Social Welfare Act 2019
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: (1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare Act 2019.
(2) The Social Welfare Acts and this Act (other than Part 3 ) shall be construed together as one Act.
(3) This Act (other than Part 3 ) shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
(4) Part 3 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
num: 2
paragraphs: In this Part, “Principal Act” means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005.
num: 3
paragraphs: Section 64 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):
“(a) (i) has employment contributions or optional contributions paid in respect of not less than 104 contribution weeks in the period between his or her entry into insurance and the day for which benefit is claimed, or
(ii) has self-employment contributions paid in respect of not less than 156 contribution weeks in the period between his or her entry into insurance and the day for which benefit is claimed,”.
num: 4
paragraphs: Section 67 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (8):
“(8A) For the purposes of this section, where a person receives jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed) in respect of any week of unemployment, and that person is entitled to jobseeker’s benefit in respect of that week, any day of unemployment in that week shall be treated as though it were a day in respect of which jobseeker’s benefit was paid.”.
num: 5
paragraphs: The Principal Act is amended in Part 2 by the insertion of the following Chapter after Chapter 12:
“CHAPTER 12A
Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed)
Interpretation
68B. In this Chapter, save where the context otherwise requires, “payment week” means the period commencing on the Thursday of one week and ending on the Wednesday of the following week.
Entitlement to benefit and qualifying conditions
68C. (1) Subject to this Act, a person shall be entitled to jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed) in respect of any payment week where—
(a) he or she is under pensionable age in the week for which the benefit is claimed,
(b) he or she satisfies the contribution conditions in section 68D,
(c) subject to section 68K(3), he or she is not engaged in self-employment,
(d) he or she is capable of work,
(e) he or she is genuinely seeking, but is unable to obtain, employment suitable for him or her having regard to his or her age, physique, education, normal occupation, place of residence and family circumstances, and
(f) he or she proves unemployment in the prescribed manner.
(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, the Minister shall make regulations specifying the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be regarded as being available for and genuinely seeking employment and these circumstances may vary in relation to—
(a) the person’s previous work experience,
(b) the period for which he or she has been unemployed, and
(c) the prevailing employment conditions.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(f), for the purposes of that subsection a person may prove unemployment and may make a declaration for that purpose, by means of an electronic communication, in the prescribed manner.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, where a person has 4 days, whether consecutive or not, of insurable employment in any payment week (other than any day when the person is employed as a retained fire fighter) he or she shall not be entitled to jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed) in respect of that week.
Conditions for receipt
68D. (1) The contribution conditions for jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed) are that the claimant—
(a) (i) has employment contributions or optional contributions paid in respect of not less than 104 contribution weeks in the period between his or her entry into insurance and the week for which benefit is claimed, or
(ii) has self-employment contributions paid in respect of not less than 156 contribution weeks in the period between his or her entry into insurance and the week for which benefit is claimed,
(b) has self-employment contributions paid in respect of not less than 52 contribution weeks in the second last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year in which the claim is made, and
(c) has reckonable weekly income in excess of €300 in the governing contribution year or has average reckonable weekly income specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (4) in that year.
(2) Regulations may provide for modifications of the contribution conditions set out in subsection (1).
(3) Subsection (1)(c) shall not apply in the case of a claim for jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed) made by a person in the benefit year in which that person, having been a volunteer development worker, returns to the State from a developing country or in the next 2 succeeding benefit years.
(4) For the purposes of the requirements of subsection (1)(c), a claimant—
(a) has average reckonable weekly income in the governing contribution year which does not exceed €149.99,
(b) has average reckonable weekly income in the governing contribution year which exceeds €149.99 but does not exceed €219.99, or
(c) has average reckonable weekly income in the governing contribution year which exceeds €219.99 but does not exceed €299.99.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c), the reckonable weekly income shall be calculated as the total reckonable income in the governing contribution year divided by the number of qualifying contributions in that governing contribution year.
Rate of benefit
num: 6
paragraphs: The Principal Act is amended in the manner specified in the Schedule.
num: 7
paragraphs: Section 307 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) in subsection (1), by the insertion of “(other than a decision of a deciding officer who is a bureau officer)” after “a decision of a deciding officer”, and
(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):
“(1A) Whenever a person has, on or after the coming into operation of section 7 of the Social Welfare Act 2019, appealed a decision of a deciding officer who is a bureau officer, the Chief Appeals Officer shall cause a direction to be issued to the person who has submitted the appeal directing the person to submit the appeal not later than 21 days from receipt of the direction to the Circuit Court and the Circuit Court may, on hearing the appeal as it thinks proper, affirm the decision or substitute the decision of the deciding officer in accordance with this Act and on the same evidence as would otherwise be available to the Appeals Officer.
(1B) The jurisdiction conferred on the Circuit Court by subsection (1A) shall be exercised—
(a) where a person who appealed the decision concerned is not resident in the State, by the judge of the circuit where the decision was made, and
(b) in any other case, by the judge of the circuit in which the person who appealed the decision concerned resides or carries on any profession, business or occupation.”.
num: 8
paragraphs: In this Part, “Act of 1997” means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.
num: 9
paragraphs: Section 3 of the Act of 1997 is amended in subsection (2)(a)—
(a) in subparagraph (ii), by the deletion of “and”,
(b) in subparagraph (iii), by the substitution of “the partnership, and” for “the partnership.”, and
(c) by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (iii):
“(iv) any benefit payable under Chapter 12A of Part 2 of the Act of 2005.”.
num: 10
paragraphs: Section 126 of the Act of 1997 is amended—
(a) in subsection (3)(a)—
(i) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (i):
“(i) illness benefit,”,
(ii) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):
“(ii) jobseeker’s benefit,”,
and
(iii) by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (ii):
“(iia) jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed),”,
(b) in subsection (3)(b), by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):
“(ii) except in the case of amounts so payable in respect of jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed), to be emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 is applied by section 984.”,
(c) in subsection (3)(c)(ii), by the substitution of “jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed)” for “unemployment benefit”, and
(d) in subsection (4)(b), by the substitution of “jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s benefit (self-employed)” for “unemployment benefit”.
num: 11
paragraphs: The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection shall, within eight months of the enactment of this Act, prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on policy options to strengthen social protection supports for one parent families with a youngest child between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, inclusive. The report will include a consideration of—
(a) the current qualification thresholds for jobseeker’s transitional payment, and
(b) the potential to raise income disregard for families in this cohort to the same amount as the income disregard for one parent families whose youngest child is under the age of fourteen.