Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981

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Legal proceedings.

[1908 OAP, s. 9; 1960 MP, s. 22; 1976 (No. 2), ss. 9, 10]

169.—(1) Every person—

(a) who for the purpose of obtaining or continuing old age pension either for himself or for any other person, or for the purpose of obtaining or continuing a pension, either for himself or for any other person, which is of an amount in excess of the amount appropriate to the case, knowingly makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, or knowingly conceals any fact which is to his knowledge material, or

(b) who knowingly obtains payment of, or continues to receive, a pension which he is not entitled to receive or which is of an amount in excess of the amount which he is entitled to receive,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500 or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and such imprisonment, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £2,000 or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2) A person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) shall be disqualified for receipt of old age pension for a period of 6 months immediately following the date of the conviction. This subsection shall not apply to any offence committed prior to 12th July, 1976.

[1908 OAP, s. 9]

(3) If it is found at any time that a person has been in receipt of old age pension while the statutory conditions were not fulfilled in his case or while he was disqualified for receiving the pension, he or, in the case of his death, his personal representative, shall be liable to repay to the Minister any sums paid to him in respect of the pension while the statutory conditions were not fulfilled or while he was disqualified for receiving the pension, and the amount of those sums may be recovered as a debt due to the State.

[1976 (No. 2), s. 12]

(4) Regulations under this Chapter may provide for offences consisting of contraventions of or failures to comply with such regulations and for the imposition, at the discretion of the court on summary conviction of such offences, of fines not exceeding specified amounts of not more than £500 or of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or of both such fines and such imprisonment.

[1911 OAP, s. 7]

(5) Subsection (3) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to cases where an old age pension is received at a higher rate than that appropriate to the case as it applies to cases where a person has been in receipt of an old age pension while the statutory conditions were not fulfilled.

(6) For the purposes of subsections (3), (5), (7) and this subsection, any decision of the local pension committee under section 164 on any question which is not referred to an appeals officer and the decision of the said appeals officer on any question which is referred to him in accordance with section 298 shall be conclusive proof of any matters decided by the committee or the said officer. A copy of any decision of the local pension committee or an appeals officer, if authenticated as provided by regulations made for the purpose under section 170 , shall be received in evidence.

(7) Where any person who is in receipt of old age pension is liable to repay to the Minister any sums under subsection (3) in consequence of the finding of a local pension committee, or an appeals officer in the case of a question referred to him, the Minister shall be entitled, without prejudice to his powers under that subsection, to direct the deduction of those sums from any sums to which that person becomes entitled on account of old age pension, as provided by regulations made for the purpose under section 170 : provided that, in the case of a personal representative, the deduction shall only be made from any sums to which that person becomes entitled as a personal representative.

[1961 MP, s. 7]

(8) The power conferred on the Minister by subsection (7) may be exercised notwithstanding that proceedings have been instituted in a court for the recovery of the sums which the person is liable to repay to the Minister as aforesaid or that an order has been made by a court requiring the payment by the person of the sums which he is liable to repay to the Minister as aforesaid, and any costs required by the order aforesaid to be paid to the Minister shall be deemed, for the purposes of the said subsection (7), to be sums which the person is liable to repay to the Minister under subsection (3).

[1960 MP, s. 21]

(9) Where, in any civil proceedings in any court, it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that pursuant to a claim of or on behalf of a person old age pension was allowed or awarded or that the amount of a pension payable to or in respect of a person was varied and that the pension as so allowed or awarded or as so varied was at any time in course of payment to the person to whom the pension was payable, that person shall, in each case, be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, to have been in receipt of a pension of the amount so allowed or awarded or as so varied, as the case may be, from the date on which the pension of the amount so allowed or awarded or as so varied, as the case may be, became payable until the date, if any, on which the amount of the pension is varied or further varied, as the case may be, or the date on which the pension ceases to be payable, whether by reason of the death of the person or otherwise, whichever should first occur.

[1960 MP, s. 23]

(10) Any debt due to the State or the Minister under this Chapter in respect of payments of old age pensions to persons at times when they were not entitled to receive them or payments of pensions to persons of amounts in excess of the amounts which they were entitled to receive may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.