PART 2

Amendments to the Social Welfare Acts

2. —In this Part—

“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 ;

“Act of 2002” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 ;

“Act of 2003” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 ;

“Act of 2004” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 ;

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

3. —(1) The Fourth Schedule to the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for Part III (as amended by section 3 of the Act of 2004):

“PART III

AMOUNTS OF CHILD BENEFIT

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 April 2005.

4. —(1) Section 32 (as amended by section 11 of this Act) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (9):

“(10) In the case of any claim for disability benefit, where, at the time of application for that benefit, the claimant—

(a) is in receipt of or entitled to unemployment assistance under section 121(1)(a), and

(b) has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than 260 weeks,

subsection (1)(b)(i) shall be read as if ‘39 contribution weeks’ were substituted for ‘39 contribution weeks, of which at least 13 must be qualifying contributions’ and subsection (1)(c) shall not apply.

(11) In the case of any claim for disability benefit where, on the date immediately before the claim, a person was in receipt of or entitled to occupational injury benefit, subsection (1)(b)(i) shall be read as if ‘in the second last or third last complete contribution year’ were substituted for ‘in the second last complete contribution year’ ”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 2 May 2005.

5. —(1) Section 58 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by deleting subsection (1)(a), and

(b) in subsection (2), by substituting “An increase of benefit referred to in subsection (1) is an increase” for “The increases of benefit referred to in subsection (1) are increases”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 2 May 2005.

6. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 82A (inserted by section 10 of the Act of 2000), in subsection (1), by inserting the following before the definition of “relevant person”:

“ ‘relevant period’ means the period of 26 weeks immediately before the first day in respect of which a claim to carer's benefit is made;”,

(b) in section 82B (as amended by section 15 of the Act of 2002):

(i) by substituting the following for paragraph (a) of subsection (1):

“(a) was engaged in remunerative full-time employment as an employed contributor for not less than 8 weeks, whether consecutive or not, within the relevant period,”,

(ii) by substituting the following for subsection (2):

“(2) Subsection (1)(a) shall not apply in respect of a claimant who was in receipt of carer's benefit within the relevant period.”,

and

(iii) by substituting the following for subsections (5) and (6):

“(5) In this section ‘remunerative full-time employment’ means remunerative employment for not less than 16 hours a week within the 8 weeks referred to in subsection (1)(a) or any period that may be prescribed under subsection (6), provided that where any 2 of those weeks are consecutive, the requirement in relation to those 2 weeks may be satisfied by an aggregate of not less than 32 hours in that fortnight.

(6) Regulations may provide that, subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that may be prescribed, in the case of a person who was absent from his or her employment within the relevant period referred to in subsection (1)(a), by reason of being on any leave from that employment that may be prescribed, the condition specified in subsection (1)(a) shall be regarded as being satisfied in respect of that person if he or she was engaged in remunerative full-time employment as an employed contributor for 8 weeks, whether consecutive or not, within the relevant period (other than the relevant period referred to in that subsection) that may be prescribed (and the period that may be so prescribed may comprise 2 or more periods which, taken together, amount to a period of 26 weeks).”.

7. —(1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting the following after Part IV:

“PART IVA

RESPITE CARE GRANT

(b) by repealing sections 82F and 168A,

(c) by substituting “IV, IVA,” for “IV,” in each place where it occurs in the following provisions—

(i) subsections (1) and (8) of section 212 (as amended by section 23 of the Act of 1998),

(ii) paragraph (b) of section 265 (as amended by section 7 of the Act of 1996),

(iii) subsection (1) of section 277 (as amended by section 7 of the Act of 1996), and

(iv) Reference 1 in Table 2 to the Third Schedule (as amended by section 24 of this Act),

and

(d) in section 247(2), by inserting the following after paragraph (c):

“(ca) Part IVA (Respite Care Grant),”.

(2) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for subsection (1) (as amended by section 4 of the Act of 2004) of section 82F:

“(1) Subject to subsection (2), a respite care grant in the amount of €1,000 shall be payable to a carer in respect of each relevant person in his or her care.”,

and

(b) by substituting the following for subsection (2) (as amended by section 4 of the Act of 2004) of section 168A:

“(2) Subject to subsection (3), a respite care grant in the amount of €1,000 shall be payable to a carer in respect of each relevant person in his or her care.”.

8. —(1) Section 191B (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1996) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (3) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 1999), by substituting “subsections (3A), (3B) and (3C)” for “subsections (3A) and (3B)”, and

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (3B) (inserted by section 20 of the Act of 1999):

“(3C) Subject to subsection (3D), a person who would be entitled to disability allowance but for subsection (3) shall be entitled to a weekly payment of €35 (in this Chapter referred to as the ‘disability allowance personal expenses rate’).

(3D) A payment under subsection (3C) shall be payable—

(a) at the disability allowance personal expenses rate where the rate of disability allowance, calculated in accordance with section 191C, that would be payable but for subsection (3), is greater than or equal to the disability allowance personal expenses rate, or

(b) at a rate equivalent to that rate of disability allowance, calculated in accordance with section 191C, that would be payable but for subsection (3), where that rate is less than the disability allowance personal expenses rate.”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 June 2005.

9. —(1) The Third Schedule to the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in Part I, by substituting the following for subparagraph (b) of Rule 1(1) (as amended by section 17(1)(a) of the Act of 2000):

“(b) The weekly value of the property referred to in subparagraph (a) shall be calculated as follows—

(i) the first €20,000 of the capital value of the property shall be excluded,

(ii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €20,000 but does not exceed €30,000 shall be assessed at €1 per each €1,000,

(iii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €30,000 but does not exceed €40,000 shall be assessed at €2 per each €1,000, and

(iv) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €40,000 shall be assessed at €4 per each €1,000.”,

(b) in Part II, by substituting the following for subparagraph (b) of Rule 1(1) (as amended by section 17(1)(b) of the Act of 2000):

“(b) The weekly value of the property referred to in subparagraph (a) shall be calculated as follows—

(i) the first €20,000 of the capital value of the property shall be excluded,

(ii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €20,000 but does not exceed €30,000 shall be assessed at €1 per each €1,000,

(iii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €30,000 but does not exceed €40,000 shall be assessed at €2 per each €1,000, and

(iv) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €40,000 shall be assessed at €4 per each €1,000,

but no account shall be taken under any other provision of these Rules of any appropriation of the property for the purpose of current expenditure.”,

and

(c) in Part IV, by substituting the following for subparagraph (b) of Rule 1(2) (as amended by section 17(1)(d) of the Act of 2000):

“(b) The weekly value of the property referred to in subparagraph (a) shall be calculated as follows:

(i) the first €20,000 of the capital value of the property shall be excluded,

(ii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €20,000 but does not exceed €30,000 shall be assessed at €1 per each €1,000,

(iii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €30,000 but does not exceed €40,000 shall be assessed at €2 per each €1,000, and

(iv) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds €40,000 shall be assessed at €4 per each €1,000,

but no account shall be taken under any other provision of these Rules of any appropriation of the property for the purpose of current expenditure.”.

(2) This section comes into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to carer's allowance, on 7 April 2005,

(b) in so far as it relates to unemployment assistance, disability allowance, pre-retirement allowance and farm assist, on 1 June 2005, and

(c) in so far as it relates to old age (non-contributory) pension, blind pension, widow's or widower's (non-contributory) pension, one-parent family payment, orphan's (non-contributory) pension and a relevant payment by virtue of section 18(1)(b) or (c) of the Act of 1996, on 2 June 2005.

10. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 56(1) (as amended by section 17(1)(a) of the Act of 2001), by substituting “, by the amount set out in column (3) of Part IV of the Second Schedule where the beneficiary is living alone and by the amount set out in column (4) of Part IV of the Second Schedule where the beneficiary is ordinarily resident on an island” for “and by the amount set out in column (3) of Part IV of the Second Schedule where the beneficiary is living alone”,

(b) by inserting the following after Part VA (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 1996):

“PART VB

EU PAYMENTS

(c) by substituting “VA, VB,” for “VA,” in each place where it occurs in sections 212(1) and (8), 265(b) and 277(1) (each as amended by section 7 of this Act),

(d) in the Third Schedule, by substituting “,VA or VB,” for “or VA” in each place where it occurs in the following provisions—

(i) Part I, in Rule 1(2)(b),

(ii) Part II, in Rule 1(4)(b), and

(iii) Part IV, in Rule 1(3)(a),

and

(e) in section 247(2) (as amended by section 7 of this Act), by inserting the following after paragraph (e) (as amended by section 24 of the Act of 1998):

“(ea) Part VB (EU payments),”.

11. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 32—

(i) in subsection (1)(b) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001)—

(I) in subparagraph (i), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”, and

(II) in subparagraph (ii), by substituting “of the second last and third last complete contribution years” for “of the last two complete contribution years”,

and

(ii) in subsection (3) (as amended by section 10 of the Act of 2002), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”,

(b) in section 38—

(i) in paragraph (a)(i) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001)—

(I) in clause (B)(I), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”, and

(II) in clause (B)(II), by substituting “of the second last and third last complete contribution years” for “of the last two complete contribution years”,

and

(ii) in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) (as amended by section 9 of the Act of 2002), by substituting “in the second last complete contribution year or in the third last complete contribution year” for “in the last complete contribution year or in the second last complete contribution year”,

(c) in section 41B—

(i) in subsection (1)(a)(ii) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001)—

(I) in clause (B)(I), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”, and

(II) in clause (B)(II), by substituting “of the second last and third last complete contribution years” for “of the last two complete contribution years”,

(d) in section 41H—

(i) in subsection (1)(a)(i) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001)—

(I) in clause (B)(I), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”, and

(II) in clause (B)(II), by substituting “of the second last and third last complete contribution years” for “of the last two complete contribution years”,

and

(ii) in subparagraph (i) of subsection (1)(b) (as amended by section 9 of the Act of 2002), by substituting “in the second last complete contribution year or in the third last complete contribution year” for “in the last complete contribution year or in the second last complete contribution year”,

(e) in section 43, in subsection (1)(b) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2001)—

(i) in subparagraph (i), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”, and

(ii) in subparagraph (ii), by substituting “of the second last and third last complete contribution years” for “of the last two complete contribution years”,

(f) in section 82C, in subsection (1) (as amended by section 10 of the Act of 2002)—

(i) in paragraph (a), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”, and

(ii) in paragraph (c), by substituting “of the second last and third last complete contribution years” for “of the last two complete contribution years”,

and

(g) in section 115, in subsection (1)(b)—

(i) in subparagraph (i) (as amended by section 30 of the Act of 2001), by substituting “second last complete contribution year” for “last complete contribution year”, and

(ii) in subparagraph (ii) (as amended by section 10 of the Act of 2002), by substituting “the 3 or 5 complete contribution years immediately before the last complete contribution year” for “the last 3 or 5 complete contribution years”.

12. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 42(5), by inserting the following after paragraph (a):

“(aa) employment under a scheme administered under the aegis of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and known as the Rural Social Scheme,”,

and

(b) in section 120(5), by inserting the following after paragraph (a):

“(aa) employment under a scheme administered under the aegis of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and known as the Rural Social Scheme,”.

13. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting the following after section 47(3):

“(3A) A person shall be disqualified for receiving unemployment benefit during any week in which he or she is employed under a scheme administered under the aegis of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and known as the Rural Social Scheme.”,

(b) by substituting the following for subsection (1) (as amended by section 27 of the Act of 2000) of section 125:

“(1) A person shall be disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance while he or she is—

(a) an inmate of an institution maintained wholly or partly out of public moneys or by a local authority,

(b) employed during any week under a scheme administered by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair and known as Community Employment, or

(c) employed during any week under a scheme administered under the aegis of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and known as the Rural Social Scheme.”,

and

(c) by inserting the following after section 191Q(1)(a) (inserted by section 15 of the Act of 1999):

“(aa) employed during any week under a scheme administered under the aegis of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and known as the Rural Social Scheme,”.

14. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in paragraph (a) of section 82H (inserted by section 10 of the Act of 2000), by inserting “in any week” before “in respect of the full-time care”, and

(b) in paragraph (a) of section 166 (as amended by section 28 of the Act of 2000), by inserting “in any week” before “in respect of the full-time care”.

15. —The Principal Act is amended in section 223(1) (as amended by section 11 of the Act of 2004), in the definition of “specified body”—

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

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

“(z) the Mental Health Commission, or

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

16. —The Principal Act is amended in section 247 (as amended by section 11 of the Act of 2003)—

(a) by inserting the following after subsection (4):

“(4A) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (3) and subject to subsection (6), the Minister may provide for the award of a bereavement grant or a payment under section 210, in the circumstances and subject to the conditions that may be prescribed, on receipt of information that may be prescribed, verified in the manner that may be prescribed, where the Minister is satisfied that the information is adequate to ensure that the award is made in accordance with this Act.”,

and

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

“(6) In the case of an award made under subsection (4A), any question which arises subsequently in relation to whether a bereavement grant or a payment under section 210 is or is not payable, or in relation to who is entitled to receive a bereavement grant or a payment under section 210, shall be referred to a deciding officer for decision.”.

17. —The Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for subsection (3) of section 224:

“(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) or any provision in any enactment specifying the period within which proceedings may be commenced, a prosecution for a summary offence under this Act may be brought at any time within whichever of the following periods later expires—

(a) 2 years commencing on the date on which the offence was committed, or

(b) 18 months commencing on the date on which evidence sufficient to justify the institution of the prosecution came into the possession of the Minister.”.

18. —Section 2(1) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for the definition of “orphan”:

“ ‘orphan’ means a qualified child—

(a) both of whose parents are dead, or

(b) one of whose parents is dead or unknown or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child, as the case may be, and whose other parent—

(i) is unknown, or

(ii) has abandoned and failed to provide for the child,

where that child is not residing with a parent, adoptive parent or step-parent;”.

19. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 109—

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

“(1A) In this Chapter ‘guardian’ means the person in whose care an orphan normally resides.”,

and

(ii) by substituting the following for subsection (2):

“(2) The Minister may, where he or she thinks fit, direct that a payment under this Chapter, payable to the guardian of an orphan, be paid to some other person for the benefit of the orphan or, subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that may be prescribed, directly to an orphan who has attained the age of 18 years where that orphan is not normally residing with a guardian.”,

and

(b) in section 151—

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

“(1A) in this Chapter ‘guardian’ means the person in whose care the orphan normally resides.”,

and

(ii) by substituting the following for subsection (2):

“(2) The Minister may, where he or she thinks fit, direct that a payment under this Chapter, payable to the guardian of an orphan, be paid to some other person for the benefit of the orphan or, subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that may be prescribed, directly to an orphan who has attained the age of 18 years where that orphan is not normally residing with a guardian.”.

20. —Part III of the Third Schedule to the Principal Act is amended in Rule 1(1)—

(a) in paragraph (p)(i) (inserted by section 26 of the Act of 2000), by substituting “such employment as may be prescribed” for “employment”, and

(b) by deleting paragraphs (q), (r) and (s) (all inserted by section 24 of the Act of 2001).

21. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 177(1) (as amended by section 37 of the Act of 2001), by substituting “Subject to section 281(6), the amount of supplementary welfare allowance” for “The amount of supplementary welfare allowance”,

(b) by substituting the following for subsection (6) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 1998) of section 281:

“(6) Any benefit, assistance, supplement or payment repayable in accordance with section 278, 279, 279A or 279B may, without prejudice to any other method of recovery, be recovered by deduction, subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that shall be prescribed, from any benefit, assistance, supplement or payment to which the person concerned is or becomes entitled.”,

and

(c) in section 282 (as amended by section 30 of the Act of 1999)—

(i) by deleting “(other than supplementary welfare allowance determined by a health board)”, and

(ii) by substituting “subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that shall be prescribed” for “in accordance with such code of practice as shall be prescribed”.

22. —Section 83 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (2), in the definition of “homemaker” (inserted by section 24 of the Act of 1996), by substituting the following for subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c):

“(ii) resides with and provides full-time care and attention to a person who is so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention within the meaning of section 163(3), or

(iii) subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that may be prescribed, does not reside with but provides full-time care and attention to a person who is so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention within the meaning of section 163(3),

and,”.

23. —The Principal Act is amended as indicated in Schedule 1 to this Act.

24. —The Principal Act is amended by substituting the Schedule set out in Schedule 2 to this Act for the Third Schedule.

25. —The Principal Act is amended as indicated in Schedule 3 to this Act.

26. —The Principal Act is amended—

(a) as indicated in Schedule 4 to this Act, and

(b) by inserting the Schedule set out in Schedule 5 to this Act after the Eighth Schedule (inserted by the European Communities (Social Welfare) Regulations 1994 (S.I. No. 312 of 1994)),

being amendments designed to facilitate, or otherwise desirable in connection with, the consolidation of the Social Welfare Acts.