PART VII

Miscellaneous

41. —(1) Section 146 (1) (b) (inserted by section 13 of the No. 2 Act of 1985) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subparagraph (viii) of the following subparagraphs:

“(viiiA) any moneys received from a charitable organisation, being a body whose activities are carried on otherwise than for profit (but excluding any public or local authority) and one of whose functions is to assist persons in need by making grants of money to them,

(viiiB) any income arising from employment of a casual nature by a health board as a home help,”.

(2) Section 210 (2) (a) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subparagraph (iii) (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 1984) of the following subparagraphs:

“(iv) any moneys received from a charitable organisation, being a body whose activities are carried on otherwise than for profit (but excluding any public or local authority) and one of whose functions is to assist persons in need by making grants of money to them,

(v) any income arising from employment of a casual nature by a health board as a home help;”.

(3) Paragraph (4) of Rule 1 of the Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in clause (i) of subparagraph (d) for “any income” of “any moneys”,

(b) the substitution in subparagraph (j) of “as an outworker” for “of the kind referred to in paragraph 7 of Part I of the First Schedule”, and

(c) the insertion after subparagraph (j) of the following subparagraph:

“(jj) any income arising from employment of a casual nature by a health board as a home help,”.

(4) Section 2 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after the definition of “orphan” of the following definition:

“‘outworker’ means a person to whom articles or materials are given out to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished or repaired or adapted for sale in his own home or on other premises not under the control or management of the person who gave out the articles or materials for the purposes of the trade or business of the last-mentioned person;”.

(5) Section 146 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in subparagraph (x) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of “as an outworker” for “of the kind referred to in paragraph 7 of Part I of the First Schedule”.

42. —(1) Subsection (1) (as amended by section 13 of the Act of 1986) of section 42 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for the proviso thereto of the following proviso:

“Provided that an insured person shall not be entitled to injury benefit in respect of the first 3 such days.”.

(2) Subsection (1) of section 48 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the deletion of paragraph (b).

(3) This section shall apply to any claim for injury benefit which commences on or after the 8th day of April, 1991.

43. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for sections 130 and 131 of the following section:

“Overlapping provisions.

130.—(1) Where, but for this subsection, more than one of the following would be payable to or in respect of a person in respect of the same period, only one shall be paid—

(a) any benefit specified in subsection (1) of section 17 other than pay-related benefit, death benefit by way of a grant in respect of funeral expenses or death grant, or

(b) any assistance specified in subsection (1) of section 134 other than supplementary welfare allowance, or

(c) a maintenance allowance under section 69 of the Health Act, 1970 , or

(d) a payment under section 44 of the Health Act, 1947 , to a person suffering from an infectious disease.

(2) Where, but for this subsection, more than one of the following would be payable to or in respect of a qualified child in respect of the same period, only one shall be paid—

(a) any benefit specified in subsection (1) of section 17 other than pay-related benefit, death benefit by way of a grant in respect of funeral expenses or death grant, or

(b) any assistance specified in subsection (1) of section 134 other than supplementary welfare allowance, or

(c) a maintenance allowance under section 69 of the Health Act, 1970 , or

(d) a payment under section 44 of the Health Act, 1947 , to a person suffering from an infectious disease, or

(e) any increase in the said benefit in respect of an adult dependant, or

(f) any increase in the said assistance in respect of an adult dependant, or

(g) any increase in the said benefit in respect of a qualified child, or

(h) any increase in the said assistance in respect of a qualified child.

(3) For the purposes of this section—

(a) an increase of a maintenance allowance under section 69 of the Health Act, 1970, or an increase of a payment under section 44 of the Health Act, 1947 , to a person suffering from an infectious disease, may be regarded as a separate payment, and

(b) any payment specified in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of subsection (1) payable in respect of a person may be regarded as such specified payment payable to that person.

(4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), the Minister may make regulations enabling more than one of the payments specified in those subsections to be paid to or in respect of a person in respect of the same period.

(5) Regulations made under subsection (4) may provide for reducing the amount of any payments specified in subsections (1) and (2) (including the partial payment thereof).

(6) Where, but for this subsection, family income supplement and unemployment benefit, retirement pension, unemployment assistance or pre-retirement allowance would be payable to a person in respect of the same period, family income supplement shall not be payable to that person in respect of that period.

(7) Where, but for this subsection, family income supplement would be payable to a person in a period of incapacity for work in respect of which disability benefit or injury benefit is also payable to that person, family income supplement shall not be payable to that person for that part of the period of incapacity for work which exceeds six weeks.

(8) Where in respect of the death of a person, a death grant and death benefit by way of a grant in respect of funeral expenses would, but for this subsection, be payable, only one such grant shall be payable.

(9) Regulations may provide for treating any payment specified in subsection (1) or (2), which it is subsequently decided was not payable, as paid on account of any other payment specified in those subsections which it is decided was payable.

(10) Regulations may provide—

(a) for recoupment from the Social Insurance Fund to a health board of sums (or such portion thereof as may be prescribed) paid by way of supplementary welfare allowance in respect of periods during which benefit was not received, and

(b) for recoupment from moneys provided by the Oireachtas to a health board of sums (or such portion thereof as may be prescribed) paid by way of supplementary welfare allowance in respect of periods during which unemployment assistance, old age or blind pension, or child benefit was not received.”.

(2) Subsection (2) of section 113 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (b) (as amended by section 17 of the Act of 1986) of the following paragraph:

“(b) in a case referred to in section 300 (5) (a), for the repayment of any such benefit and the recovery thereof by deduction from any benefit or any assistance (except orphan's (non-contributory) pension, supplementary welfare allowance or child benefit) as may be specified, or otherwise.”.

(3) This section shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders and different days may be so appointed for different provisions of this section.

44. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 215A (inserted by section 38 of the Act of 1990) of the following section:

“Recoupment of supplementary welfare allowance.

215B.—Where—

(a) in respect of any period a health board has granted supplementary welfare allowance to or in respect of a person who, though entitled to any other benefit, pension, assistance, allowance or supplement under this Act (in this section referred to as ‘relevant payment’), is not in receipt of such relevant payment, and

(b) such supplementary welfare allowance is in excess of the amount which would have been granted to that person if he had been in receipt of such relevant payment, and

(c) any relevant payment accruing in respect of any part of the same period (in this section referred to as ‘the arrears’) subsequently becomes payable to that person, and

(d) the health board has, before the arrears are paid to that person, certified to the Minister the amount (in this section referred to as ‘the excess’) so paid by the board in excess for the period in respect of which the arrears accrued,

the Minister may reduce the arrears by the amount of the excess and such amount shall be treated as having been paid on account of the relevant payment.”.

(2) Sections 130 (10), 152 and 194 of the Principal Act are hereby repealed.

(3) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1992.

45. —(1) Subsection (2) of section 207 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(a) where—

(i) a husband and wife, or

(ii) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting as man and wife,

are members of the same household, their needs and means shall be aggregated and shall be regarded as the needs and means of the claimant;”.

(2) Section 199 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after the definition of “recipient” of the following definition:

“‘spouse’ means—

(a) each person of a married couple who are living together, or

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

46. — Section 69 of the Health Act, 1970 , is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(3) In this section ‘spouse’ means—

(a) each person of a married couple who are living together, or

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

47. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for section 232A (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1984) of the following section:

“Interpretation.

232A.—In this Part—

‘child’, in relation to a family, means a qualified child as defined in section 2 (1) who normally resides with that family;

‘couple’ means a married couple or a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting as man and wife;

‘family’ means—

(a) a person who is engaged in remunerative full-time employment as an employee, and

(b) where such person is one of a couple living with or wholly or mainly maintaining his or her spouse, that spouse, and

(c) a child or children;

‘family income supplement’ shall be construed in accordance with section 232B;

‘spouse’ means each person of a couple in relation to the other;

‘weekly family income’ means, subject to regulations under section 232F, the amount of income received in a week by a family, less any income of a person who in respect of that family is a child.”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 24th day of October, 1991.

48. —(1) Section 4 of the No. 2 Act of 1985 is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(3) In this section ‘spouse’ means—

(a) each person of a married couple who are living together, or

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

(2) Section 11 of the No. 2 Act of 1985 is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(3) In this section ‘spouse’ means—

(a) each person of a married couple who are living together, or

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

(3) Section 198I of the Principal Act (inserted by section 17 of the Act of 1990) is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (4) of the following subsection:

“(5) In this section ‘spouse’ means—

(a) each person of a married couple who are living together, or

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

49. —(1) Section 34 (4) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(a) he shall requalify therefor when he has qualifying contributions in respect of 13 contribution weeks begun or ended since the last day for which he was entitled to that benefit, and”.

(2) This section shall not apply to a person who, on the 11th day of April, 1991, has been in receipt of unemployment benefit for more than 155 days in a period of unemployment.

50. —(1) Section 29 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (b) of the following paragraphs:

“(b) he satisfies the contribution conditions in section 30, and

(c) he proves unemployment in the prescribed manner.”.

(2) Section 138 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(a) that he is unemployed and has made application for unemployment assistance in the prescribed manner and proves unemployment in the prescribed manner;”.

(3) This section shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders and different days may be so appointed for different provisions of this section.

51. —(1) In the application of the provisions of section 140 (1) (b) (inserted by section 25 of the Act of 1988) of the Principal Act in the case of such persons or classes of persons as may be prescribed, regulations may provide for disregarding in such manner as may be prescribed any part of a claimant's means, up to an amount not exceeding £2.

(2) The Minister may, notwithstanding the provisions of regulations made pursuant to subsection (1) to disregard means of up to £2 in the case of certain persons or classes of persons, apply the provisions of section 140 (1) (b) to such persons or classes of persons at any time.

(3) Any regulations made under subsection (1) may be so framed as to apply to the whole State or to part or parts only of the State.

52. —(1) Section 135 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, any 3 days of unemployment, whether consecutive or not, within a period of 6 consecutive days shall be treated as a continuous period of unemployment, and any two such periods not separated by more than 52 weeks shall be treated as one continuous period of unemployment, and continuously unemployed shall be construed accordingly.”.

(2) Subsection (2) of section 150 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of “52 weeks” for “20 weeks”.

53. — Section 172 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) Where—

(a) a person is in receipt of old age pension or has made a claim for pension which has not been finally determined, and

(b) (i) the income in cash of the person, or

(ii) the amount of property belonging to or personally used or enjoyed by the person,

has increased since the date of the latest investigation thereof or, if no such investigation has taken place, since the date of making the claim, the person shall, before the expiration of the period of three months after the end of the month in which such increase occurred, give, or cause to be given, to the Minister notification of the increase.”.

54. —(1) The Minister may make regulations to provide that where a recipient of any benefit, pension, assistance, allowance or supplement under the Principal Act consents, an amount of such benefit, pension, assistance, allowance or supplement which is determined by consultation and agreement between the Minister and the said recipient may be withheld and paid separately by the Minister to such specified body as may be designated by the recipient.

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

(a) provide for the withdrawal of consent by a recipient,

(b) provide for the time and manner in which such withdrawal shall take place, and

(c) provide for the adjustment of any amount of benefit, pension, assistance, allowance or supplement as a result of such withdrawal.

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

(a) by or under any enactment (other than the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990), or

(b) under the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990, in pursuance of powers conferred by or under other enactments, 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.

55. —(1) Section 22 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (1) (as amended by section 23 of the Act of 1988) of the following subsections:

“(1) Where a person—

(a) has qualifying contributions in respect of less than 260 contribution weeks in the period between his entry into insurance and any day of incapacity for work, and

(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 three years immediately prior to that day, to disability benefit for 312 days,

he shall not be entitled to disability benefit for that day unless since the last of the said 312 days and before that day he has requalified for benefit.

(1A) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where in any period a person has exhausted his entitlement to disability benefit he shall not requalify therefor unless he satisfies the conditions set out in subsection (2).”.

(2) This section shall apply to any claim for disability benefit which is received on or after the 8th day of April, 1991.

56. —Paragraph (4) (as amended by section 13 of the Act of 1990) of Rule 1 of the Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after “personal exertions” of “and also including such other non-cash benefits and such income received by a qualified child or qualified children as may be prescribed”.

57. — Section 3 (4) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in paragraph (a) for “19 (4)” of “19 (1) (4)”, for “30 (4)” of “30 (1) (4)”, for “79 (7) (9)” of “78 (5) (6), 79 (7) (9) (14)”, for “84 (3) (4)” of “83 (6) (7), 84 (3) (4) (6)”, and for “89 (4)” of “89 (1) (4)”.

58. —Each provision of the Principal Act mentioned in column (1) of Schedule D to this Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (2) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that provision in column (1).

59. —The Minister may make regulations in relation to any benefit, pension, assistance, allowance or supplement under the Principal Act and the regulations may apply (with or without modification) or make provisions corresponding (with or without modification) to any provisions of, or regulations under, the Principal Act.