PART IV

Miscellaneous Amendments

19. —Where—

(a) a person is charged with an offence in relation to the receipt of any benefit, pension, assistance or allowance under the Principal Act or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of the Principal Act, and

(b) the court proposes to make an order under section 1 (1) of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907,

the court shall not make such order until it is satisfied that any amounts due to be repaid in respect of such benefit, pension, assistance or allowance have been repaid.

20. —(1) Proceedings for an offence under the Principal Act or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of the Principal Act shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Minister or by an officer authorised in that behalf by special or general directions of the Minister.

(2) A prosecution for a summary offence under the Principal Act or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of the Principal Act may be brought at the suit of the Minister.

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

(a) the period of six months commencing on the date on which evidence sufficient to justify the institution of that prosecution came into the possession of the Minister, or

(b) the period of two years commencing on the date on which the offence was committed.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, a certificate, sealed with the official seal of the Minister, as to the date on which such evidence as aforesaid came into his possession shall be sufficient evidence thereof until the contrary is shown.

(5) Where in a prosecution for an offence under the Principal Act, or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of the Principal Act, it is shown to the satisfaction of the court—

(a) that an application has been made by a person (in this section referred to as the defendant) for any benefit, assistance, allowance or supplement under Parts II, III, IV or IVA of the Principal Act, and

(b) that as a result of that application any such benefit, assistance, allowance or supplement has been paid to any person (whether or not such benefit, assistance, allowance or supplement was that applied for and whether or not it was paid to the defendant),

the defendant shall be presumed to have given any information contained in the application (or to have caused it to be given on his behalf) and, where such information is false, with full knowledge of such falsity and with intent that it should deceive; but this presumption may be rebutted.

(6) For the purpose of the institution of proceedings under the Principal Act, a certificate, purporting to be given by an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister and to be signed by that officer, certifying the following facts, namely, that a person is an officer of the Minister and that he has been authorised under a special or general direction of the Minister to institute such proceedings, or that the Minister has consented to the institution of such proceedings, shall be sufficient evidence in any legal proceedings of the matters certified in the certificate, until the contrary is shown.

(7) In any proceedings for an offence under Part II, or Chapter 2 of Part III, of the Principal Act or under regulations made under or applying the said provisions, the wife or husband of the person charged with the offence shall, notwithstanding any other enactment, be competent to give evidence, whether for or against that person, but the wife or husband shall not be compellable either to give evidence or, in giving evidence, to disclose any communication made to her or him, as the case may be, during the marriage by that person.

(8) The following provisions are hereby repealed:

(a) in the Principal Act—

(i) section 116,

(ii) section 145,

(iii) section 168,

(iv) subsections (4) and (5) of section 188, and

(v) subsections (4) and (5) of section 231;

(b) in the Act of 1986, section 20.

21. —A person convicted on indictment of an offence for which a fine or a term of imprisonment is provided in any section of the Principal Act specified in the Table to this section shall be liable—

(a) in lieu of the fine provided for such conviction in any such section, to a fine not exceeding £10,000, or

(b) in lieu of the term of imprisonment provided for such conviction in any such section, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three years,

or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

TABLE

Section 114 (4) (amended by section 15 of the Act of 1986);

Section 143A (5) (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1985);

Sections 115 (1), 115 (2), 115 (3), 144 (1), 144 (2), 169 (1), 174 (2), 188 (1), 231 (1) and 294 (amended by section 12 of the Act of 1985).

22. —The Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution in section 185 (3) for “£500” (inserted by section 12 of the Act of 1985) of “£1,000”, and

(b) by the substitution in section 298 (10) for “£100” of “£500”.

23. —(1) Section 22 (which relates to duration of payment of disability benefit) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of the following paragraph:

“(b) before that day has been entitled, in respect of any period of interruption of employment (whether including that day or not) during the period beginning on the date six years before the 5th day of April immediately prior to the benefit year in which that day occurs and ending on that day, to disability benefit for 312 days,”.

(2) This section shall apply to any claim for disability benefit which is received on or after the 6th day of April, 1988.

24. —(1) Section 42 of the Principal Act (which relates to entitlement to injury benefit) is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (5) of the following subsection:

“(5) The amount payable by way of injury benefit for any day of incapacity shall be one-sixth of the appropriate weekly rate subject to the total amount being paid at any time by virtue of this subsection being rounded up to the nearest 10p where it is a multiple of 5p but not also a multiple of 10p and being rounded to the nearest 10p where it is not a multiple of 5p or 10p.”.

(2) Section 150 of the Principal Act (which relates to the payment of unemployment assistance) is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(3) The amount payable by way of unemployment assistance for any day of unemployment shall be one-sixth of the appropriate weekly rate subject to the total amount being paid at any time by virtue of this subsection being rounded up to the nearest 10p where it is a multiple of 5p but not also a multiple of 10p and being rounded to the nearest 10p where it is not a multiple of 5p or 10p.”.

(3) (a) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 25th day of July, 1988, and

(b) subsection (2) of this section shall come into operation on the 20th day of July, 1988.

25. —(1) Section 140 of the Principal Act (which relates to the effect of means on rates at which unemployment assistance is payable) is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of the following paragraph:

“(b) if he has means, at a rate equal to the scheduled rate reduced by 10p per week for every 10p or part of 10p of his means.”.

(2) Section 12 of the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1985 (which relates to the entitlement to unemployment assistance for married couples), is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) Where the spouse of an applicant for unemployment assistance is not an adult dependant, the unemployment assistance payable to the applicant shall be at a rate equal to the scheduled rate reduced by 10p for every 20p or part of 20p of his means.”.

(3) This section shall come into operation on the 20th day of July, 1988.

26. —(1) Sections 153 (which relates to payments to the Minister by local authorities) and 154 (which relates to certificates of valuation) of the Principal Act are hereby repealed.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1989.

27. —The Employers' Employment Contribution Scheme Act, 1981 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for section 4 of the following section:

“4. The moneys standing to the credit of the scheme shall be transferred to the account of the Occupational Injuries Fund to which section 67 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 , relates.”, and

(b) by the substitution for subsection (6) of section 6 of the following subsection:

“(6) All moneys paid in respect of the employer's employment contribution shall be paid by the Revenue Commissioners to the Minister for Social Welfare and shall be transferred by that Minister to the account of the Occupational Injuries Fund referred to in section 4 of this Act.”.

28. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion in subsection (1) of section 134 (which relates to description of assistance) of the following additional paragraph:

“(k) pre-retirement allowance.”,

(b) the insertion in Part III after Chapter 2 of the following Chapter:

“Chapter 2A

PRE-RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE

Entitlement to pre-retirement allowance.

156A.—Subject to this Chapter, an allowance (in this Chapter referred to as ‘pre-retirement allowance’) shall, subject to regulations, be payable in respect of any period of retirement to a person—

(a) who has attained the age specified by regulations but has not attained pensionable age,

(b) who has been in receipt of unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance for not less than 390 days for any continuous period of unemployment in the immediately preceding period as construed in accordance with section 135 (2),

(c) who satisfies the conditions as to means prescribed for the purposes of this Chapter, and

(d) who would otherwise be entitled to unemployment assistance at the scheduled rate determined in accordance with section 140 (1)(a) or at such other rates as may be prescribed.

Rate of pre-retirement allowance.

156B.—Subject to regulations under section 156C the weekly rate of pre-retirement allowance shall be at the rate that would apply if the person was entitled to unemployment assistance under Chapter 2 of Part III.

Regulations.

156C.—(1) The Minister may, subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance, make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to this Chapter.

(2) Regulations under this section may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)—

(a) specify the age for the purposes of section 156A (a),

(b) prescribe the conditions as to means to be satisfied for the purposes of section 156A (c),

(c) specify the periods which shall be regarded as periods of retirement for the purposes of this Chapter, and

(d) apply (with or without modification), or make provisions corresponding (with or without modification) to, any provisions of, or regulations under, this Act.

(3) The Minister may, subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance, by regulations vary the weekly rate of pre-retirement allowance under section 156B but any such variation shall not reduce the weekly rates applicable immediately before the commencement of such regulations.”.

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

29. —Section 38 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for paragraph (f) of subsection (3) of the following paragraph:

“(f) employment, otherwise than under contract of service, specified in paragraph 12 of Part I of the First Schedule.”,

and

(b) by the substitution for subsection (11) (inserted by section 16 of the Social Welfare Act, 1983 ) of the following subsection:

“(11) A person who is unemployed shall, while in attendance at a course of training provided or approved of by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair, An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta or C.E.R.T. Limited, be deemed for the purposes of this Part to be in insurable (occupational injuries) employment and to be employed by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair, An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta or C.E.R.T. Limited (as the case may be).”.

30. —The Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion after subsection (11) of section 79 (which relates to the conditions for the receipt of old age (contributory) pensions) of the following subsections:

“(12) Subject to subsection (13), regulations may, subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance, provide for entitling to old age (contributory) pension a person who would be entitled thereto but for the fact that the contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (c) is not satisfied where that person, having earlier ceased to be an employed contributor became an employed contributor as a consequence of the coming into operation of section 12 of the Social Welfare Act, 1973 .

(13) Regulations for the purposes of subsection (12) shall provide that old age (contributory) pension payable by virtue thereof shall be payable at a rate less than that specified in the Second Schedule, and the rate specified by the regulations may vary with the extent to which the contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (c) is satisfied.”,

(b) by the insertion after subsection (9) of section 93 (which relates to the conditions for the receipt of widow's (contributory) pension) of the following subsections:

“(10) Subject to subsection (11), regulations may, subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance, provide for entitling to widow's (contributory) pension a person who would be entitled thereto but for the fact that the contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (b) is not satisfied by reference to the insurance record of a person where that person, having earlier ceased to be an employed contributor became an employed contributor as a consequence of the coming into operation of section 12 of the Social Welfare Act, 1973.

(11) Regulations for the purposes of subsection (10) shall provide that widow's (contributory) pension payable by virtue thereof shall be payable at a rate less than that specified in the Second Schedule, and the rate specified by the regulations may vary with the extent to which the contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (b) is satisfied.”, and

(c) by the insertion after subsection (8) of section 101 (which relates to the condition for the receipt of deserted wife's benefit) of the following subsections:

“(9) Subject to subsection (10), regulations may, subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance, provide for entitling to deserted wife's benefit a person who would be entitled thereto but for the fact that the contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (b) is not satisfied by reference to the insurance record of a person where that person, having earlier ceased to be an employed contributor became an employed contributor as a consequence of the coming into operation of section 12 of the Social Welfare Act, 1973.

(10) Regulations for the purposes of subsection (9) shall provide that deserted wife's benefit payable by virtue thereof shall be payable at a rate less than that specified in the Second Schedule, and the rate specified by the regulations may vary with the extent to which the contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (b) (ii) is satisfied.”.

31. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any enactment, information held by the Minister for the purposes of the Principal Act (including the purpose of collection by the Revenue Commissioners of employment and self-employment contributions) may be transferred by the Minister to the Revenue Commissioners, and information held by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of the Principal Act or the Income Tax Acts, relating to employers, the reckonable earnings of employed contributors or reckonable income or reckonable emoluments of self-employed contributors or of any payments made under the Principal Act, may be transferred by the Revenue Commissioners to the Minister.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any enactment, information held by the Minister for the purposes of the Principal Act or the control of schemes administered by or on behalf of the Minister or the Department of Social Welfare may be transferred by the Minister to another Minister of the Government or a specified body, and information held by another Minister of the Government or a specified body which is required for the said purposes or the control of any such scheme administered by another Minister of the Government or a specified body may be transferred by that Minister of the Government or the specified body to the Minister.

(3) In subsection (2) of this section “a specified body” means a local authority (for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 ), a health board, the Garda Síochána or any other body established—

(a) by or under any enactment (other than the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1986), or

(b) under the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1986, in pursuance of powers conferred by or under any other enactment,

and financed wholly or partly by means of moneys provided or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government and a subsidiary of any such body.