Source: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2016/act/15/enacted/en/print
Timestamp: 2020-08-09 00:29:39
Document Index: 20270105

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'arts 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 2', 'art 5', 'arts 1']

Number 15 of 2016
2. Definition of qualified adult - amendment
3. Rates of self-employment contributions and related matters
4. Self-employment contributions and invalidity pension
5. Illness benefit
6. Maternity benefit - new rate
7. Adoptive benefit - new rate
8. Paternity benefit - new rate
9. Treatment benefit - amendments
10. Employment contributions - members of local authorities
11. Entitlement to one-parent family payment
12. Report on one-parent family payment changes
13. Definition of qualified child
14. Child benefit - amendment
15. Back to work family dividend
16. Claims - paternity benefit
17. Payment to persons other than claimant or beneficiary
18. Provisions with respect to habitual residence
19. Social welfare inspectors
20. Employments
21. Social insurance benefits (new rates)
22. Rules as to calculation of means
23. Schedule 3 - amendment
24. One-parent family payment - weekly earnings disregard
25. Social assistance payments (new rates)
26. Short title, construction and commencement
An Act to amend and extend the Social Welfare Acts; and to provide for related matters.
[19th December, 2016]
“Act of 2013” means the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2013 ;
“Act of 2015” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 ;
Definition of qualified adult - amendment
2. Section 2(2)(a)(iii) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of “(other than a payment under section 186A or supplementary welfare allowance)” for “(other than supplementary welfare allowance)”.
Rates of self-employment contributions and related matters
3. Section 21(1)(e) of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of “, paternity benefit” after “adoptive benefit”.
Self-employment contributions and invalidity pension
(a) in section 21(1)(e), by the substitution of “, invalidity pension or bereavement grant are satisfied;” for “or bereavement grant are satisfied;”,
(b) in section 118(4), by the substitution of “while engaging in such class or classes of employment, self-employment or training” for “while engaging in such class or classes of employment or training”, and
(c) in section 119(1)(b), by the substitution of “in the last or second last complete contribution year before that date.” for “in the last complete contribution year before that date.”.
6. (1) Section 49(1) (amended by section 5 of the Act of 2013) of the Principal Act is amended in paragraph (b), by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):
“(ii) €235.”.
(2) This section comes into operation on 13 March 2017.
7. (1) Section 60(1) (amended by section 6 of the Act of 2013) of the Principal Act is amended in paragraph (b), by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):
8. (1) Section 61D (inserted by section 31 of the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 ) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):
“(b) €235.”.
Treatment benefit - amendments
(a) in section 21(1)(e), by the insertion of “, treatment benefit” after “paternity benefit” (inserted by section 3 ), and
(b) in section 138(2) (amended by section 11 of the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2009 )—
“(a) dental treatment;”,
“(b) optical treatment and appliances;”.
Employment contributions - members of local authorities
10. Section 30A (inserted by section 14 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 ) of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) in the definition of “public office holder”, by the deletion of paragraph (h), and
(b) in the definition of “public body”—
(i) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “State, or” for “State,”, and
11. Section 172(1) (amended by section 6 of the Act of 2015) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution, in the definition of “relevant age”, of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):
(i) the person in respect of whom the claim for one-parent family payment is being made is qualified for—
(I) a blind pension under Chapter 5 of Part 3, or
(II) a carer’s allowance under Chapter 8 of Part 3, including a payment under section 186A, or
(ii) a payment under Chapter 8A of Part 3 is being made in respect of a child,
Report on one-parent family payment changes
12. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 178E:
“178F. (1) The Minister shall, not later than 3 months after the passing of the Act of 2016, cause to be prepared a report on the financial and social effects of the amendments to one-parent family payment made to this Act since 1 January 2012, taking into account the effects on welfare dependency and the poverty rates of those in receipt of one-parent family payment.
(2) The Minister shall, not later than 9 months after the passing of the Act of 2016, cause a copy of the report under subsection (1) to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
(3) In this section, “Act of 2016” means the Social Welfare Act 2016.”.
13. Section 188(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of “any child who is ordinarily resident in the State,” for “any child,”.
Child benefit - amendment
14. Part 4 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 220:
220A. Regulations may provide for requiring an employer to give such information to the Minister as he or she may require for the purposes of determining entitlement to child benefit.”.
15. Section 238B(3)(a) (inserted by section 8 of the Act of 2015) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (i):
“(i) any benefit specified in paragraphs (a) to (k) of section 39(1), other than maternity benefit payable in accordance with Chapter 9 of Part 2, health and safety benefit payable in accordance with Chapter 10 of Part 2, adoptive benefit payable in accordance with Chapter 11 of Part 2, paternity benefit payable in accordance with Chapter 11A of Part 2, disablement benefit payable in accordance with section 75 and death benefit by way of a grant in respect of funeral expenses payable in accordance with section 84,”.
Claims - paternity benefit
16. Section 241(2)(c) of the Principal Act is amended, by the substitution of “adoptive benefit, paternity benefit,” for “adoptive benefit,”.
Payment to persons other than claimant or beneficiary
17. Section 244(1)(a) of the Principal Act is amended, by the substitution of “behalf, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as are prescribed,” for “behalf,”.
19. Section 250 (amended by section 15 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2014 ) of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) in subsection (1B), by the substitution of “to the Minister” for “by the Minister”, and
(b) in subsection (7A), by the substitution of “to the Minister” for “by the Minister”.
20. Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph 2:
“2A. (a) Employment, between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2011, under a contract referred to in paragraph 1 by—
(i) a national of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania, or
(ii) a permitted family member or qualifying family member of a national of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania,
whether or not such employment was in accordance with an employment permit referred to in section 2(1) of the Employment Permits Act 2003 .
‘permitted family member’ has the same meaning as it has in the Regulations of 2015 and includes a person deemed to be a permitted family member under Regulation 31(2) of those Regulations;
‘qualifying family member’ has the same meaning as it has in the Regulations of 2015 and includes a person considered to be a qualifying family member under Regulation 31(1) of those Regulations;
‘Regulations of 2015’ means the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015 ( S.I. No. 548 of 2015 ).”.
21. (1) Schedule 2 (amended by section 3 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2015 ) to the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the Parts set out in Schedule 1 for Parts 1 to 4 of the said Schedule 2.
(a) in so far as it relates to jobseeker’s benefit, on 9 March 2017,
(b) in so far as it relates to illness benefit, health and safety benefit and injury benefit, on 13 March 2017,
(c) in so far as it relates to carer’s benefit and invalidity pension, on 16 March 2017,
(d) in so far as it relates to a payment referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of “relevant payment” in section 178(1) of the Principal Act—
(i) on 9 March 2017 in the case of a beneficiary who, on that date, has attained pensionable age, and
(ii) on 16 March 2017 in the case of a beneficiary who has not, on 9 March 2017, attained pensionable age,
(e) in so far as it relates to death benefit under Chapter 13 (other than section 84) of the Principal Act, widow’s (contributory) pension, widower’s (contributory) pension and surviving civil partner’s (contributory) pension—
(i) on 10 March 2017 in the case of a beneficiary who, on that date, has attained pensionable age, and
(ii) on 17 March 2017 in the case of a beneficiary who has not, on 10 March 2017, attained pensionable age,
(f) in so far as it relates to State pension (contributory), on 10 March 2017, and
(g) in so far as it relates to guardian’s payment (contributory), disablement pension and disablement gratuity, on 17 March 2017.
Rules as to calculation of means
22. Schedule 3 to the Principal Act is amended—
(a) in Rule 1(2)(b)(ix) of Part 2 (amended by section 15(2)(b) of the Act of 2015), by the substitution of the following subclause for subclause (I):
“(I) the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, the Agri-Environment Options Scheme and the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme administered by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine;”,
(b) in Rule 1(2)(b)(x) of Part 3 (amended by section 15(2)(c) of the Act of 2015), by the substitution of the following subclause for subclause (I):
“(I) the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, the Agri-Environment Options Scheme and the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme administered by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine;”.
23. (1) Rule 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (9) (amended by section 7 of the Social Welfare Act 2012 ):
(i) any expenses necessarily incurred in carrying on any form of self-employment, and
(ii) where the fisherman or farmer has a qualified child, who normally resides with him or her, an amount of—
(I) €254 per annum in respect of each of the first 2 qualified children, and
(II) €381 per annum in respect of each subsequent qualified child,
calculated at the rate of 70 per cent;”.
(2) This section comes into operation on 8 March 2017.
24. Rule 1(4) (amended by section 3 of the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2014 ) of Part 5 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Act is amended—
(a) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (d):
“(d) in calculating the weekly earnings for the purposes of subparagraph (a) for any period commencing on or after 1 January 2014 but before 5 January 2017, an amount of €90 together with half the weekly earnings in excess of that amount shall be disregarded;”,
(b) by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (d):
“(da) in calculating the weekly earnings for the purposes of subparagraph (a) for any period commencing on or after 5 January 2017, an amount of €110 together with half the weekly earnings in excess of that amount shall be disregarded;”.
25. (1) Schedule 4 (amended by section 4 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2015 ) to the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the Parts set out in Schedule 2 for Parts 1 to 3 of the said Schedule 4.
(a) in so far as it relates to jobseeker’s allowance (other than where payable in accordance with section 148A of the Principal Act), pre-retirement allowance and farm assist, on 8 March 2017,
(b) in so far as it relates to supplementary welfare allowance, on 13 March 2017,
(c) in so far as it relates to disability allowance, on 15 March 2017,
(d) in so far as it relates to one-parent family payment (other than where payable in respect of a widow, widower or surviving civil partner), jobseeker’s allowance payable in accordance with section 148A of the Principal Act and a payment referred to in paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of “relevant payment” in section 178(1) of the Principal Act, on 16 March 2017,
(e) in so far as it relates to carer’s allowance—
(i) on 9 March 2017 in the case of a beneficiary who has, on that date, attained pensionable age, and
(f) in so far as it relates to State pension (non-contributory) on 10 March 2017, and
(g) in so far as it relates to blind pension, guardian’s payment (non-contributory), widow’s (non-contributory) pension, widower’s (non-contributory) pension, surviving civil partner’s (non-contributory) pension and one-parent family payment (payable in respect of a widow, widower or surviving civil partner), on 17 March 2017.
26. (1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare Act 2016.
(2) The Social Welfare Acts and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.
(3) Sections 4 , 9 , 10 and 18 (other than paragraph (a)(i)) shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for 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.
(a) in the case of a person to whom section 102(1) (b) applies
(b) in the case of a person to whom section 102(1) (a) applies
(b) in the case of a person to whom section 142(1) (b) applies
4. State Pension (Non- Contributory)
6. Widow’s (Non-Contributory) Pension, Widower’s (Non-Contributory) Pension, Surviving Civil Partner’s (Non-Contributory) Pension and a payment referred to in paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of ‘relevant payment’ in section 178(1)
exceed €250.00 but do not exceed €252.50
exceed €252.50
exceed €197.60