Social Welfare Act, 1985
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

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paragraphs: —In this Act—
“the Act of 1984” means the Social Welfare Act, 1984 ;
“the Principal Act” means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 .
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paragraphs: —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I to V of the Second Schedule (inserted by the Act of 1984) of the Parts set out in Schedule A to this Act.
(2) This section shall come into operation—
(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment benefit, on the 4th day of July, 1985,
(b) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, maternity allowance, injury benefit, disablement gratuity and disablement pension, on the 8th day of July, 1985,
(c) in so far as it relates to deserted wife's benefit, invalidity pension and retirement pension, on the 11th day of July, 1985, and
(d) in so far as it relates to death benefit under section 50, 51 or 52 of the Principal Act, old age (contributory) pension, widow's (contributory) pension and orphan's (contributory) allowance, on the 12th day of July, 1985.
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paragraphs: —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Parts I and III of the Fourth Schedule (inserted by the Act of 1984) of the Parts set out in Schedule B to this Act.
(2) This section shall come into operation—
(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment assistance, on the 3rd day of July, 1985,
(b) in so far as it relates to deserted wife's allowance, prisoner's wife's allowance, social assistance allowance and single woman's allowance, on the 11th day of July, 1985,
(c) in so far as it relates to old age pension, blind pension, widow's (non-contributory) pension and orphan's (non-contributory) pension, on the 12th day of July, 1985, and
(d) in so far as it relates to supplementary welfare allowance, on the 8th day of July, 1985.
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paragraphs: —(1) Section 232B (which relates to the entitlement to family income supplement) of the Principal Act (inserted by the Act of 1984) is hereby amended by the substitution for “£95”, in each place where it occurs, of “£100” and by the substitution for “£15” of “£18”.
(2) Section 232C (which relates to the weekly rate of family income supplement) of the Principal Act (inserted by the Act of 1984) is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (2) (b) for “£1.75” of “£2.50”.
(3) This section shall apply to any claim for family income supplement which is received on or after the 11th day of July, 1985.
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paragraphs: —(1) Section 73 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for “£43” (inserted by the Act of 1984) of “£49”.
(2) This section shall have effect in relation to any period of interruption of employment commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 1985.
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paragraphs: —(1) Section 10 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (c) (inserted by the Social Welfare Act, 1983 ) of the following paragraph:
“(c) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor's reckonable earnings have amounted to the sum of £13,800 and contributions under paragraph (b) have been paid in respect of those reckonable earnings, no further such contribution shall be payable in respect of any reckonable earnings of that employed contributor in that contribution year.”.
(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1985.
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paragraphs: —(1) Part I of the First Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph 12 of the following paragraph:
“13. Employment as chairman, deputy chairman or ordinary member of the Labour Court established under the Industrial Relations Act, 1946 .”.
(2) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister appoints by order.
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paragraphs: —Section 7 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in paragraph (a) for “and 12” of “12 and 13 (inserted by the Social Welfare Act, 1985)”.
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paragraphs: —Section 38 (3) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph (f) of the following paragraph:
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paragraphs: —(1) Part II of the First Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraphs 8 and 9 of the following paragraphs:
“8. Employment, other than employment in the Defence Forces, as a registered or provisionally registered medical practitioner.
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paragraphs: Employment, other than employment in the Defence Forces, as a registered dentist.”.
(2) This section shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1985.
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paragraphs: —Section 135 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsection:
“(2A) For the purposes of this Chapter, any period, being not longer than one year in duration, of—
(a) employment under a scheme administered by the Department of Labour and known as the Social Employment Scheme, or
(b) participation in a scheme administered by the Department of Labour and known as the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, or
(c) participation in a scheme administered by the Department of Labour and known as the Alternance Scheme, or
(d) attendance at a training course provided or approved of by An Chomhairle OiliÃºna, or
(e) employment under a scheme administered by the Department of Labour and known as Teamwork,
shall be disregarded in treating, pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, any two continuous periods of unemployment not separated by more than 20 weeks as one continuous period of unemployment.”.
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paragraphs: —A person convicted of an offence for which a fine is provided in any section of the Principal Act specified in column (2) of Schedule C to this Act shall—
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paragraphs: —The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 143 of the following section:
“Appointment and duties of social welfare officers.
143A.—(1) The Minister may, with the sanction of the Minister for the Public Service, appoint such and so many persons as he thinks proper to be social welfare officers for the purpose of this Chapter.
(2) Every such officer shall investigate into and report to the Minister upon any application for or in respect of a qualification certificate and any question arising on or in relation to such qualification certificate or in relation to unemployment assistance which may be referred to him by the Minister, and may, for the purpose of such investigation and report require an applicant for, or holder of, a qualification certificate or the spouse or any employer of the applicant or holder to furnish him with such information and to produce to him such documents as he may reasonably require.
(3) A social welfare officer shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, have power to do all or any of the following things:—
(a) to enter at all reasonable times any premises or place liable to inspection under this section,
(b) to make such examination and enquiry as may be necessary for the purposes of this Chapter,
(c) to examine either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, in relation to any matters on which he may reasonably require information for the purposes of this Chapter, every person he finds in any such premises or place and to require every such person to sign a declaration of the truth of the matters in respect of which he is so examined.
(4) The occupier of any premises or place liable to inspection under this section, and any other person who is or has been employing any applicant for, or holder of, a qualification certificate, and the servants and agents of such occupier or other person, and any applicant for, or holder of, a qualification certificate shall furnish to a social welfare officer all such information and produce for inspection all such registers, cards, wages sheets, records of wages and other documents as the social welfare officer may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter.
(5) If any person—
(a) wilfully delays or obstructs a social welfare officer in the exercise of any duty or power under this section, or
(b) refuses or neglects to answer any question or to furnish any information or to produce any document when required to do so under this section, or
(c) conceals or prevents or attempts to conceal or prevent any person from appearing before or being examined by a social welfare officer appointed under this section,
he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable—
(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and such imprisonment,
(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £3,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment,
but no one shall be required under this section to answer any question or to give any evidence tending to incriminate himself.
(6) Every social welfare officer shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment, and on applying for admission to any premises or place for the purposes of this section shall, if so requested, produce the said certificate.
(7) The premises or places liable to inspection under this section are any premises or places where a social welfare officer has reasonable grounds for believing that persons are, or have been, employed and any premises or place where a social welfare officer has reasonable grounds for believing that any documents relating to persons in employment are kept.”.
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paragraphs: —Section 56 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following subsection:
“(3A) The provisions of subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section shall not apply to such class or classes of volunteer workers as may be prescribed.”.
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paragraphs: —(1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare Act, 1985.
(2) The Social Welfare Acts, 1981 to 1984, and this Act shall be construed together as one and may be cited together as the Social Welfare Acts, 1981 to 1985.