or

(d) a person who is required to comply with the provisions of section 221 or 222 or regulations made under those sections,

who uses a personal public service number or seeks to have a personal public service number disclosed to him or her shall be guilty of an offence.”.

(2) Section 4(5) (as amended by section 14 of the Act of 1998) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting “223(1), 223(3), 223A(1)” for “223(1), 223A(1)”.

13. —Section 6A (inserted by section 29 of the Act of 2000) of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (2)(d) by substituting “dental treatment or optical treatment and appliances” for “dental treatment” in each place where it occurs.

14. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 14, by substituting the following for subsection (4):

“(4) The provisions of any enactment, regulation or rule of court relating to the inspection of records, the estimation, collection and recovery (including the provisions relating to the offset of taxes and appropriation of payments in Chapter 5 of Part 42 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 ) of, or the furnishing of returns by employers in relation to, income tax, or relating to appeals in relation to income tax, or the publication of names of persons under section 1086 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 , shall apply in relation to employment contributions which the Collector-General is obliged to collect as if the contributions were an amount of income tax which the employer was liable to remit to the Collector-General under the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 559 of 2001).”.

and

(b) in section 20, by substituting the following for subsection (3):

“(3) The provisions of any enactment or instrument made under any enactment relating to the estimation, collection or recovery (including the provisions relating to the offset of taxes and appropriation of payments in Chapter 5 of Part 42 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 ) of income tax or the inspection of records for those purposes or relating to appeals in relation to income tax or the publication of names of persons under section 1086 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 , shall apply in relation to self-employment contributions in respect of reckonable emoluments which the Collector-General is obliged to collect as if the contributions were an amount of income tax which the employer was liable to remit to the Collector-General under the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 559 of 2001).”.

15. —Section 82B(5) (as amended by section 26(1)(b) of the Act of 2001) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting “34” for “38”.