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9 2004

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004

PART 2

Amendments to the Social Welfare Acts

Definitions.

2. —In this Act—

“Act of 1994” means the Social Welfare Act 1994 ;

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

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

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

“Act of 2003” means the Social Welfare Act 2003 ;

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

Child benefit (new rates).

3. —(1) The Fourth Schedule to the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for Part III (inserted by section 3 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ):

“PART III

AMOUNTS OF CHILD BENEFIT

Amount for each of first 2 children

Amount for each child in excess of 2

(1)

(2)

€131.60

€165.30

”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 April 2004.

Respite care grant — increase.

4. —(1) The Principal Act is amended in sections 82F(1) and 168A(2) (both as amended by section 4 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ) by substituting “€1,670” for “€1,470” and “€835” for “€735”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 June 2004.

Payments after death— improvements.

5. —(1) The Principal Act is amended by substituting for section 210 (as amended by section 7 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ) the following:

“Payments after death.

210.—(1) In this section—

‘benefit’ means—

(a) disability benefit,

(b) unemployment benefit (including any amount payable by way of pay-related benefit where appropriate),

(c) injury benefit,

(d) carer's benefit,

(e) old age (contributory) pension,

(f) retirement pension,

(g) invalidity pension,

(h) unemployment assistance,

(i) old age (non-contributory) pension and blind pension,

(j) unemployability supplement,

(k) supplementary welfare allowance,

(l) pre-retirement allowance,

(m) disability allowance,

(n) farm assist,

(o) widow's (contributory) pension or widower's (contributory) pension,

(p) one-parent family payment,

(q) death benefit under section 60,

(r) carer's allowance;

‘relevant person’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 82A(1) or, as appropriate, 163(1).

(2) Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in this Act—

(a) where a person who is in receipt of a benefit which includes an increase in respect of a qualified adult, or where the spouse is in receipt of any benefit in his or her own right, dies, payment of the benefit shall continue to be made for a period of 6 weeks after the date of death and shall, during that period, be made to such person and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed,

(b) where a qualified child, in respect of whom an increase of a benefit is being paid, dies, the amount of such increase shall continue to be made for a period of 6 weeks after the date of death,

(c) where a person is in receipt of one-parent family payment by virtue of having not more than one qualified child and that qualified child dies, payment of the one-parent family payment including the increase in respect of such child shall continue to be made for a period of 6 weeks after the date of death of the qualified child,

(d) where a qualified adult in respect of whom an increase of benefit is being paid, dies, payment of such increase shall continue to be made for a period of 6 weeks after the date of death,

(e) where a person is in receipt of carer's benefit or carer's allowance and the relevant person in respect of whom that carer is providing full-time care and attention dies, payment of the carer's benefit or carer's allowance shall continue to be made for a period of 6 weeks after the death of the relevant person,

(f) in any case where payment is made by virtue of paragraph (a) or (d), entitlement to widow's (contributory) pension, widower's (contributory) pension, widow's (non-contributory) pension, widower's (non-contributory) pension, orphan's (contributory) allowance, orphan's (non-contributory) pension, death benefit under section 60 or 62 or entitlement to one-parent family payment by virtue of being a widow or widower, shall not commence until after the expiration of the period of 6 weeks mentioned in paragraph (a) or (d) except and to the extent that regulations otherwise provide.”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 June 2004.

Death benefit — improvements.

6. —(1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 60, by inserting the following after subsection (5) (as amended by section 14 of the Act of 1997):

“(5A) The weekly rate of pension under subsection (2) shall be increased by the amount set out in column (7) of Part I of the Second Schedule where the beneficiary has attained the age of 80 years.”,

and

(b) by inserting “2.00” in column (7) at reference 2(a) of Part I (amended by section 3 of the Act of 2003) of the Second Schedule.

(2) This section comes into operation on 7 May 2004.

Rates of assistance and effect of means on rates — improvements.

7. —(1) Section 121(3) (as amended by section 37 of the Act of 2001) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting “€40.00” for “€31.80”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 7 April 2004.

Maternity benefit — amendments.

8. —(1) The Principal Act is amended in section 37 (as amended by section 12 of the Act of 2001)—

(a) in subsection (5)(b)(i) by substituting “2 weeks” for “4 weeks”,

(b) in subsection (5)(c)(ii)(A) by substituting “sixteenth week” for “fourteenth week” in each place where it occurs,

(c) in subsection (5)(c)(ii)(B) by substituting “sixteenth week” for “fourteenth week” and “twenty-fourth week” for “twenty-second week” in each place where it occurs, and

(d) by inserting the following after subsection (5):

“(5A) Regulations may provide for the postponement of the payment of maternity benefit in the event of the hospitalisation of the child in respect of whose birth the person is entitled to that benefit, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as may be prescribed.”.

(2) This section shall have effect in respect of persons whose entitlement to maternity benefit commences on or after the commencement of this section.

(3) This section comes into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.

(4) An order under subsection (3) of this section may, if the order so provides, have retrospective effect.

Adoptive benefit — amendments.

9. —(1) The Principal Act is amended in section 41G(4) (as amended by section 12 of the Social Welfare Act 2001 ) by substituting “16” for “14” in each place where it occurs.

(2) This section shall have effect in respect of persons whose entitlement to adoptive benefit commences on or after the commencement of this section.

(3) This section comes into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.

(4) An order under subsection (3) of this section may, if the order so provides, have retrospective effect.

Amendments consequential on alignment of income tax year with calendar year.

10. Section 10 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 (as amended by section 12 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ) is amended by substituting “5 January 2004 and ending on 2 January 2005 and the benefit year commencing on 3 January 2005 and ending on 1 January 2006,” for “6 January 2003 and ending on 4 January 2004 and the benefit year commencing on 5 January 2004 and ending on 2 January 2005,” in each place where those words occur.

Personal public service number — extension of provisions.

11. —(1) The definition of “specified body” in section 223(1) (as amended by section 84 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 ) of the Principal Act is amended—

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

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

“(v) the Companies Registration Office,

(w) Enterprise Ireland,

(x) the Private Residential Tenancies Board,

(y) Coillte Teoranta, or

(z) such other persons as may be prescribed;”.

Appointment and duties of social welfare inspectors — amendments.

12. —The Principal Act is amended by—

(a) in section 212(3) (as amended by section 26 of the Act of 1999)—

(i) by inserting “or section 121(1)(a) of the Pensions Act 1990 ” after “social welfare inspector shall, for the purposes of this Act”, and

(ii) in paragraph (b) by inserting “and while making any examination or enquiry to ascertain whether the provisions of Chapter 2 of Part II are being complied with shall also have power to examine or enquire as to whether section 121(1)(a) of the Pensions Act 1990 is being complied with and to report, if necessary, to the Pensions Board” after “are being complied with”,

and

(b) in section 212(4) (as amended by section 28 of the Act of 1994) by inserting “or whether section 121(1)(a) of the Pensions Act 1990 is being complied with” after “was payable to or in respect of any person”.

Amendments of section 2 of Principal Act.

13. —(1) Section 2(1) of the Principal Act (as amended by section 16 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ) is amended—

(a) by deleting the definition of “emoluments”, and

(b) by substituting the following for the definition of “reckonable earnings”:

“ ‘reckonable earnings’ means, subject to regulations and to section 78, earnings derived from insurable employment or insurable (occupational injuries) employment;”.

(2) This section comes into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.

(3) An order under subsection (2) of this section may, if the order so provides, have retrospective effect.

Employment contributions — amendment.

14. —The Principal Act is amended in section 10 (as amended by section 17 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ) by inserting the following after subsection (10):

“(11) Where, for a year of assessment (within the meaning of the Tax Acts), the Revenue Commissioners and an employer enter into an agreement under a specified provision of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 whereby the employer will account to the Revenue Commissioners, in accordance with that provision, in respect of the income tax due on qualifying emoluments (within the meaning of that provision) and where that agreement is not null and void, then in respect of those qualifying emoluments—

(a) the employer—

(i) as part of that agreement and in so far as the qualifying emoluments are comprised of reckonable earnings of an employed contributor to which the agreement applies, shall pay a contribution at a rate of 14.05 per cent in respect of the aggregate of the amount of those reckonable earnings and the amount of income tax payable under the agreement in respect of them, and

(ii) notwithstanding the provisions of section 10(4) or Article 7 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) Regulations 1996, shall not be entitled to recover from an employed contributor any part of a contribution paid in accordance with subparagraph (i),

and

(b) a contribution paid in accordance with paragraph (a) (i) shall not be regarded as an employment contribution for the purposes of any benefit specified in section 30(1).

(12) In subsection (11) ‘specified provision’ means such provision as may be prescribed for the purposes of that subsection.”.

Rates of self-employment contributions and related matters — amendment.

15. —The Principal Act is amended in section 18 by inserting after subsection (2) (as amended by section 37 of the Act of 2001) the following:

“(3) Where, for a year of assessment (within the meaning of the Tax Acts), the Revenue Commissioners and an employer enter into an agreement under a specified provision of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 whereby the employer will account to the Revenue Commissioners, in accordance with the provisions of that provision, in respect of the income tax due on qualifying emoluments (within the meaning of that provision) and where that agreement is not null and void, then in respect of those qualifying emoluments—

(a) the employer—

(i) as part of that agreement and in so far as the qualifying emoluments are comprised of reckonable emoluments of a self-employed contributor to which the agreement applies, shall pay a contribution at a rate of 3 per cent in respect of the aggregate of the amount of those reckonable emoluments and the amount of income tax payable under the agreement in respect of them, and

(ii) notwithstanding the provisions of Article 7 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) Regulations 1996, shall not be entitled to recover from an employed contributor any part of a contribution paid in accordance with subparagraph (i),

and

(b) a contribution paid in accordance with paragraph (a)(i) shall not be regarded as a self-employment contribution for the purposes of determining entitlement to any benefit specified in section 30(1).

(4) In subsection (3) ‘specified provision’ means such provision as may be prescribed for the purposes of that subsection.”.

Employment contributions — amendment of payment of contributions and keeping of records.

16. —(1) Section 14(5) of the Principal Act (as amended by section 18 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ) is amended by substituting “earnings” for “emoluments”.

(2) This section comes into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.

(3) An order under subsection (2) of this section may, if the order so provides, have retrospective effect.

Provisions for habitual residence.

17. —The Principal Act is amended to the extent specified in Schedule 1 to this Act.

Amendment of section 3(12) of Principal Act — definition of spouse.

18. —Section 3(12) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting “245A, 245B” for “245A”.

Provision in relation to certain administrative schemes.

19. —The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following section after section 245A:

“Qualified adult (administrative schemes).

245B.—(1) A person who, apart from this section, would be a qualified adult for the purposes of a scheme to which this section applies shall not be a qualified adult for the purposes of such a scheme unless the person is a spouse within the meaning of this Act.

(2) Notwithstanding any enactment but without prejudice to subsection (1), the circumstances in which there arises an entitlement to—

(a) an allowance under a scheme to which this section applies, or

(b) an increase in the amount of such an allowance,

by reference to the status or description of one or both, or all, of 2 or more persons residing or living together are those circumstances expressly set out in the scheme and not otherwise.

(3) This section applies to the following schemes, namely, the schemes administered by the Minister and known as—

(a) the Free Travel Scheme,

(b) the National Fuel Scheme,

(c) the Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme,

(d) the Back to Education Allowance,

(e) the Back to School Clothing and Foot-wear Allowance,

(f) the Back to Work Allowance (Employees),

(g) the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance,

(h) the Smokeless Fuels Allowance, and

(i) the Household Benefits Package,

being, in each case, the scheme in the terms as it has effect on 1 April 2004.”.