Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978

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Number 25 of 1978

SOCIAL WELFARE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1978

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I

Preliminary and General

PART II

Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978

PART III

Repeal or Amendment of Other Enactments

PART IV

Miscellaneous Provisions

Number 25 of 1978

SOCIAL WELFARE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1978

AN ACT TO PROVIDE, BY AMENDMENT OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE ACTS, 1952 TO 1978, FOR A SYSTEM OF FULLY PAY-RELATED SOCIAL INSURANCE (INCLUDING OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES) CONTRIBUTIONS, TO PROVIDE FOR THE AMENDMENT OF CERTAIN OTHER ENACTMENTS AND FOR OTHER CONNECTED MATTERS. [6th December, 1978]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

PART I

Preliminary and General

Short title, construction and collective citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978.

(2) This Act, other than section 15, shall be construed as one with the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978, and shall be included in the collective citation, the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978.

(3) Section 15 shall be construed as one with the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Acts, 1942 to 1976, and may be cited together with them as the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Acts, 1942 to 1978.

Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

“the Act of 1952” means the Social Welfare Act, 1952 ;

“the Acts” means the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Social Welfare.

(2) In this Act a reference to a section is to a section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to another Act is intended.

(3) In this Act a reference to a subsection is to a subsection of the section in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to another section is intended.

Commencement.

3.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed by order or orders of the Minister made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, either generally or with reference to a particular provision, and different days may be so fixed for different provisions of this Act, or for the same provision in relation to different cases or classes of case.

PART II

Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978

Amendment of section 2 (1) of Act of 1952.

4.—(1) Section 2 (1) of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the insertion of the following definition:

“‘reckonable earnings’ means, subject to regulations, earnings derived from insurable employment or insurable (occupational injuries) employment;”.

(2) Section 2 (1) of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution, for the definitions of “benefit year”, “contribution week” and “contribution year”, of the following definitions:

“‘benefit year’ means the period commencing on the first Monday in a particular year and ending on the Sunday immediately preceding the first Monday in the following year; ‘contribution week’ means one of the successive periods of seven consecutive days in a contribution year beginning on the first day of that contribution year, or on any seventh day after that day, the last day of a contribution year (or the last two days of a contribution year ending in a leap year) being taken as included in the last contribution week of that contribution year;

‘contribution year’ means a year of assessment within the meaning of the Income Tax Acts:”.

Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1952.

5.—(1) The following is hereby substituted for section 6 (1) of the Act of 1952:

“(1) (a) Employment contributions shall be paid by employed contributors and their employers in accordance with this section.

(b) Subject to paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subsection, to subsection (10) of this section and to regulations under section 12 of this Act, where in any contribution year a payment is made to or for the benefit of an employed contributor in respect of reckonable earnings of that employed contributor, there shall be payable an employment contribution comprising—

(i) a contribution by the employed contributor at the rate of 3.2 per cent and

(ii) a contribution by his employer at the rate of 7.5 per cent

of the amount of the reckonable earnings to which such payment relates.

(c) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor's reckonable earnings have amounted to the sum of £5,000 and contributions under paragraph (b) of this subsection 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.

(d) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor is employed by two or more employers concurrently (as defined in regulations under section 11 of this Act (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978)), the provisions of paragraph (c) of this subsection shall, in relation to contributions under paragraph (b) (ii) of this subsection, apply to the reckonable earnings from each of the employments separately.”.

(2) In the period commencing on the 6th day of April, 1979, and ending on the 5th day of April, 1980, paragraph (b) of section 6 (1) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by this Act) shall be construed as if rates of 3.4 per cent and 7.8 per cent. respectively, were substituted for those specified in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of that paragraph.

(3) The following is hereby substituted for section 6 (2) of the Act of 1952:

“(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, a voluntary contribution shall be payable by a voluntary contributor who is under pensionable age in each contribution year at such time or times and in such manner as the Minister shall prescribe—

(i) at a percentage rate of the amount of the reckonable income of the contributor in the preceding contribution year, or

(ii) where there was no such income or such income did not exceed such amount as may be prescribed, at a percentage rate of such amount as the Minister shall so prescribe.

(b) A percentage rate for the purpose of paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be—

(i) in the case of a voluntary contributor who, immediately before ceasing to be an employed contributor, was employed in employment in respect of which the employment contributions payable are not reckonable for the purposes of old age (contributory) pension, 1.7 per cent,

(ii) in the case of a voluntary contributor who, immediately before ceasing to be an employed contributor, was employed in employment in respect of which the employment contributions payable are reckonable for the purposes of old age (contributory) pension, 4.4 per cent, and

(iii) in the case of a person to whom section 17 of the Social Welfare Act, 1975 , applied and who, by virtue of compliance with section 17 (2) of that Act, continues to be a voluntary contributor, 2.7 per cent.

(c) A contribution under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not be payable in respect of reckonable income in any contribution year which exceeds the sum specified in subsection (1) (c) of this section.

(d) ‘Reckonable income’ for the purposes of this subsection means, subject to regulations, income derived from any employment, including any trade, business, profession, office or vocation.”.

(4) Each rate specified in section 6 (1) (b) and 6 (2) (b) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by this section) and in subsection (2) and the sum specified in section 6 (1) (c) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by this section), shall be either confirmed or varied by regulations made by the Minister before the commencement of subsections (1) to (3).

(5) Section 6 (4) of the Act of 1952 is hereby repealed and the following is substituted therefor:

“(4) (a) The Minister may by regulations vary the sum specified in subsection (1) (c) of this section and the sum so varied shall take effect from the beginning of the contribution year following that in which the regulations are made.

(b) When making regulations under this subsection the Minister shall take into account any changes in the average earnings of workers in the transportable goods industries as recorded by the Central Statistics Office since the date by reference to which the sum specified in subsection (1) (c) of this section was last determined.

(c) Where regulations under this subsection are proposed to be made, a draft of the proposed regulations shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House.”.

(6) The following is hereby substituted for section 6 (10) of the Act of 1952:

“(10) The employment contribution payable by the employed contributor under subsection (1) (b) (i) of this section or under regulations made under section 12 of this Act shall not be payable in the case of an employed contributor who is in receipt of any of the following—

(a) a widow's (contributory) pension,

(b) a widow's (non-contributory) pension,

(c) deserted wife's benefit,

(d) a deserted wife's allowance,

(e) death benefit by way of widow's pension under the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 ,

(f) a social assistance allowance under section 8 of the Social Welfare Act, 1973 ,

(g) a payment corresponding to a pension referred to in paragraph (a) or (e) of this subsection from the competent authority of a Member State (other than the State) of the European Economic Community under legislation to which the regulations of the Community on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the territory of the Community apply.”.

Regulations relating to contributions and consequential repeals.

6.—(1) The following section is hereby substituted for section 8 of the Act of 1952:

“8.—(1) Regulations may provide for—

(a) the time and manner of payment of employment contributions,

(b) the collection and the recovery of, and the furnishing of returns by employers in relation to, employment contributions,

(c) the charging of interest on arrears of employment contributions,

(d) the estimation of amounts due in respect of employment contributions and appeals in relation to such estimates.

(e) the furnishing of returns by employers in relation to periods of insurable employment,

(f) the deduction by an employer from the reckonable earnings of an employed contributor of any employment contribution reasonably believed by the employer to be due by the contributor, and adjustment in any case of over-deduction,

(g) any matter ancillary or incidental to any of the matters referred to in any of the preceding paragraphs of this subsection.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, regulations under that subsection may provide for—

(a) the assignment of any function relating to any matter referred to in that subsection to the Collector-General,

(b) the assignment to the Collector-General of any function conferred on the Minister by section 53 of this Act and the modification for that purpose of any provision of that section,

(c) the inspection by or on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners of records prescribed under section 12 of the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978,

(d) treating, for the purpose of any right to benefit, contributions paid after the due dates as paid on those dates or on such later dates as may be prescribed, or as not having been paid, and

(e) treating as paid, for the purpose of any right to benefit, employment contributions payable by an employer in respect of an insured person which have not been paid, where the failure to pay such contributions is shown not to have been with the consent or connivance of the insured person or attributable to any negligence on the part of the insured person.

(3) Nothing in any regulations under this section shall affect the liability of the employer under subsection (5) of section 6 of this Act to pay employment contributions.

(4) (a) The provisions of any enactment, regulation or rule of court relating to the inspection of records, the estimation, collection and recovery of, or the furnishing of returns by employers in relation to, income tax, or relating to appeals in relation to income tax, shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to employment contributions which the Collector-General is obliged to collect as they apply in relation to income tax.

(b) In proceedings instituted under this subsection, a certificate purporting to be 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 when tendered in evidence shall be deemed until the contrary is proved to have been signed by him.

(c) For the purposes of this subsection, the rules of the court concerned for the time being applicable to civil proceedings shall apply to proceedings by virtue of this subsection.

(5) In this section ‘the Collector-General’ means the Collector-General appointed under section 162 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 .”.

(2) Section 3 (4) (b) (which relates to certain fees) and section 10 (which provides for the issue of insurance stamps) of the Act of 1952 are hereby repealed.

Regulations regarding liability for contributions.

7.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 11 of the Act of 1952:

“11.—Regulations may—

(a) provide for the determination of liability for the payment of employment contributions in the case of a person who works under the general control or management of a person who is not his immediate employer, and

(b) determine the circumstances in which a person is to be regarded for the purposes of section 6 (1) (d) of this Act as being concurrently employed by two or more employers.”.

Amendment of section 37 of Act of 1952.

8.—Section 37 of the Act of 1952, which relates to voluntary contributors, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, but subject to subsection (2) of this section, a voluntary contributor shall not be entitled to disability benefit, unemployment benefit, maternity benefit, invalidity pension or treatment benefit and, if any voluntary contributions paid by him are at the percentage rate for the time being prescribed under section 6 (2) (b) (i) of this Act (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978). they shall be disregarded in determining whether the contribution conditions for old age (contributory) pension, retirement pension or death grant are satisfied.”.

Amendment of section 39 of Act of 1952.

9.—Section 39 of the Act of 1952 (which relates to the Social Insurance Fund) is hereby amended by the deletion of the provision inserted by section 14 (4) of the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973 .

Supplying by Revenue Commissioners of certain information to Minister.

10.—So far as may be necessary for the proper administration of the Acts, information regarding employers and the employment and reckonable earnings of insured persons which is obtained by the Revenue Commissioners in connection with the collection of income tax may be supplied by them to the Minister.

Regulations for calculation of reckonable earnings, employment contributions and voluntary contributions.

11.—(1) For the purposes of the Acts, reckonable earnings may be calculated or estimated, either for a person or a class of persons, in such manner, by reference to such matters and on such basis as may be prescribed.

(2) Regulations may provide for the calculation of the amounts payable in respect of employment contributions and voluntary contributions in accordance with prescribed scales, and for adjustments of such amounts to facilitate computation and to avoid fractions of a new penny in the amounts.

Regulations requiring employers to keep records.

12.—(1) For the purposes of the Acts, regulations may require employers to keep such records as may be prescribed in relation to the earnings of persons employed by them and the periods during which the persons were employed, and to retain the records for prescribed periods.

(2) The powers conferred on an inspector under section 49 of the Act of 1952 may be exercised in relation to records referred to in subsection (1).

Construction of certain references to certain contributions in the Acts.

13.—(1) Every reference in sections 4 (2) and 16 of, and in the Fourth Schedule to, the Act of 1952 to a number of employment contributions paid shall be construed as a reference to that number of contribution weeks for which the appropriate employment contribution (or contributions) was (or were) paid or would have been paid but for section 6 (1) (c) of that Act (inserted by this Act).

(2) Every reference in sections 28, 28A, 28B, and 28C of, and in the Fourth Schedule to, the Act of 1952 to a number of contributions paid or credited shall be construed as a reference to that number of contribution weeks for which the appropriate employment contribution (or contributions) was (or were) paid or credited or would have been paid but for section 6 (1) (c) of that Act (inserted by this Act) or for which appropriate voluntary contributions were paid.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a voluntary contribution paid under section 6 (2) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by this Act) shall be regarded, where the contribution relates to a full contribution year, as having been paid for each contribution week in that contribution year or, where the contribution relates to a shorter period, as having been paid for each contribution week in that period.

(4) Every reference in sections 5 (3) and 5 (4) of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1967 , to a number of employment contributions paid shall be construed as a reference to that number of contribution weeks for which the appropriate employment contribution (or contributions) was (or were) paid or would have been paid but for section 6 (1) (c) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by this Act).

Repeal of Second Schedule and consequential amendments of Fourth Schedule to Act of 1952.

14.—(1) The Second Schedule to the Act of 1952, which specifies rates of employment contributions, is hereby repealed.

(2) Paragraph 1 (inserted by the Social Welfare (No. 3) Act, 1974 ) of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the deletion of the words from “but” to the end of the paragraph.

(3) Paragraph 6 (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1960 ) of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the deletion of the words from “but” to the end of the paragraph.

(4) Paragraph 7 (inserted by the Social Welfare Act, 1970 , as amended by the Social Welfare (No. 3) Act, 1974 ) of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the deletion of the words from “For the purpose of” to the end of the paragraph.

(5) Paragraph 8 (inserted by the Social Welfare Act, 1970 ) of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the deletion of the words from “Contributionss” to the end of the paragraph.

(6) Paragraph 9 (inserted by the Social Welfare Act, 1970 , as amended by the Social Welfare (No. 3) Act, 1974 ) of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the deletion of the words from “For the purpose of” to the end of the paragraph.

PART III

Repeal or Amendment of Other Enactments

Repeal of certain provisions of Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Act, 1942ss.

15.— Section 30 (2) (as amended by Part III of the Sixth Schedule to the Act of 1952), section 30 (4) (inserted by that Part of that Schedule) and section 43 (4) (as amended by that Part of that Schedule) of the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Act, 1942 , which relate to the possession by employers of current insurance cards issued under the Acts, are hereby repealed.

Amendment of section 36 of Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966.

16.—(1) The following are hereby substituted for sections 36 (2) and 36 (3) of the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 , which relate to employment contributions:

“(2) (a) In relation to an employed contributor who, but for subsection (1) of this section, would not be an employed contributor—

(i) in case he is under the age of 16 years, no employment contributions shall be payable,

(ii) in any other case (including a case in which he is over pensionable age) where in any contribution year a payment is made to or for the benefit of the contributor in respect of reckonable earnings of that contributor, the employment contribution shall consist of an employer's contribution only at the rate of 0.45 per cent of the amount of the contributor's reckonable earnings to which such payment relates;

(b) In relation to an employed contributor who is an employed contributor by virtue of both section 4 of the Principal Act and subsection (1) of this section, the employment contribution payable by his employer under section 6 (1) (b) (ii) of the Principal Act (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978) shall be increased by an amount calculated at the rate of 0.45 per cent of the amount of the reckonable earnings by reference to which the employment contribution under section 6 (1) (b) (ii) of the Principal Act is determined.

(3) The provisions of sections 6 (1) (c) and 6 (1) (d) of the Principal Act shall apply in like manner to contributions under subsection (2) of this section as they apply to contributions by employers under section 6 (1) (b) of that Act.”.

(2) The rate specified in section 36 (2) of the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 (inserted by this section) shall be either confirmed or varied by regulations made by the Minister before the commencement of subsection (1).

(3) Section 36 of the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 , is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (4) of “paragraph (a) (ii)” for “paragraph (b)”, and

(b) the deletion of subsection (6).

Construction of references to employment contributions in Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968.

17.—In section 16 (2) of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968 —

(a) the reference to rates of employment contributions specified in specified paragraphs of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1952 shall be construed as a reference to the appropriate rates of employment contributions payable under section 6 (1) of that Act (inserted by this Act), and

(b) the references to the amount of the appropriate weekly rate shall be construed as references to the rate.

Amendment or repeal of certain provisions of Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973.

18.—(1) In this section “the Act of 1973” means the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973 .

(2) Section 1 (1) of the Act of 1973 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following for the definition of “reckonable earnings”;

“‘reckonable earnings’ means, subject to regulations under this Act, earnings derived from insurable employment in respect of which employment contributions are payable in accordance with section 6 (1) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978).”.

(3) (a) Section 9 of the Act of 1973 is hereby amended by the deletion of “pay-related contributions and”.

(b) Section 12 of the Act of 1973 is hereby amended by the deletion of “and pay-related contributionss”.

(4) Sections 5 and 6 of the Act of 1973 are hereby repealed.

PART IV

Miscellaneous Provisions

Sanction of Minister for Finance required to certain regulations.

19.—The following regulations shall be subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance—

(a) regulations referred to in the definition of “reckonable earnings” in section 2 (1) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by this Act),

(b) regulations under section 6 (2), 6 (4), 8 or 11 of the Act of 1952 (inserted by this Act),

(c) regulations under section 5 (4), 11, 12, 16 (2) or 20.

Regulations securing continuity of Act with provisions repealed, amended, etc.

20.—(1) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of securing the continuity of this Act with any provision repealed or amended by this Act or otherwise for the preservation of rights conferred under or by virtue of any of those provisions.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under this section may provide for the manner in which contributions paid or credited in respect of any period before the commencement of any provision of this Act shall be taken into account for the purpose of determining entitlement to any benefit under the Acts after such commencement.

Removal of difficulties.

21.—(1) If in any respect any difficulty arises in the administration or operation of this Act, the Minister may, subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance, by order do anything further which appears to be necessary or expedient for bringing this Act into operation, and any such order may modify the provisions of this Act so far as may appear necessary or expedient for carrying the order into effect.

(2) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it annulling the order, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the order.

(3) No order may be made under this section after the expiration of one year after the commencement of this section.