S.I. No. 100/2001 - Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) (Amendment) Regulations, 2001

S.I.   No.  100   of   2001

SOCIAL WELFARE (RENT ALLOWANCE) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2001

The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 23 (as amended by section 26 of the Social Welfare Act, 1989 (No. 4 of 1989)) of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982 (No. 6 of 1982) and subsections (2) and (3) of section 4 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 (No. 27 of 1993), hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and construction.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) (Amendment) Regulations, 2001.

(2) These Regulations and the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) Regulations, 1998 to 2000 shall be construed together as one and may be cited as the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) Regulations, 1998 to 2001.

Commencement.

2. (1) Article 3 of these Regulations comes into operation on 5 April 2001, and

(2) Article 4 of these Regulations comes into operation on 3 January 2002.

Definition.

3. In these Regulations “the Principal Regulations” means the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) Regulations, 1998 ( S.I. No. 188 of 1998 ).

Amount of rent allowance.

4. Article 7 of the Principal Regulations is amended by the substitution for sub-articles (1) and (2) (both amended by article 3 of the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) (Amendment) Regulations, 2000 ( S.I. No. 121 of 2000 )) of the following sub-articles:

“(1) An allowance, in the case of-

(a)  a married person whose weekly means do not exceed £185.60, or

(b)  any other person whose weekly means do not exceed £106,

shall be a weekly amount equal to the amount by which the rent (calculated as a weekly rent) fixed by a Court, or by the Tribunal, or by a rent officer on or after the 26th day of July, 1982 exceeds the rent so calculated payable prior to that date:

Provided that where the rent so calculated payable prior to that date was less than £8, the allowance shall be the amount by which the rent so calculated fixed by a Court, or by the Tribunal, or by a rent officer exceeds £8.

(2) An allowance, in the case of persons whose weekly means exceed the amounts specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of sub-article (1), as the case may be, shall be the amount of allowance that would arise if the provisions of sub-article (1) applied, reduced -

(a)  in the case of a married person, by 50p for each £1 of weekly means in excess of £185.60, but not exceeding £195.60, and by £1 for each £1 of weekly means in excess of £195.60, and

(b)  in any other case, by 50P for each £1 of weekly means in excess of £106, but not exceeding £111, and by £1 for each £1 of weekly means in excess of £111.”.

Amount of rent allowance - euro.

5. Article 7 of the Principal Regulations (as amended by article 4 of these Regulations) is amended by -

(a)  the substitution in sub-articles (1) and (2) for “£185.60” of “EUR 235.70” ,

(b)  the substitution in sub-articles (1) and (2) for “£106” of “EUR 134.60”,

(c)  the substitution in sub-article (1) for “£8” of “EUR 10” in each place where that amounts occur,

(d)  the substitution in sub-article (2) for “50p” of “50 cents” in each place where that amount occurs,

(e)  the substitution in sub-article (2) for “£1” of “EUR 1” in each place where that amount occurs,

(f)  the substitution in sub-article (2) for “£195.60” of “EUR 248.70” in each place where that amount occurs, and

(g)  the substitution in sub-article (2) for “£111” of “EUR 141.60” in each place where that amount occurs.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation).

These Regulations provide for increases in the amount of means disregarded for people affected by the decontrol of rents and the minimum rent for the purposes of the Rent Allowance scheme with, effect from 5th April 2001.

The Regulations also provide for the conversion of the amounts disregarded to convenient Euro amounts in line with the conversion to the new Euro currency from January, 2002.