PART 2

Amendment of Social Welfare Acts

2 .— In this Part—

“ Act of 2006 ” means the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006 ;

“ Act of 2007 ” means the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 ;

“ Principal Act ” means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 .

3 .— (1) Schedule 4 to the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for Part 4 (inserted by section 4 of the Act of 2007):

“PART 4

Amounts of Child Benefit

”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 April 2008.

4 .— Section 223B of the Principal Act (inserted by section 28 of the Act of 2006) is amended by substituting “€1,100” for “€1,000” and by substituting “€275” for “€250”.

5 .— The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 8:

“Transfer of pension rights to EC institutions scheme.

8A.— (1) In this section, “Annex VIII” means Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, being the regulations referred to in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No. 259/68 of 29 February 1968.

(2) Payments required to be made for the purposes of Article 11(2) of Annex VIII shall be made out of the Social Insurance Fund.

(3) Any moneys payable to the State under Article 11(1) of Annex VIII shall be paid into the Social Insurance Fund.

(4) Upon the transfer of a person’s pension entitlements or contributions under subsection (2), any contributions so transferred shall not count for the purposes of calculating entitlements to the benefits or pensions to which this section applies.

(5) For the purposes of this section, regulations may provide for—

(a) the calculation of the amounts payable under subsection (2),

(b) the benefits and pensions to which this section applies,

(c) the claims and administrative procedures, and

(d) any matter ancillary or incidental to any of the matters referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (c).”.

6 .— Section 41(1)(c)(ia) (inserted by section 5(b) of the Act of 2007) of the Principal Act is amended in clause (I) by inserting “invalidity pension,” after “receipt of”.

7 .— The Principal Act is amended in section 159 (substituted by section 16(1)(e) of the Act of 2006)—

(a) by inserting “, disability allowance under Chapter 10 of this Part” after “section 178”, and

(b) by inserting the following after paragraph (c):

“(ca) an amount equal to the rate of disability allowance which was payable in accordance with section 211 immediately before becoming entitled to State pension (non-contributory) and the rate payable in accordance with sections 156, 157 and 158, or”.

8 .— (1) Section 173 of the Principal Act (amended by section 22 of the Act of 2007) is amended by substituting the following for subsection (3):

“(3) Subject to this Act, a one-parent family payment is not payable to a qualified parent whose weekly earnings (including wages and profit from any form of self-employment), calculated or estimated as prescribed, exceed €425.”.

(2) Part 5 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Act (amended by section 35 of the Act of 2007) is amended in Rule 1 by substituting the following for paragraph (4):

“(4) (a) subject to subparagraph (b), in the case of one-parent family payment, the weekly earnings (including wages and profit from any form of self-employment), calculated or estimated as prescribed, constitute the weekly means of that parent from earnings for the purposes of Chapter 7 of Part 3,

(b) in calculating the weekly earnings for the purposes of subparagraph (a), an amount of €146.50 together with half the weekly earnings in excess of that amount shall be disregarded;”.

(3) This section comes into operation on 8 May 2008.

9 .— (1) Section 225 of the Principal Act (amended by section 28(a) of the Act of 2007) is amended in subsection (1) by substituting “€1,700” for “€1,500”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 5 June 2008.

10 .— (1) Section 249 of the Principal Act (amended by section 4 and Schedule 1 of the Act of 2006) is amended—

(a) in subsections (1)(b), (2)(b), (6)(b) and (10) by deleting “penal servitude,”, and

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (1):

“(1A) A person shall not be regarded as undergoing detention in legal custody for the purposes of entitlement to disability allowance while the person is detained for treatment pursuant to—

(a) an admission order or renewal order made under the Mental Health Act 2001 ,

(b) an order made under section 38 of the Health Act 1947 ,

(c) an order made under section 4 or section 5 of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 ,

(d) an order made under section 17 of the Lunacy (Ireland) Act 1821, or

(e) an order made under section 2 of the Trial of Lunatics Act 1883.”.

(2) This section is deemed to have come into effect on 1 June 2005.

11 .— Section 108 of the Principal Act (substituted by section 8 of the Act of 2006) is amended—

(a) in subsection (2) by substituting the following for paragraph (a) of the definition of “homemaker”:

“(a) is resident in the State, or is a person referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of section 219(2), and is under pensionable age,”,

(b) by substituting the following for subsection (2A):

“(2A) The question whether a person satisfies the criteria set out in the definition of ‘homemaker’ in subsection (2) is a question that may be decided by a deciding officer.”.

12 .— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in Part 3 by inserting the following after Chapter 5:

“Chapter 5A

Blind Welfare Allowance

Interpretation.

161F.— In this Chapter—

‘ institution ’ has the same meaning as in section 59 of the Health Act 1970 ;

‘ weekly means ’, in relation to a person, means the weekly means of the person as calculated in accordance with Part 4 of Schedule 3 and the amount so calculated shall be rounded up to the nearest 10 cent where it is a multiple of 5 cent but not also a multiple of 10 cent and shall be rounded to the nearest 10 cent where it is not a multiple of 5 cent or 10 cent.

Entitlement to payment.

161G.— Subject to this Act and to regulations made under this Act, an allowance (in this Act referred to as ‘blind welfare allowance’) is payable to a person if—

(a) the person—

(i) has attained the age of 18 years, or

(ii) has attained the age of 16 years and is in receipt of or entitled to disability allowance under Chapter 10 of this Part,

(b) the weekly means of the person as calculated in accordance with Part 4 of Schedule 3 do not exceed the appropriate highest amount of weekly means at which blind welfare allowance may be paid to that person in accordance with section 161H,

(c) the person—

(i) is in receipt of blind pension under Chapter 5 of this Part,

(ii) is on the National Blind Register compiled by the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, or

(iii) submits a certificate of visual impairment, containing such information as is prescribed, from a registered ophthalmic surgeon or a registered optometrist,

and

(d) the person is habitually resident in the State at the date of the making of the application for blind welfare allowance.

Rate of blind welfare allowance.

161H.— (1) The rate (in this Chapter referred to as ‘ the scheduled rate ’) of blind welfare allowance is the weekly rate set out in column (2) in Part 1 of Schedule 4.

(2) Blind welfare allowance is payable to a person who has not attained pensionable age—

(a) at the scheduled rate, where the weekly means of the person do not exceed the allowable amount, being the sum of—

(i) the rate of blind pension set out in column (2) in Part 1 of Schedule 4 (including any increase in respect of a qualified child),

(ii) the highest rate of increase set out in Part 3 of Schedule 4 (where the person is one of a couple), and

(iii) the scheduled rate,

or

(b) at the scheduled rate reduced by 10 cent for each amount, if any, of 10 cent by which the weekly means of the person exceed the allowable amount referred to in paragraph (a).

(3) Blind welfare allowance is payable to a person who has attained pensionable age—

(a) at the scheduled rate, where the weekly means of the person do not exceed the allowable amount, being the sum of—

(i) the rate of the State pension (non-contributory) set out in column (2) in Part 1 of Schedule 4 (including any increase in respect of a qualified child),

(ii) the highest rate of increase set out in Part 2 of Schedule 4 (where the person is one of a couple), and

(iii) the scheduled rate,

or

(b) at the scheduled rate reduced by 10 cent for each amount, if any, of 10 cent by which the weekly means of the person exceed the allowable amount referred to in paragraph (a).

Increases for a qualified child.

161I.— (1) Subject to subsection (2), the weekly rate of blind welfare allowance payable in accordance with section 161H is increased by the amount set out in column (4) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 in respect of each qualified child.

(2) Where each of a couple are in receipt of blind welfare allowance, any increase of blind welfare allowance payable under subsection (1) in respect of a qualified child who normally resides with the couple is payable to each of them at the rate of one-half of the amount otherwise payable.

Calculation of means— couples.

161J.— (1) The following rules apply for the purpose of calculating the amount of blind welfare allowance payable to a person (‘the claimant’):

(a) subject to paragraph (b), where the claimant and the claimant’s spouse are members of the same household, their means shall be aggregated and shall be regarded as the means of the claimant,

(b) where the claimant and the claimant’s spouse are both in receipt of blind pension under Chapter 5 of this Part or both satisfy the requirements of section 161G(1)(c), the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half of the aggregated means of both of them.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person is the spouse of the claimant if the claimant and that person are—

(a) husband and wife, or

(b) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting as husband and wife.

Payment while in an institution.

161K.— A person who is in receipt of blind welfare allowance at the time of admittance to an institution is entitled to continue to receive the allowance for such period, and in such circumstances, as are prescribed.

Disqualification.

161L.— (1) Regulations under this Act may provide for the disqualification from receiving blind welfare allowance of a person who fails without good cause to comply with such requirements as are specified by the regulations.

(2) The requirements referred to in subsection (1) may include, but are not limited to, requirements—

(a) to attend for, or submit to, any medical or other examination or treatment, and

(b) to be available to meet with an officer of the Minister regarding the person’s claim for blind welfare allowance.”,

(b) by substituting the following for Part 4 of Schedule 3:

“PART 4

Sections 161G and 196.

Blind Welfare Allowance and Supplementary Welfare Allowance

1. In calculating the weekly means of a person for blind welfare allowance or supplementary welfare allowance account shall be taken of the following:

(1) other than in such circumstances, and subject to such conditions and for such periods, as are prescribed, the weekly value of property belonging to the person (not being property personally used or enjoyed by the person or a farm of land leased by the person) which is invested or is otherwise put to profitable use by the person or which, though capable of investment or profitable use, is not invested or put to profitable use, and the weekly value calculated—

(a) for the purposes of blind welfare allowance, in accordance with reference 2 of Table 1 to this Schedule, or

(b) for the purposes of supplementary welfare allowance, in accordance with reference 3 of that Table,

constitutes the weekly means of a person from that property;

(2) all income in cash, including the net cash value of any non-cash earnings derived from personal exertions and such non-cash benefits as are prescribed and the actual or estimated amount of any household income, whether as contributions to the expenses of the household or otherwise, but excluding—

(a) the amounts at references 2 to 11, 18A and 19 in Table 2 to this Schedule,

(b) in such cases as are prescribed, any moneys received by way of a maintenance grant,

(c) any income arising from a blind welfare allowance under section 161G of this Act,

(d) any sums arising from the investment or profitable use of property (not being property personally used or enjoyed by the person or a farm of land leased by the person),

(e) such amount as is prescribed of earnings from employment of a rehabilitative nature,

(f) any moneys received by way of guardian’s payment (contributory), guardian’s payment (non-contributory) or respite care grant, and

(g) in the case of a person in receipt of a supplement under section 198 towards the amount of mortgage interest or rent payable by the person in respect of his or her residence—

(i) an amount equal to the sum of the first €75 of any additional income (within the meaning of Rule 2) and 25 per cent of so much of that additional income as exceeds €75, when that additional income has been reduced by the aggregate of—

(I) any allowable contribution referred to in Regulations 41 and 42 of the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 559 of 2001),

(II) any amount deducted from reckonable earnings under section 13 and regulations made under section 14,

(III) any amount deducted from reckonable earnings under section 5 of the Health Contributions Act 1979 ,

and

(ii) the amount by which carer’s allowance as set out in column (2) at reference 8(a) or 8(b), as appropriate, of Part 1 of Schedule 4 exceeds—

(I) the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (3) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, or the person’s spouse, is in receipt of carer’s allowance under Part 3,

(II) the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (2) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, not being one of a couple, is in receipt of carer’s allowance under Part 3,

(iii) the amount by which carer’s benefit as set out in column (2) at reference 7(a) or 7(b), as appropriate, of Part 1 of Schedule 2 exceeds—

(I) the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (3) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, or the person’s spouse, is in receipt of carer’s benefit under Part 2,

(II) the amount by which carer’s benefit as set out in column (2) at reference 7(a) or 7(b), as appropriate, of Part 1 of Schedule 2 exceeds the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (2) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, not being one of a couple, is in receipt of carer’s benefit under Part 2,

(iv) the amount payable under section 186A,

(h) in the case of blind welfare allowance—

(i) where the person, or the person’s spouse, is in receipt of carer’s allowance under Chapter 8 of Part 3, the amount by which carer’s allowance as set out in column (2) at reference 8(a) or 8(b), as appropriate, of Part 1 of Schedule 4 exceeds—

(I) the highest rate of increase of blind pension set out in Part 3 of Schedule 4 (where the person has not attained pensionable age), or

(II) the highest rate of increase of State pension (non-contributory) set out in Part 2 of Schedule 4 (where the person has attained pensionable age),

(ii) where the person, not being one of a couple, is in receipt of carer’s allowance under Chapter 8 of Part 3, the amount by which carer’s allowance as set out in column (2) at reference 8(a) or 8(b), as appropriate, of Part 1 of Schedule 4 exceeds—

(I) the amount of blind pension set out in column (2) at reference 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 4 (where the person has not attained pensionable age), or

(II) the highest rate of increase of State pension (non-contributory) set out in column (2) at reference 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 4 (where the person has attained pensionable age),

(iii) the amount payable under section 186A;

(3) the value of any advantage accruing to the person from—

(a) the use or enjoyment of property (other than a domestic dwelling or a farm building owned and occupied, or furniture and personal effects) which is personally used or enjoyed by the person, and

(b) the leasing by the person of a farm of land;

(4) all income and the value of all property of which the person has directly or indirectly deprived himself or herself in order to qualify himself or herself for the receipt of blind welfare allowance or supplementary welfare allowance;

(5) in the case of supplementary welfare allowance—

(a) the weekly value, calculated in such manner as is prescribed, of any benefit or privilege enjoyed by the person by reason of—

(i) residing with a parent or step-parent, and

(ii) not having attained such age as is prescribed,

and

(b) the weekly value of any benefit or privilege, other than benefit or privilege referred to in paragraph (a), enjoyed by the person.

2. In Rule 1(2)(g)(i), ‘additional income’ means the amount by which the aggregate of—

(a) income arising from such employment or training as is prescribed,

(b) income arising from the receipt by the person of family income supplement under Part 6, and

(c) the aggregate of—

(i) any maintenance payments made by a liable relative, and

(ii) the net cash value of the non-cash benefits referred to in Rule 1(2),

in so far as it exceeds €4,952,

which, when aggregated with the assessable weekly means of the person from all other sources under this Part, is in excess of—

(i) the rate of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (2) of Part 1 of Schedule 4, increased by

(ii) the amount set out in column (3) of that Part, where the person has a spouse, and

(iii) the amount set out in column (4) of that Part multiplied by the number of qualified children.

3. In determining entitlement to rent or mortgage interest supplement payable under section 198, the non-cash benefits referred to in Rule 1(2) shall include the weekly net cash value to the person of the annual housing costs of the person actually incurred and paid by a liable relative.

4. In assessing the means of a person for the purpose of a rent or mortgage interest supplement payable under section 198 where the person has attained the age of 65 years, and the person’s combined household income is greater than the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to the person’s circumstances, an amount equal to the difference between the maximum rate of State pension (contributory) appropriate to the person’s circumstances and that rate of supplementary welfare allowance shall be disregarded.

5. In the case of supplementary welfare allowance, where a person or the person’s spouse has any additional income to which Rule 1(2)(e) or Rule 1(2)(g)(i) may apply, only one such Rule shall apply, being whichever is the more favourable.

6. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), Rules 1(1), 1(2)(f) and 1(2)(g) shall not have the effect of reducing the rate of supplementary welfare allowance below the rate payable immediately before 6 June 2007.

(2) This rule shall cease to apply to any person whose means have increased.”,

(c) in Table 1 of Schedule 3—

(i) at reference 2 by substituting “in Rule 1(1) of Part 2 (for the purposes of disability allowance) and Rule 1(1) of Part 4 (for the purposes of blind welfare allowance)” for “in Rule 1(1) of Part 2, for the purposes of disability allowance,”, and

(ii) at reference 3 by inserting “(for the purposes of supplementary welfare allowance)” after “Part 4”,

and

(d) in Part 1 of Schedule 4 by inserting the following after reference 5:

“

”.

13 .— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 2(3)(b)(i) by inserting “161J” after “156(1),”,

(b) in section 139(1) by inserting the following after paragraph (d):

“(da) blind welfare allowance.”,

(c) in section 241(2)(c) by inserting “blind welfare allowance,” after “blind pension,”,

(d) in section 244(1)(c)(iii)—

(i) by inserting “blind welfare allowance,” after “disablement pension,”, and

(ii) by substituting “the pension, allowance, benefit or supplement” for all the words from and including “the pension” to and including “or supplement”,

(e) in section 246(3) by inserting “161G(1)(d),” after “153(c),”,

(f) in section 247—

(i) in subsection (1)(b) by inserting “, blind welfare allowance” after “other than”, and

(ii) in subsection (2)(b) by inserting “, blind welfare allowance” after “other than”,

(g) in section 249 (as amended by section 10 of this Act) by inserting the following after subsection (15):

“(16) A person is disqualified for receipt of blind welfare allowance—

(a) while the person is undergoing a period of imprisonment or detention in legal custody, and

(b) except where regulations otherwise provide, while the person is resident, whether temporarily or permanently, outside the State.”,

(h) in section 265(1) by deleting subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (a) of the definition of “relevant purpose”,

(i) in Part 3 of Schedule 3 by substituting the following for clause (ii) of Rule 1(2)(b):

“(ii) any income arising from blind welfare allowance under Chapter 5A of Part 3,”,

and

(j) in Part 5 of Schedule 3 by substituting the following for clause (iv) of Rule 1(2)(b):

“(iv) any income arising from blind welfare allowance under Chapter 5A of Part 3,”.

14 .— (1) In this section—

“ Chapter 5A ” means Chapter 5A (inserted by section 12 of this Act) of Part 3 of the Principal Act;

“ former blind welfare allowance ” means a grant or allowance in pursuance of a scheme for promoting the welfare of the blind prepared under section 2 of the Blind Persons Act 1920.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Chapter 5A but subject to subsection (3), where, immediately before the commencement of this section, a person is in receipt of any income arising from the former blind welfare allowance, blind welfare allowance under Chapter 5A is payable to that person on and from that commencement at a rate not less than the rate of the former blind welfare allowance payable to that person immediately before that commencement.

(3) Subsection (2) ceases to apply upon the occurrence, on or after the date of commencement of this section, of a change in the person’s circumstances such as to affect the person’s entitlement under Chapter 5A.

(4) Any determination by an employee of the Executive in relation to the award of the former blind welfare allowance to a person before the commencement of this section has effect, on and from that commencement, as a decision by a deciding officer to award blind welfare allowance to that person under Chapter 5A.

(5) Where, immediately before the commencement of this section, an application made by a person for the former blind welfare allowance has not been finally determined, that application shall be deemed to be an application for blind welfare allowance under Chapter 5A.

15 .— Part 3 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after Chapter 8:

“Chapter 8A

Domiciliary Care Allowance

Interpretation.

186B.— In this Chapter—

‘ institution ’, means a hospital, convalescent home or home for children suffering from physical or mental disability or ancillary accommodation and any other similar establishment providing residence, maintenance or care where the cost of the child’s maintenance in that institution is being met in whole or in part by or on behalf of the Executive or the Department of Education and Science;

‘ international organisation ’ means an international intergovernmental organisation, including, in particular and without limiting the generality of the foregoing—

(a) the United Nations Organization and its specialist agencies,

(b) the institutions and agencies of the European Communities,

(c) the Council of Europe, and

(d) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development;

‘ qualified child ’ has the meaning given by section 186C;

‘ qualified person ’ has the meaning given by section 186D.

Qualified child.

186C.— A person who is under the age of 16 years (in this section referred to as ‘the child’) is a qualified child for the purposes of payment of domiciliary care allowance if—

(a) a medical practitioner has certified, in such manner as is prescribed, that—

(i) the child has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age, and

(ii) the disability is such that the child is likely to require full-time care and attention for at least 12 consecutive months,

(b) the child—

(i) is ordinarily resident in the State, or

(ii) satisfies the requirements of section 219(2),

and

(c) the child is not detained in a children detention school as defined in section 3 of the Children Act 2001 .

Qualified person.

186D.— (1) A person is a qualified person for the purpose of receiving domiciliary care allowance in respect of a qualified child if—

(a) the child normally resides with that person,

(b) that person provides for the care of the child, and

(c) at the date of the making of the application for domiciliary care allowance—

(i) that person is habitually resident in the State, or

(ii) the requirements of section 219(2) are satisfied in relation to that person.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) the Minister may by regulation make rules for determining with whom a qualified child is to be regarded as normally residing.

Payments while child is resident in an institution.

186E.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), domiciliary care allowance is not payable for any period during which a child is resident in an institution.

(2) Subject to this Chapter, regulations may provide, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as are prescribed, for payment of domiciliary care allowance at a rate less than the scheduled rate referred to in section 186F in respect of a qualified child in respect of whom the allowance would be payable but for the fact that the qualified child is resident in an institution, where the child is temporarily resident with the qualified person for a period of not less than two days in any one week.

(3) Where a qualified child in respect of whom a domiciliary care allowance is payable is admitted to an institution otherwise than in the circumstances referred to in subsection (2), that allowance shall continue to be payable for such period, and in such circumstances as are prescribed.

Rate of payment.

186F.— (1) Subject to this Act, a person shall, so long as he or she remains a qualified person, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas a monthly allowance at the rate (in this section referred to as ‘the scheduled rate’) set out in Part 5 of Schedule 4.

(2) Regulations may provide for the payment of domiciliary care allowance at a rate lower than the scheduled rate in the case of a qualified child in respect of whom an allowance is payable in accordance with section 186E(2).

Medical examination.

186G.— (1) A qualified child in respect of whom domiciliary care allowance is in payment shall attend for or submit to such medical or other examinations as are required in accordance with regulations.

(2) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1) may also provide for disqualifying a person for receiving domiciliary care allowance where the qualified child in respect of whom the domiciliary care allowance is payable fails without good cause to attend for or submit to such medical or other examination as may be required in accordance with those regulations.

Only one domiciliary care allowance payable.

186H.— Not more than one domiciliary care allowance is payable in any month in respect of any one qualified child.”.

16 .— The Principal Act is amended —

(a) in section 139(1) by inserting the following after paragraph (h):

“(ha) domiciliary care allowance.”,

(b) in section 224(1)(a) by inserting “, domiciliary care allowance” after “carer’s allowance”,

(c) in section 225(2) by deleting paragraph (d),

(d) in section 241 by inserting the following after subsection (4):

“(4A) A person who fails to make a claim for domiciliary care allowance within the prescribed time is disqualified for payment in respect of any day before the date on which the claim is made unless a deciding officer or appeals officer is satisfied that there was good cause for delay in making the claim, in which case, domiciliary care allowance is payable from the specified day (being the day specified in regulations made for the purposes of section 242(1)(a) as the day in each month for the payment of domiciliary care allowance) in the month following that in which the claimant became a qualified person within the meaning of section 186D(1).”,

(e) in section 244(1)(c)(iii)—

(i) by inserting “domiciliary care allowance,” before “child benefit,”, and

(ii) by substituting “the pension, allowance, benefit or supplement” for all the words from and including “the pension” to and including “or supplement”,

(f) in section 246(3) by inserting “186D(3),” before “192,”,

(g) in section 247—

(i) in subsection (1)(b) by inserting “, domiciliary care allowance” after “186A”,

(ii) in subsection (2)(b) by inserting “, domiciliary care allowance” after “186A”,

(h) in section 249 by inserting the following subsection at the end of the section:

“(17) A person is disqualified for receipt of domiciliary care allowance—

(a) while the person is undergoing a period of imprisonment or detention in legal custody, and

(b) except where regulations otherwise provide, while the person is resident, whether temporarily or permanently, outside the State.”,

and

(i) in Schedule 4 by inserting the following after Part 4 (inserted by section 3 (1) of this Act):

“PART 5

Section 186F.

Amount of Domiciliary Care Allowance

The monthly amount of domiciliary care allowance, per child, is €299.60.”.

17 .— (1) In this section—

“ Chapter 8A ” means Chapter 8A (inserted by section 15 of this Act) of Part 3 of the Principal Act;

“ Health Act allowance ” means an allowance for the domiciliary care of children under section 61 of the Health Act 1970 .

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Chapter 8A but subject to subsection (3), where immediately before the commencement of this section, a person is in receipt of Health Act allowance, a domiciliary care allowance is payable to that person under Chapter 8A on and from that commencement at a rate not less than the rate of Health Act allowance payable to that person immediately before that commencement.

(3) Subsection (2) ceases to apply upon the occurrence, on or after the date of commencement of this section, of a change in the circumstances of that person or of the child in respect of whom the allowance is payable such as to affect the person’s entitlement under Chapter 8A.

(4) Any determination by an employee of the Executive in relation to the award to a person of Health Act allowance made before the commencement of this section has effect, on and from that commencement, as a decision by a deciding officer to award domiciliary care allowance to that person under Chapter 8A.

(5) Where, immediately before the commencement of this subsection, an application made by a person for Health Act allowance has not been finally determined, that application shall be deemed to be an application for domiciliary care allowance under Chapter 8A.

18 .— (1) The Principal Act is amended in section 312 by substituting “under section 196, 197 or 198” for “for supplementary welfare allowance”.

(2) The Principal Act is amended as indicated in Schedule 1 .

(3) Any determination by an employee of the Executive in relation to the award to a person of supplementary welfare allowance made before the commencement of this subsection has effect, on and from that commencement, as a decision by a designated person to award supplementary welfare allowance to that person under Chapter 9 of Part 3 of the Principal Act as amended by subsection (2).

(4) Where, immediately before the commencement of this section, an application made by a person for supplementary welfare allowance has not been finally determined, that application shall be deemed to be an application for supplementary welfare allowance under Chapter 9 of Part 3 of the Principal Act as amended by subsection (2).

19 .— Section 241(6) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting “respite care grant or” after “claim for”.

20 .— Section 244 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

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

“(b) for—

(i) enabling a person to be appointed to exercise, on behalf of a claimant or beneficiary who—

(I) is under 16 years of age, or

(II) is certified by a medical practitioner to be a person who is or is likely soon to become unable for the time being to manage his or her own financial affairs,

any right or power otherwise exercisable under this Act by the claimant or beneficiary, and

(ii) subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as are prescribed for assuring the personal welfare of the claimant or beneficiary, authorising a person so appointed to receive and deal with any sum payable by way of benefit on behalf, and for the benefit, of the claimant or beneficiary,”,

(ii) by inserting “, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as are prescribed,” after “enabling” in paragraph (c),

and

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (2):

“(3) Regulations under this section may make provision for the powers exercisable by, and the obligations of, persons appointed to receive and deal with sums payable by way of benefit, including, in particular, an obligation to account for sums so received.”.

21 .— Section 246(3) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting “186A(2),” after “180,”.

22 .— Section 343 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting “admissible as evidence” for “conclusive”, and

(b) in paragraphs (a) and (b) by substituting “may” for “shall”.

23 .— Part 2 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Act (as amended by section 35 of the Act of 2007) is amended in Rule 1(1) by substituting the following for “calculated in accordance with Table 1 to this Schedule, constitutes”:

“calculated—

(a) for the purposes of jobseeker’s allowance, pre-retirement allowance or farm assist, in accordance with reference 1 of Table 1 to this Schedule, or

(b) for the purposes of disability allowance, in accordance with reference 2 of Table 1 to this Schedule,

constitutes”.

24 .— Part 4 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Act (as amended by section 36 of the Act of 2007) is amended—

(a) in Rule 1(2)(a) by inserting “, 18A” after “11”,

(b) in Rule 1(2)(b) by substituting the following for clause (v):

“(v) in the case of a person in receipt of a supplement under section 198 towards the amount of mortgage interest or rent payable by the person in respect of his or her residence—

(I) an amount equal to the sum of the first €75 of any additional income (within the meaning of Rule 2) and 25 per cent of so much of that additional income as exceeds €75, when that additional income has been reduced by the aggregate of—

(A) any allowable contribution referred to in Regulations 41 and 42 of the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 559 of 2001),

(B) any amount deducted from reckonable earnings under section 13 and regulations made under section 14, and

(C) any amount deducted from reckonable earnings under section 5 of the Health Contributions Act 1979 , and

(II) the amount by which carer’s allowance as set out in column (2) at reference 8(a) or 8(b), as appropriate, of Part 1 of Schedule 4 exceeds—

(A) the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (3) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, or the person’s spouse, is in receipt of carer’s allowance under Part 3; or

(B) the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (2) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, not being one of a couple, is in receipt of carer’s allowance under Part 3;

(III) the amount by which carer’s benefit as set out in column (2) at reference 7(a) or 7(b), as appropriate, of Part 1 of Schedule 2 exceeds—

(A) the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (3) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, or the person’s spouse, is in receipt of carer’s benefit under Part 2; or

(B) the amount of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (2) at reference 10 of Part 1 of Schedule 4, where the person, not being one of a couple, is in receipt of carer’s benefit under Part 2;

and

(IV) the amount payable under section 186A;”,

(c) in Rule 1A (inserted by section 36 of the Act of 2007) by—

(i) substituting the following for paragraph (1):

“(1) In determining entitlement to rent or mortgage interest supplement payable under section 198, the non-cash benefits referred to in Rule 1(2) shall include the weekly net cash value to the person of his or her annual housing costs actually incurred and paid by a liable relative.”,

and

(ii) substituting the following for paragraph (3):

“(3) Where a person or his or her spouse has any additional income to which Rule 1(2)(b)(iv) or Rule 1(2)(b)(v)(I) may apply, only one such Rule shall apply, being whichever is the more favourable to the person.”,

and

(d) substituting the following for Rule 2:

“2.— In Rule 1(2)(b)(v)(I), ‘ additional income ’ means the amount by which the aggregate of—

(a) income arising from such employment or training as is prescribed,

(b) income arising from the receipt by the person of family income supplement under Part 6, and

(c) the aggregate of—

(i) any maintenance payments made by a liable relative, and

(ii) the net cash value of the non-cash benefits referred to in Rule 1A(1),

in so far as it exceeds €4,952,

which, when aggregated with the assessable weekly means of the person from all other sources under this Part, is in excess of—

(i) the rate of supplementary welfare allowance set out in column (2) of Part 1 of Schedule 4, increased by

(ii) the amount set out in column (3) of that Part, where the person has a spouse, and

(iii) the amount set out in column (4) of that Part multiplied by the number of qualified children.”.

25 .— The Act of 2007 is amended—

(a) in section 9 by deleting paragraphs (b), (e)(i), (g)(i) and (i),

(b) in section 25 by repealing subsection (2),

(c) in section 35 by deleting subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a), and

(d) by repealing Schedule 1.