Number 46 of 1933.
UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE ACT, 1933.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL.
Section | |
Taking of statutory declarations by unemployment assistance officers, etc. |
QUALIFICATION CERTIFICATES.
Determination of applications for qualification certificates. | |
UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE.
FINANCIAL PROVISIONS.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Acts Referred to | |
No. 18 of 1932 | |
No. 27 of 1930 | |
Number 46 of 1933.
UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE ACT, 1933.
PART I.
Preliminary and General.
Short title.
1.—This Act may be cited as the Unemployment Assistance Act, 1933.
Definitions.
2.—(1) In this Act—
the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;
the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.
(2) Each of the following shall be an urban area for the purposes of this Act, that is to say :—
(a) every county borough,
(b) the borough of Dun Laoghaire,
(c) every urban district the population of which (as shown by the census of population which is for the time being the latest such census) exceeds seven thousand.
Commencement.
3.—(1) This Act (except so much thereof as authorises persons to apply for qualification certificates or to apply for unemployment assistance) shall come into operation immediately upon the passing thereof.
(2) So much of this Act as authorises persons to apply for qualification certificates shall come into operation in relation to every urban area on such day as may be appointed in respect of such area by an order of the Minister under this sub-section, and different days may be so appointed in relation to different urban areas or some of such areas.
(3) So much of this Act as authorises persons to apply for qualification certificates shall come into operation in relation to every part of Saorstát Eireann not included in any urban area on such day as may be appointed by order of the Minister under this sub-section.
(4) So much of this Act as authorises persons to apply for unemployment assistance shall come into operation in relation to every urban area on such day as may be appointed in respect of such area by order of the Minister under this sub-section, and different days may be so appointed in relation to different urban areas or some of such areas.
(5) So much of this Act as authorises persons to apply for unemployment assistance shall come into operation in relation to every part of Saorstát Eireann not included in any urban area on such day as may be appointed by order of the Minister under this sub-section.
(6) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be made with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance.
Definition of unemployment.
4.—(1) A person shall not be deemed to be unemployed within the meaning of this Act—
(a) on any day on which he works for wages or other remuneration, whether paid in money or in goods or otherwise howsoever, nor
(b) during any period which is in respect of such person an employment period within the meaning of this section.
(2) For the purposes of this Act two periods of unemployment of not less than two days each, separated by a period of not more than two days during which a person has not been employed for more than twenty-four hours, shall in relation to such person be treated as a continuous period of unemployment, and the expression “continuously unemployed” shall have a corresponding meaning.
(3) The Minister may by regulations made by him under this Act prescribe, either generally or in respect of any particular class or classes of persons or any particular district or districts, any period to be an employment period and accordingly no person of such class or resident in such district shall during such employment period be regarded as unemployed within the meaning of this Act.
Dependants.
5.—For the purposes of this Act the following and no other persons shall be the dependants of any particular person, that is to say:—
(a) such person's wife, if but only if she is living with such person and does not work (otherwise than at her usual household duties) regularly for wages or other remuneration, and
(b) such person's husband, if but only if he is living with and supported by such person and is prevented by physical or mental infirmity from supporting himself, and
(c) such person's unemployed children (including stepchildren and children in respect of whom he or she has placed himself or herself in loco parentis) who have not attained the age of eighteen years and are wholly or mainly supported by such person, and
(d) such person's mother, if but only if such person has undertaken responsibility for her support and she has not attained the age of seventy years and either she is a widow and is prevented by physical or mental infirmity from supporting herself or both she and her husband are invalids and prevented by physical or mental infirmity from supporting themselves, and
(e) such person's father, if but only if such person has undertaken liability for his support and he has not attained the age of seventy years and is an invalid and prevented by physical or mental infirmity from supporting himself, and
(f) such person's orphan brothers and sisters who either have not attained the age of eighteen years and are normally supported by such person or have attained the age of eighteen years and have not attained the age of seventy years and are, through physical or mental infirmity, prevented from supporting themselves and are normally supported by such person.
Unemployment assistance officers.
6.—(1) The Minister may, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, appoint such and so many persons as he thinks proper to be unemployment assistance officers for the purposes of this Act, and every person so appointed shall hold his office as such officer upon such terms and conditions and at such remuneration as the Minister shall, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, determine.
(2) Regulations made by the Minister under this Act may, subject to the provisions of this Act, prescribe the practice and procedure to be observed by unemployment assistance officers in the performance of their functions under this Act.
(3) In this Act the expression “unemployment assistance officer” means an unemployment assistance officer appointed under this section.
Regulations.
7.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed or any matter or thing which is expressly authorised by this Act to be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.
(2) Regulations made by the Minister under this section prescribing a form of application for any purpose under this Act may require that all or any of the statements made by the applicant in such form be verified by statutory declaration.
(3) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Taking of statutory declarations by unemployment assistance officers, etc.
8.—Where any regulations made under the immediately preceding section require all or any of the statements made by an applicant in a form of application prescribed by such regulations for any purpose under this Act to be verified by statutory declaration, such statutory declaration may be taken and received by an unemployment assistance officer or by any other officer of the Minister authorised by the Minister in that behalf.
PART II.
Qualification Certificates.
The Unemployment Appeals Committee.
9.—(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Act the Minister shall constitute an Unemployment Appeals Committee for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(2) The Unemployment Appeals Committee shall consist of such and so many persons as the Minister shall from time to time at his discretion appoint to be members thereof.
(3) Regulations made by the Minister under this Act may prescribe the tenure and duration of office of members of the Unemployment Appeals Committee and the practice and procedure to be observed by such Committee in the performance of their functions under this Act.
Qualification certificates.
10.—(1) Any person may, subject to the provisions of this section, apply in the prescribed manner for a qualification certificate.
(2) Where an application for a qualification certificate is duly made by a person for the time being entitled under the immediately preceding sub-section to make such application and such person shows in the prescribed manner that he fulfils the conditions, so far as they are applicable, stated in the next following sub-section of this section he shall be entitled to receive a certificate (in this Act referred to as a qualification certificate) certifying that he fulfils the said conditions.
(3) The conditions referred to in the foregoing sub-section of this section as the conditions to be fulfilled by a person applying for a qualification certificate are:—
(a) that he is a national of Saorstát Eireann;
(b) that he has attained the age of eighteen years and has not attained the age of seventy years;
(c) that his means, calculated in accordance with this Act, do not exceed, in case he is resident in a county borough or the borough of Dun Laoghaire, fifty-two pounds or, in case he is resident elsewhere in Saorstát Eireann, thirty-nine pounds per annum;
(d) in the case of a married woman either—
(i) that her husband is a dependant of her, or
(ii) that neither she nor her husband is a dependant of the other and she has one or more dependants;
(e) in the case of a widow or spinster, that she has one or more dependants;
(f) in the case of a widow or spinster who has no dependant, that not less than fifty-two contributions have been paid in respect of her under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1930, as amended by any subsequent enactment, during the period of four years immediately preceding the date of the application.
(4) Every qualification certificate shall be in the prescribed form and shall contain a statement of the weekly rate corresponding to the annual rate calculated in accordance with this Act of the means of the person to whom such certificate relates.
(5) No application for a qualification certificate shall be made by any person unless and until so much of this Act as authorises persons to apply for qualification certificates has come into force in relation to the area within which such person resides.
(6) Each of the following persons shall for the purposes of this section be a national of Saorstát Eireann, that is to say:—
(a) a person born in Saorstát Eireann or in the area now comprised in Saorstát Eireann;
(b) a person born outside Saorstát Eireann or the area now comprised in Saorstát Eireann whose mother at the time of his birth was ordinarily resident in Saorstát Eireann or such area;
(c) a person who at the relevant time is and for not less than five consecutive years immediately preceding that time has been ordinarily resident in Saorstát Eireann.
Determination of applications for qualification certificates.
11.—(1) Every application for a qualification certificate shall be received and considered and every such application and every question arising thereon shall be determined by an unemployment assistance officer, and every question arising in relation to a qualification certificate after the issue of such certificate shall also be determined by an unemployment assistance officer.
(2) An unemployment assistance officer may, if he so thinks proper, instead of determining it himself, refer in the prescribed manner any application or question which falls to be determined by him under this section to the Unemployment Appeals Committee.
(3) Any person aggrieved by the refusal by an unemployment assistance officer of an application by such person for a qualification certificate or by the determination under this section by an unemployment assistance officer of any matter may, within twenty-one days after such refusal or determination or such further time (if any) as may in his case be allowed by the Minister, and in the prescribed manner, require such officer to report such refusal or determination to the Unemployment Appeals Committee and thereupon such officer shall report such refusal or determination to the said Committee in the prescribed manner.
(4) The Unemployment Appeals Committee shall consider in the prescribed manner and decide every application, question, and determination referred or reported to them under this section, and the decision of the said Committee on any such application, question, or determination shall be final and conclusive.
Revocation and amendment of qualification certificates.
12.—(1) Whenever the holder of a qualification certificate has ceased to fulfil the conditions specified in such certificate, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) such holder shall within seven days after such cesser inform an unemployment assistance officer of such cesser and the reason therefor;
(b) if such holder fails or neglects to comply with the provisions of the immediately preceding paragraph he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and in the case of a continuing offence to a further fine not exceeding two pounds for each day during which the offence is continued.
(2) Whenever an unemployment assistance officer is satisfied that the holder of a qualification certificate has ceased to fulfil the conditions specified in such certificate, he shall revoke such certificate and such revocation shall have effect as from the date of such cesser.
(3) Whenever an unemployment assistance officer is satisfied—
(a) that a qualification certificate was obtained by fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or
(b) that a qualification certificate was obtained or issued by any innocent misrepresentation or other bona fide mistake,
such unemployment assistance officer shall revoke such certificate and such revocation shall have effect as from, in case such certificate was obtained by fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, the date of the issue of such certificate or, in any other case, the date of revocation.
(4) Whenever an unemployment assistance officer is satisfied that the means of a person who is the holder of a qualification certificate have altered in amount since such certificate was issued, but do not exceed in case he is resident in a county borough or the borough of Dun Laoghaire, fifty-two pounds, or, in case he is resident elsewhere in Saorstát Eireann, thirty-nine pounds per annum, such unemployment assistance officer may amend such certificate in such manner as is requisite.
(5) Whenever a qualification certificate is revoked under this section on account of such certificate having been obtained by fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, the person to whom such certificate was issued shall, for six months after such revocation, be disqualified for obtaining or holding a qualification certificate.
(6) Whenever a qualification certificate is revoked or amended by an unemployment assistance officer under this section, the person who was the holder of such certificate immediately before such revocation or at the time of such amendment may, within twenty-one days after such revocation or amendment or such further time (if any) as in his case may be allowed by the Minister, and in the prescribed manner, require such officer to report such revocation or such amendment (as the case may be) to the Unemployment Appeals Committee, and thereupon such officer shall report to the said Committee in the prescribed manner and the said Committee shall consider such revocation or such amendment.
(7) The Unemployment Appeals Committee shall consider in the prescribed manner every revocation or amendment reported to them under this section and may either, as they think proper, confirm or annul any such revocation and may either, as they think proper, confirm, annul, or vary any such amendment, and in every such case the decision of the said Committee shall be final and conclusive.
(8) Where a qualification certificate is revoked, the holder of such certificate shall on demand of an unemployment assistance officer forthwith deliver such certificate to such officer who shall retain it.
(9) Every person who on demand being made on him by an unemployment assistance officer under the immediately preceding sub-section for delivery of his qualification certificate fails to deliver forthwith such certificate to such officer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(10) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section the court by which he is convicted may, where the circumstances so require, make such order as the court shall think proper for securing the delivery of the qualification certificate in respect of which such offence was committed to an unemployment assistance officer.
Calculation of the means of persons.
13.—(1) In the calculation of the means of a person for the purpose of this Act the following things and no others shall be deemed to constitute the means of such person, that is to say:—
(a) the yearly value ascertained in the prescribed manner of all property belonging to such person (not being property personally used or enjoyed by him) which is invested or is otherwise put to profitable use or is capable of being but is not invested or put to profitable use;
(b) all income which such person may reasonably expect to receive during the succeeding year in cash, including the actual or estimated amount of any income which such person may reasonably expect to receive during such succeeding year as head of the household, whether as contributions to the expenses of the household or otherwise, but excluding—
(i) any income or money coming within any other paragraph of this sub-section,
(ii) all moneys earned by such person in respect of current personal employment under a contract of service,
(iii) any moneys received by way of benefit under the National Health Insurance Acts, 1911 to 1933,
(iv) any moneys received by way of unemployment benefit under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1930,
(v) any moneys received by way of unemployment assistance under this Act,
(vi) any moneys received by way of home assistance;
(c) the yearly value ascertained in the prescribed manner of any advantage accruing to such person from the use of property (other than furniture and personal effects) which is personally used or enjoyed by him;
(d) all income and the yearly value ascertained in the prescribed manner of all property of which such person has directly or indirectly deprived himself in order to qualify himself for the receipt of unemployment assistance;
(e) the yearly value of any benefit or privilege enjoyed by such person.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the immediately preceding sub-section, the income of a person shall, in the absence of other means for ascertaining it, be taken to be the income actually received during the year immediately preceding the date of calculation.
PART III.
Unemployment Assistance.
Right to receive unemployment assistance.
14.—(1) Any person who is the holder of a qualification certificate may, subject to the provisions of this section, apply in the prescribed manner for unemployment assistance.
(2) Where an application for unemployment assistance is duly made by a person for the time being entitled under the immediately preceding sub-section to make such application and such person delivers to an unemployment assistance officer his qualification certificate and satisfies such officer in the prescribed manner that he complies with the statutory conditions, such person shall, so long as he continues to comply with the statutory conditions and is not disqualified under this Act for receiving unemployment assistance, be entitled, subject to the provisions of this Act, to receive payments (in this Act referred to as unemployment assistance) at such times, in such manner, and at such rate as is or are or shall be appointed by or under this Act.
(3) No application for unemployment assistance shall be made by any person unless and until so much of this Act as authorises persons to apply for unemployment assistance has come into force in relation to the area within which such person resides.
(4) When a person is for the time being in receipt of unemployment assistance the qualification certificate of such person shall be retained at the prescribed place, during the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner.
The statutory conditions.
15.—(1) The following conditions are referred to in this Act as the statutory conditions and shall, subject to the provisions of this Act (including this section) be the conditions to be complied with by the holder of a qualification certificate in order to entitle him to receive unemployment assistance, that is to say:—
(a) that such holder proves in the prescribed manner that since the date of his application for unemployment assistance he has been continuously unemployed;
(b) that such holder is capable of work and is available for and genuinely seeking but is unable to obtain employment suitable for him having regard to his age, sex, physique, education, normal occupation, place of residence, and family circumstances;
(c) that since his qualification certificate was issued to him he has not done anything and no change of circumstances or other event has occurred which would invalidate such certificate or would disentitle him to hold such certificate;
(d) if he has been duly required by an unemployment assistance officer to attend a course of instruction appointed or approved by regulations made under this Part of this Act, that he has duly attended such course in accordance with such requisition;
(e) in the case of a person applying for unemployment assistance in an urban area that either he has been ordinarily resident in such urban area for at least one year before his latest application for unemployment assistance or has had at least three months' employment in such urban area within one year before such latest application;
(f) in the case of a widow or spinster who has no dependant, that not less than fifty-two contributions have been paid in respect of her under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1930, as amended by any subsequent enactment, during the period of four years immediately preceding the date of her application for unemployment assistance.
(2) A person shall not be deemed to have failed to comply with the statutory conditions by reason only that he has declined an offer of employment in a situation vacant in consequence of a stoppage of work due to a trade dispute.
Disqualifications for receiving unemployment assistance.
16.—(1) A person shall be disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance—
(a) while he is resident, whether temporarily or permanently, outside Saorstát Eireann, and
(b) while he is undergoing imprisonment or detention in any prison or other place of detention maintained wholly or partly out of public funds, and
(c) while he is an inmate of any institution maintained wholly or partly out of public moneys or by a local authority, and
(d) while he is in receipt of or entitled to a pension under section 6 of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1932 (No. 18 of 1932), or any sickness or disablement allowance under the National Health Insurance Acts, 1911 to 1933, or unemployment benefit under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1930, or any benefit under a special scheme under section 18 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, or under section 19 of that Act or under a supplementary scheme under section 20 of that Act.
(2) Where a person loses his employment through his misconduct, or voluntarily leaves his employment without just cause, such person shall—
(a) in case he is an insured contributor under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1930, and is entitled to unemployment benefit on the expiration of the period of disqualification for receiving unemployment benefit fixed by sub-section (2) of section 8 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, be disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance for the period during which he is disqualified for receiving unemployment benefit and also for the period of six weeks as from the date on which his right to receive unemployment benefit expires, and
(b) in any other case, be disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance for the period of three months from the date on which he lost or so left his employment.
(3) Where a person has been convicted of any offence under any section of this Act, such person shall be disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance during the period of three months, or such lesser period (not being less than six weeks) as may be prescribed, from the date on which he is so convicted.
(4) Where a person has been convicted of any crime or offence (other than an offence under a section of this Act) and has on such conviction been sentenced to imprisonment for any term not less than one fortnight, such person shall be disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance for the period of three months from the date on which he is so convicted or for the period of his imprisonment, whichever is the longer.
(5) A person who lost employment by reason of a stoppage of work which was due to a trade dispute at the factory, workshop or other premises at which he was employed, shall be disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance so long as the stoppage of work continues, except in the case where he has, during the stoppage of work, become bona fide employed elsewhere in the occupation which he usually follows or has become regularly engaged in some other occupation
Where separate branches of work which are commonly carried on as separate businesses in separate premises are in any case carried on in separate departments of the same premises, each of those departments shall, for the purposes of this sub-section, be deemed to be a separate factory or workshop or separate premises, as the case may be.
(6) In this section the word “imprisonment” includes penal servitude.
Rates of unemployment assistance.
17.—(1) In this section the expression “scheduled rate” means the rate of unemployment assistance stated in the Schedule to this Act which is, in the circumstances for the time being existing, applicable to the person in respect of whom the expression is used.
(2) Whenever a person is entitled under this Act to receive unemployment assistance, such assistance shall be given to him in the form of a money payment at whichever of the following rates is applicable, that is to say:—
(a) if he has no means or if he has means not exceeding two shillings per week, at the scheduled rate; and
(b) if he has means exceeding two shillings per week, at a rate equal to the scheduled rate reduced by one shilling per week for every shilling or part of a shilling by which the means of such person exceeds two shillings per week.
(3) Whenever in the calculation of the rate at which unemployment assistance is payable to a person, the weekly amount by which the scheduled rate is to be reduced is equal to or exceeds the weekly amount of the scheduled rate, no unemployment assistance shall be payable to such person.
(4) The means of any person for the purpose of this section shall be taken to be the means of such person as stated in the qualification certificate for the time being held by him.
Variation of the rates of unemployment assistance.
18.—The Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, may at any time or times by order reduce all or any of the rates of unemployment assistance stated in the Schedule to this Act or previously reduced under this section, and if any such order is so made all references in this Act to the rates of unemployment assistance stated in the Schedule to this Act shall be construed as referring to those rates with and subject to the reductions thereof under this section for the time being in force.
Payment of unemployment assistance.
19.—The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the payment of unemployment assistance, that is to say:—
(a) no unemployment assistance shall be payable in respect of the first six days of continuous unemployment in any continuous period of unemployment;
(b) no unemployment assistance shall be paid for any period less than one day;
(c) for the purposes of this Part of this Act, no time prior to the relevant application for unemployment assistance shall be reckoned as or as part of a period of unemployment;
(d) no time during which a person is disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance shall be reckoned in the computation of any period of unemployment of such person;
(e) subject to the provisions of this Act (including this section), unemployment assistance shall be paid at the prescribed times and in the prescribed manner.
Determination of applications for unemployment assistance.
20.—(1) Every application for unemployment assistance shall be received and considered by an unemployment assistance officer and every such application and every question arising thereon or in relation thereto (including in particular the question whether the statutory conditions have been or continue to be complied with and the question whether a person is or is not disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance) shall be determined by an unemployment assistance officer and such determination by such officer shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be final.
(2) An unemployment assistance officer may, if he so thinks proper, instead of determining it himself, refer in the prescribed manner any application or question which falls to be determined by him under this section to a court of referees.
(3) Any person aggrieved by the refusal by an unemployment assistance officer of an application by such person for unemployment assistance or by the allowance by any such officer of unemployment assistance to such person at a lesser rate than was claimed by him, or, by the stoppage or reduction in rate by any such officer of unemployment assistance theretofore paid to such person may within twenty-one days after such refusal, allowance stoppage or reduction, or such further time (if any) as may in his case be allowed by the Minister, and in the prescribed manner, require such officer to report such refusal, allowance, stoppage, or reduction to a court of referees and thereupon such officer shall report in the prescribed manner in accordance with such requisition.
(4) Every court of referees shall consider every matter referred or reported to them under this section and shall make to the unemployment assistance officer concerned such recommendations in regard thereto as they think proper, and thereupon such officer shall give effect to such recommendations unless he disagrees therewith.
(5) Whenever an unemployment assistance officer disagrees with a recommendation made by a court of referees to him under this section, such officer shall, if so requested by such court, refer the matter in the prescribed manner to the Umpire.
(6) Where a recommendation has been made under this section by a court of referees to an unemployment assistance officer, any association of employed persons of which the person to whom such recommendation relates is a member or (with the leave of the court of referees) the said person may himself within twenty-one days after such recommendation or such further time (if any) as may in his case be allowed by the Minister require such officer to refer the matter to the Umpire, and thereupon such officer shall refer the matter in the prescribed manner to the Umpire.
(7) The Umpire shall determine every matter referred to him under this section and his determination thereon shall be final and conclusive.
(8) An unemployment assistance officer may at any time, on account of new evidence being submitted to him or new facts coming to his knowledge, reverse or revise any determination previously made by him under this section, and the provisions of this section in relation to the reference or report of matters to a court of referees or to the Umpire shall apply to such reversal or revision in like manner as they applied to the original determination.
(9) The Umpire may at any time, on account of new evidence having been submitted to him, reverse or revise any determination previously made by him under this section.
(10) Every action of an unemployment assistance officer in pursuance of a recommendation made to him by a court of referees, every determination by the Umpire, and every reversal or revision of a previous determination by any such officer or by the Umpire shall, if such action, determination, reversal, or revision has the effect of allowing unemployment assistance previously refused or increasing unemployment assistance previously allowed, have effect as from the date of the original determination by the unemployment assistance officer or such later date (if any) as may, in case of a determination, reversal or revision by the Umpire, be fixed by the Umpire or, in any other case, by the unemployment assistance officer
Courts of referees and the Umpire.
21.—(1) Every court of referees for the time being subsisting under and for the purposes of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, as amended or extended by subsequent enactments shall be a court of referees for the purposes of this Act, and accordingly in this Act the expression “court of referees” means a court of referees so subsisting.
(2) The Umpire for the time being appointed and acting under and for the purposes of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, as amended or extended by subsequent enactments shall be the Umpire for the purposes of this Act, and accordingly in this Act the expression “the Umpire” means the Umpire so appointed and acting.
(3) Regulations made by the Minister under this Act may prescribe the practice and procedure to be observed by courts of referees and the Umpire respectively in the performance of their respective functions under this Act, and may apply to proceedings before a court of referees or before the Umpire all or any of the provisions of the Common Law Procedure Amendment Act (Ireland), 1856, relating to arbitration.
Regulations in respect of courses of instruction.
22.—The Minister may by regulations made by him under this section after consultation with the Minister for Education, make provision for the attendance of unemployed persons at courses of instruction in pursuance of requisitions by unemployment assistance officers and may by such regulations appoint or approve of courses of instruction for that purpose.
Unemployment assistance to be inalienable.
23.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, every assignment of, or charge on, and every agreement to assign or charge unemployment assistance shall be void, and on the bankruptcy of, any person entitled to unemployment assistance, the rights to such unemployment assistance shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of his creditors.
PART IV.
Financial Provisions.
Expenses.
24.—(1) All unemployment assistance payable under this Act shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
(2) All other expenses incurred in carrying this Act into execution shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
Payments to Minister out of Unemployment Fund.
25.—In every financial year commencing after the 31st day of March, 1934, there shall be transferred to the Minister out of the Unemployment Fund established and maintained under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1930, as amended by any subsequent enactment, the sum of £250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand pounds).
Payments to Minister by local authorities.
26.—(1) In every financial year commencing after the 31st day of March, 1934, there shall be paid to the Minister, in such manner as the Minister may direct, the following sums, that is to say:—
(a) by the council of every county borough and the council of the borough of Dun Laoghaire, a sum equal to the amount of a rate of one shilling and sixpence in the pound on the rateable value at the beginning of the immediately preceding financial year of such county borough or the borough of Dun Laoghaire, as the case may be;
(b) by the council of every urban area (other than an urban area which is a county borough or the borough of Dun Laoghaire), a sum equal to the amount of a rate of ninepence in the pound on the rateable value at the beginning of the immediately preceding financial year of such urban area.
(2) It shall be the duty of every council by whom money is payable to the Minister under this section in a financial year to pay such money to the Minister in four equal instalments, on the 30th day of June, the 30th day of September, the 31st day of December, and the 31st day of March in such year.
(3) Any money payable by a council to the Minister under this section shall be raised by means of, in the case of the council of the county borough of Dublin and the council of the borough of Dun Laoghaire, the municipal rate, but as a separate item thereof, or, in the case of any other council, the poor rate, but as a separate item thereof.
(4) Where any money is payable to the Minister under this section by a council, the amount thereof may in default of payment by such Council be deducted from sums payable from the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account directly or indirectly to such council, and be paid to the Minister in discharge of such money.
(5) In this section the expression “rateable value” means—
(a) in relation to the county borough of Dublin, the valuation under the Valuation Acts, as deemed to be reduced by section 69 of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 (No. 27 of 1930), of the hereditaments and tenements situate in such county borough rateable to the municipal rate;
(b) in relation to the borough of Dun Laoghaire, the valuation under the Valuation Acts, as deemed to be reduced by the said section 69, of the hereditaments and tenements situate in such borough rateable to the municipal rate;
(c) in relation to any other urban area, the valuation under the Valuation Acts of the hereditaments and tenements situate in such area rateable to the poor rate.
Application of moneys transferred or paid to Minister.
27.—Any moneys transferred or paid to the Minister under the two immediately preceding sections shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.
PART V.
Miscellaneous.
Repayment of unemployment assistance improperly received.
28.—(1) Every payment of unemployment assistance received by any person while he was disqualified for receiving unemployment assistance or the statutory conditions were not complied with by him or which he was otherwise disentitled to receive shall be repayable by such person to the Minister on demand made in that behalf by an unemployment assistance officer, and, if not so repaid, may be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or by deduction from any payment or payments of unemployment assistance to which such person subsequently becomes entitled.
(2) Every sum repaid to or recovered by the Minister under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.
Penalty for false statements, etc.
29.—If, for the purpose of obtaining for himself or any other person a qualification certificate or any payment of unemployment assistance or of avoiding the making by himself or any other person of any repayment under this Act, any person makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, he shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months.
Prosecutions.
30.—(1) Proceedings for an offence under any section of this Act shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Minister.
(2) A prosecution for an offence under any section of this Act may be brought at the suit of the Minister.
(3) A prosecution for an offence under any section of this Act may be brought at any time within whichever of the following periods latest expires, that is to say:—
(a) three months after the date on which it is certified in writing sealed with the official seal of the Minister that evidence sufficient to justify the institution of such prosecution came into the possession or procurement of the Minister, or
(b) six months after the commission of the offence.
Birth, marriage, and death certificates.
31.—Where, for the purpose of this Act, the age, marriage, or death of any person is required to be proved by the production of a certificate of birth, marriage, or death, any person shall, on presenting a written requisition in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed and, on payment of a fee in the case of a birth certificate of sixpence, and in the case of a marriage or death certificate, of one shilling, be entitled to obtain a certified copy of the entry of the birth, marriage, or death, as the case may be, of that person in the register of births, marriages, or deaths, as the case may be, under the hand of the registrar or superintendent registrar or other person having the custody thereof, and forms for such requisition shall on request be supplied without any charge by every registrar of births and deaths, and by every superintendent registrar or other person having the custody of the register.
Exemption from stamp duty.
32.—Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any cheque, pay order, or other document by which a payment of unemployment assistance is made, nor on any receipt given for any such payment, nor on any statutory declaration made under and for the purposes of this Act.
SCHEDULE.
Rates of Unemployment Assistance.
Classes of persons to whom the rates of unemployment assistance set out in this Schedule are applicable | Rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any county borough or in the borough of Dun Laoghaire | Rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any urban area (which is not a county borough or the borough of Dun Laoghaire.) | Rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any other place in Saorstát Eireann | |||
per week | per week | per week | ||||
s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | |
Man with no dependants | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Man with dependent wife and no other dependant | 13 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
Man with dependent wife and one other dependant | 14 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
Man with dependent wife and two other dependants | 16 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
Man with dependent wife and three other dependants | 17 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
Man with dependent wife and four other dependants | 19 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 6 |
Man with dependent wife and five or more other dependants | 20 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 6 |
Any person who is— | ||||||
(a) a married man whose wife is not a dependant; | ||||||
(b) a widower; or | ||||||
(c) a single man | ||||||
and who has one dependant | 12 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
who has two dependants | 13 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 6 |
who has three dependants | 15 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 6 |
who has four or more dependants | 16 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 6 |
Married woman with dependent husband and no other dependant | 11 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
Married woman with dependent husband and one other dependant | 12 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
Married woman with dependent husband and two other dependant | 14 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
Married woman with dependent husband and three other dependant | 15 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
Married woman with dependent husband and four other dependant | 17 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
Married woman with dependent husband and five or more other dependants | 18 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
A person who is any of the following: | ||||||
(a) a spinster; | ||||||
(b) a widow; | ||||||
(c) a married woman who is not a dependant of her husband, and whose husband is not a dependant, | ||||||
and who has one dependant | 11 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
who has two dependants | 12 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
who has three dependants | 14 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
who has four or more dependants | 15 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
A person who is a widow or a spinster and has no dependant | 7 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 |