Health Contributions Act, 1971
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: —In this Act—
“the Act of 1952” means the Social Welfare Act, 1952 ;
“the Act of 1970” means the Health Act, 1970 ;
“the Collector-General” means the Collector-General appointed under section 162 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ;
“health board” means a health board established under the Act of 1970;
“health contributions” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of this Act;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Health.
num: 2
paragraphs: —(1) There shall be paid, in accordance with this Act and regulations thereunder, contributions (in this Act referred to as health contributions) towards the cost of the provision of services under Part IV of the Act of 1970.
(2) Save as otherwise provided in section 4 of this Act, health contributions shall be payable by persons who, by virtue of section 46 of the Act of 1970, have limited eligibility for services under Part IV of that Act, not being either persons referred to in section 46 (1) (d) of that Act or persons belonging to a class prescribed for the purpose of this section.
num: 3
paragraphs: —(1) In the period beginning on the date of the commencement of this Act and ending on the date specified by order for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, health contributions shall be—
(a) in the case of a person insured under the Act of 1952 to whom section 4 or 5 of this Act applies, at the weekly rate of 15 new pence, and
(b) in the case of any other person, at the annual rate of £7, and shall be collected at such intervals as may be prescribed.
(2) From the date specified by order for the purposes of this subsection, health contributions shall be—
(a) in the case of persons other than those mentioned in section 46 (1) (c) of the Act of 1970, at a rate related to the persons' incomes and fixed by regulations made from time to time by the Minister for the purposes of this section, and
(b) in the case of persons mentioned in section 46 (1) (c) of the Act of 1970, in accordance with such a scale of contributions, related to the rateable valuation of the farm or farms (including the buildings thereon) from the farming of which the persons' incomes are derived, as may from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister under this section.
(3) For the purposes of this section income shall include, in relation to any person, the income of a spouse of that person where the spouse is resident with that person.
(4) The Minister may by order, made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, specify a date for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section.
(5) The Minister may, by regulations made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, define income for the purposes of this section, either by reference to any other enactment or in such other manner as he thinks fit.
num: 4
paragraphs: —(1) In the period beginning on the commencement of this Act and ending on the date specified by order for the purposes of section 3 (2) of this Act, the employer of a person who is insured under the Act of 1952 and to whom this section applies shall pay the health contribution in respect of that person, in respect of any week of insurable employment for which he is liable to pay an employment contribution under that Act in respect of that person.
(2) In any case to which subsection (1) of this section applies, the rate of employment contribution payable under the Act of 1952 shall be increased by the amount of the health contribution under section 3 (1) (a) of this Act, and the health contribution shall be deemed to be an employment contribution within the meaning of and for the purposes of the Act of 1952.
(3) An employer who is liable to pay a health contribution under this section shall be entitled to recover the amount of any such contribution from the employee in respect of whom the contribution was paid (other than any such employee having, by virtue of section 45 of the Act of 1970, full eligibility for the services under Part IV of that Act), and any such recovery may be made by appropriate deductions from the employee's remuneration.
(4) This section applies to such insured persons or classes of insured persons, not being voluntary contributors within the meaning of the Act of 1952, as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Social Welfare, prescribes for the purpose of this section.
(5) In this section “employer” includes the person treated as the employer under regulations made under section 2 (4) of the Act of 1952.
num: 5
paragraphs: —(1) In the period beginning on the commencement of this Act and ending on the date specified by order for the purposes of section 3 (2) of this Act, a person who is a voluntary contributor within the meaning of the Act of 1952 shall pay a health contribution in respect of any week for which he pays a voluntary contribution within the meaning of the Act of 1952.
(2) The rate of voluntary contribution payable in any case under the Act of 1952 shall be increased by the amount of the health contribution under section 3 (1) (a) of this Act and the health contribution shall be deemed to be a voluntary contribution within the meaning of and for the purposes of the Act of 1952.
num: 6
paragraphs: —Health contributions payable under section 4 or 5 of this Act shall be paid into the Social Insurance Fund.
num: 7
paragraphs: —(1) The Minister may make regulations providing for the payment of, and the determination of liability for, health contributions (other than those payable by virtue of section 4 or 5 of this Act) and generally for any matter incidental thereto.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, regulations under this section may provide for—
(a) the determination (whether by requiring a declaration in writing, the compilation of a register by a person collecting health contributions or by such other means as the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, thinks fit) whether a person is a person mentioned in section 46 (1) (other than section 46 (1) (d)) of the Act of 1970,
(b) the collection of health contributions (either from all persons liable to pay such contributions or from specified classes of such persons) on behalf of the Minister by the Collector-General or by a health board.
(3) If any person, whether for himself or some other person—
(a) fails or refuses to comply with a requirement of a regulation under this section,
(b) knowingly makes any false statement or false representation or knowingly conceals any material fact in relation to any such requirement, or
(c) produces or furnishes, or causes or knowingly allows to be produced or furnished, any document or information in relation to any such requirement which he knows to be false in a material particular,
he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
num: 8
paragraphs: —All sums paid into the Social Insurance Fund under section 6 of this Act and all sums collected under section 7 of this Act by the Collector-General or a health board shall be paid over to the Minister and all sums so paid over to the Minister shall be disposed of by him in accordance with regulations made by him with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
num: 9
paragraphs: —(1) Where a person fails to pay a health contribution which he is obliged to pay under this Act, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.
(2) Where a person, being a person mentioned in section 46 (1) (c) of the Act of 1970, fails to pay a health contribution the amount of the contribution shall be recoverable as a simple contract debt due to the appropriate health board.
(3) A prosecution for an offence under this Act may be brought at the suit of the Minister or the appropriate health board.
(4) This section shall not apply to health contributions payable under section 4 or 5 of this Act.
num: 10
paragraphs: —(1) (a) The provisions of any enactment relating to the recovery of income tax and the provisions of any rule of court so relating shall apply, in the case of health contributions which the Collector-General is obliged to collect, to the recovery from a person of any health contributions which that person is liable to pay under this Act as they apply in relation to the recovery of income tax.
(b) Provisions as applied by this subsection shall so apply subject to any modifications which the Minister considers necessary and are prescribed by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
(2) In proceedings instituted by virtue of this section—
(a) a certificate signed by the Collector-General which certifies that a stated amount is due and payable by the defendant shall be evidence until the contrary is proved that that amount is so due and payable, and
(b) a certificate certifying as aforesaid and purporting to be signed by the Collector-General may be tendered in evidence without proof and shall be deemed until the contrary is proved to have been signed by him.
(3) Subject to this section, the rules of the court concerned for the time being applicable to civil proceedings shall apply to proceedings by virtue of this section.
num: 11
paragraphs: —(1) There shall be included among the debts which, under section 285 of the Companies Act, 1963 , are, in the distribution of the assets of a company being wound up, to be paid in priority to all other debts, all health contributions payable by the company under this Act during the twelve months before the commencement of the winding up or the winding-up order, and that Act shall have effect accordingly, and formal proof of the debts to which priority is given under this subsection shall not be required except in cases where it may otherwise be provided by rules made under that Act.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply where a company is wound up voluntarily merely for the purposes of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another company.
(3) There shall be included among the debts which, under section 4 of the Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy (Ireland) Act, 1889, are, in the distribution of the property of a bankrupt or arranging debtor, to be paid in priority to all other debts, all health contributions payable under this Act by the bankrupt or arranging debtor during the twelve months before the date of the order of adjudication in the case of a bankrupt or the filing of the petition for arrangement in the case of an arranging debtor, and that Act shall have effect accordingly, and formal proof of the debts to which priority is given under this subsection shall not be required except in cases where it may otherwise be provided by general orders made under the said Act.
num: 12
paragraphs: —(1) The Minister may make regulations in relation to any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.
(2) (a) Whenever it is proposed to make regulations under section 3 (2) of this Act, the Minister shall obtain the consent of the Minister for Finance to the regulations and shall cause to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas a draft of the proposed regulations.
(b) Regulations under section 3 (2) of this Act shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House of the Oireachtas.
(3) Every regulation made under this Act (other than regulations under section 3 (2) thereof) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
num: 13
paragraphs: —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
num: 14
paragraphs: —(1) This Act may be cited as the Health Contributions Act, 1971.
(2) This Act shall come into operation on such date as the Minister appoints by order.