AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE OLD AGE PENSIONS ACTS, 1908 TO 1970, THE UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE ACTS, 1933 TO 1970, THE WIDOWS' AND ORPHANS' PENSIONS ACTS, 1935 TO 1970, AND THE SOCIAL WELFARE ACTS, 1952 TO 1970.

[14th July, 1971.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Interpretation.

1.—In this Act—

"the Act of 1935" means the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act, 1935 ;

"the Act of 1952" means the Social Welfare Act, 1952 ;

"the Act of 1966" means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1966 ;

"the Act of 1970" means the Social Welfare Act, 1970 .

Increase of rates of old age pensions.

2.—(1) Section 77 of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by—

( a ) the substitution of "two hundred and sixty pounds and seventy-five new pence" for "two hundred and forty-seven pounds and fifteen shillings" in each place where it occurs in subsection (2) (inserted by the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1964 ),

( b ) the substitution of "two hundred and forty-seven pounds and seventy-five new pence" for "two hundred and thirty-four pounds and fifteen shillings" in subsection (2),

( c ) the substitution of "forty new pence" for "five shillings" where it lastly occurs in subsection (2) (b), and

( d ) the substitution for the Table to subsection (2) (inserted by the Act of 1970) of the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

Rate of Pension

	Weekly rates
Means of claimant or pensioner	Claimant or pensioner, no qualified child	Claimant or pensioner, one qualified child	Claimant or pensioner, two or more qualified children
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Where the yearly means of the claimant or pensioner as duly calculated—	£	£	£
are Nil	4·65	5·40	6·15}	Plus, where there are more than two qualified children, fifty new pence for each qualified child in excess of two.
exceed Nil but do not exceed £26·25	4·40	5·15	5·90}
exceed £26·25 but do not exceed £52·50	4·15	4·90	5·65}
exceed £52·50 but do not exceed £65·50	3·90	4·65	5·40}
exceed £65·50 but do not exceed £78·50	3·65	4·40	5·15}
exceed £78·50 but do not exceed £104·75	3·40	4·15	4·90}
exceed £104·75 but do not exceed £117·75	3·15	3·90	4·65}
exceed £117·75 but do not exceed £130·75	2·90	3·65	4·40}
exceed £130·75 but do not exceed £143·75	2·65	3·40	4·15}
exceed £143·75 but do not exceed £156·75	2·40	3·15	3·90}
exceed £156·75 but do not exceed £169·75	2·15	2·90	3·65}
exceed £169·75 but do not exceed £182·75	1·90	2·65	3·40}
exceed £182·75 but do not exceed £195·75	1·65	2·40	3·15}
exceed £195·75 but do not exceed £208·75	1·40	2·15	2·90}
exceed £208·75 but do not exceed £221·75	1·15	1·90	2·65}
exceed £221·75 but do not exceed £234·75	0·90	1·65	2·40}
exceed £234·75 but do not exceed £247·75	0·65	1·40	2·15}
exceed £247·75 but do not exceed £260·75	0·40	1·15	1·90}

(2) Section 8 of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1924 (as amended by the Act of 1970) is hereby amended by the substitution of "two hundred and sixty pounds and seventy-five new pence" for "two hundred and forty-seven pounds and fifteen shillings" in subsection (1) (i).

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall come into operation on the 6th day of August, 1971.

Increase of rates of unemployment assistance.

3.—(1) In the Unemployment Assistance Act, 1933 , for the Schedule thereto (inserted by the Act of 1970) there is hereby substituted the Schedule to this subsection.

SCHEDULE

RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

Classes of persons to whom the rates of unemployment assistance set out in this Schedule are applicable	Weekly rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any urban area	Weekly rate of unemployment assistance applicable to persons resident in any other place
Person without a dependant	£3·95	£3·65
Person with an adult dependant	£7·05	£6·65
Person with an adult dependant and one child dependant	£7·80	£7·40
Person with an adult dependant and two or more child dependants	£8·55	£8·15
	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 50p for each child dependant in excess of two.	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 50p for each child dependant in excess of two.
Person with one child dependant	£4·85	£4·55
Person with two or more child dependants	£5·60	£5·30
	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 50p for each child dependant in excess of two.	plus, where there are more than two child dependants, 50p for each child dependant in excess of two.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 28th day of July, 1971.

Increase of certain rates of unemployment benefit.

4.—(1) In the Table to section 5 (2) of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1967 , for the rates set forth therein (inserted by the Act of 1970) there are hereby substituted the rates set forth in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

Class of Person	Weekly Rate	Increase for adult dependant (where payable)	Increase for qualified child or for each two qualified children (where payable)	Increase for each qualified child in excess of two (where payable)
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
Person entitled to an increase in respect of a qualified child but not entitled to an increase in respect of an adult dependant	£4·10	—	£0·75	£0·50
Any other person	£3·95	£3·10	£0·75	£0·50

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 29th day of July, 1971.

Increase of rates of widows' (non-contributory) pensions.

5.—(1) Section 20 (inserted by the Act of 1952) of the Act of 1935 is hereby amended by—

( a ) the substitution for subsection (1) (b) (inserted by the Act of 1970) of the following:

"( b ) (i) where the yearly means of the widow as duly calculated do not exceed two hundred and sixty pounds and seventy-five new pence, at the rate set forth in Table B to this subsection, and

(ii) where the yearly means of the widow as duly calculated exceed two hundred and sixty pounds and seventy-five new pence, at the rate at which the pension would be payable if the yearly means of the widow as duly calculated exceeded two hundred and forty-seven pounds and seventy-five new pence but did not exceed two hundred and sixty pounds and seventy-five new pence, less twenty-five new pence for each amount (if any) of thirteen pounds by which the said yearly means exceed two hundred and sixty pounds and seventy-five new pence, any fraction of thirteen pounds being treated for this purpose as thirteen pounds; provided that if the rate calculated pursuant to this paragraph at which, but for this provision, the pension would be payable is less than forty new pence a week, the pension shall not be payable",

and

( b ) the substitution for Table B (inserted by the Act of 1970) of the following Table:

TABLE B

Weekly Rates of Widows' (Non-Contributory) Pensions

Means of Widow	Widow, no qualified child	Widow, one qualified child	Widow, two qualified children
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
	£	£	£
Where the yearly means of the widow, as duly calculated:—
are Nil	4·65	5·55	6·45}	Plus, where there are more than two qualified children, 90 new pence for each qualified child in excess of two.
exceed Nil but do not exceed £26·25	4·40	5·30	6·20}
exceed £26·25 but do not exceed £52·50	4·15	5·05	5·95}
exceed £52·50 but do not exceed £65·50	3·90	4·80	5·70}
exceed £65·50 but do not exceed £78·50	3·65	4·55	5·45}
exceed £78·50 but do not exceed £104·75	3·40	4·30	5·20}
exceed £104·75 but do not exceed £117·75	3·15	4·05	4·95}
exceed £117·75 but do not exceed £130·75	2·90	3·80	4·70}
exceed £130·75 but do not exceed £143·75	2·65	3·55	4·45}
exceed £143·75 but do not exceed £156·75	2·40	3·30	4·20}
exceed £156·75 but do not exceed £169·75	2·15	3·05	3·95}
exceed £169·75 but do not exceed £182·75	1·90	2·80	3·70}
exceed £182·75 but do not exceed £195·75	1·65	2·55	3·45}
exceed £195·75 but do not exceed £208·75	1·40	2·30	3·20}
exceed £208·75 but do not exceed £221·75	1·15	2·05	2·95}
exceed £221·75 but do not exceed £234·75	0·90	1·80	2·70}
exceed £234·75 but do not exceed £247·75	0·65	1·55	2·45}
exceed £247·75 but do not exceed £260·75	0·40	1·30	2·20}

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 6th day of August, 1971.

Increase of rates of orphans' (non-contributory) pensions.

6.—(1) For the Table to section 25 (inserted by the Act of 1952) of the Act of 1935, there is hereby inserted the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

Weekly Rates of Orphans' (Non-contributory) Pensions

Means of orphan	Weekly rates
	£
Where the yearly means of the orphan as duly calculated—
do not exceed £23·40	2·50
exceed £23·40 but do not exceed £46·80	2·05
exceed £46·80 but do not exceed £70·20	1·60
exceed £70·20 but do not exceed £93·60	1·15
exceed £93·60 but do not exceed £117·00	0·70
exceed £117·00	No pension

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 6th day of August, 1971.

Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1952.

7.—(1) Section 6 (2) (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1960 ) of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution for the rate of voluntary contribution set forth in each paragraph mentioned in column (1) of the Table to this subsection of the rate set forth, opposite the mention of that paragraph in the said column (1), in column (2) of that Table.

TABLE

Paragraph of section 6 (2)	Rate of contribution
(1)	(2)
Paragraph (a)	thirty-seven new pence
Paragraph (b)	ninety-one new pence

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 4th day of October, 1971.

Amendment of section 8 of Act of 1952.

8.—Section 8 of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (1) (d) of the following:

"( 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; provided that nothing in any such regulations shall affect the liability of the employer under subsection (5) of section 6 of this Act to pay such contributions.".

Amendment of section 35 of Act of 1952.

9.—Section 35 of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following:

"(2A) Where, by virtue of regulations made under section 8 of this Act—

( a ) employment contributions which have not been paid have been treated as paid, or

( b ) employment contributions which have been paid late have been treated as paid on the due dates,

and by reason thereof benefit which would otherwise have been lost was paid, there shall be due to the Fund by the employer the amount of the benefit which would have been so lost.".

Amendment of section 52 of Act of 1952.

10.—Section 52 of the Act of 1952 is hereby amended—

( a ) by the substitution in subsection (3) for "to a fine not exceeding ten pounds" of "to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment", and

( b ) by the substitution for subsection (4) of the following:

"(4) Regulations may provide for offences consisting of contraventions of or failures to comply with regulations and for the imposition, at the discretion of the Court, on summary conviction of such offences, of fines not exceeding specified amounts not exceeding fifty pounds or of imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or both such fines and such imprisonment, together with, in the case of continuing offences, further such fines in respect of each of the days on which the offences are continued.".

Amendment of Second Schedule to Act of 1952.

11.—(1) The Second Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution, for the rate of contribution set forth in each paragraph mentioned in column (1) of the Table to this subsection, of the rate set forth opposite the mention of that paragraph in the said column (1), in column (2) of that Table.

TABLE

Paragraph of Second Schedule	Rate of Contribution
(1)	(2)
Paragraph 1 (a)	new pence
(i) in the case of a male employed contributor	85
(ii) in the case of a female employed contributor	79
Paragraph 1 (b)
(i) in the case of a male employed contributor	87
(ii) in the case of a female employed contributor	85
Paragraph 2 (a)	73
Paragraph 2 (b)	73
Paragraph 2A (a)	60
Paragraph 2A (b)	68
Paragraph 3 (a)	58
Paragraph 3 (b)	63
Paragraph 3A (a)	65
Paragraph 3A (b)	73
Paragraph 4 (a)	18
Paragraph 4 (b)	19
Paragraph 5 (b)	19
Paragraph 6 (a)	76
Paragraph 6 (b)	85
Paragraph 7 (a)	76
Paragraph 7 (b)	80

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 4th day of October, 1971.

Amendment of Third Schedule to Act of 1952.

12.—(1) The Third Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution for Part I (inserted by the Act of 1970) of the following Part:

PART I

Rates of Periodical Benefits and of Increases Thereof

Description of benefit	Weekly Rate	Increase for adult dependant (where payable)	Increase for qualified child or for each of two qualified children (where payable)	Increase for each qualified child in excess of two (where payable)	Increase for adult dependant under section 26 (4) (where payable)
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
	£	£	£	£	£
1. Disability Benefit, Invalidity Pension and Unemployment Benefit:
( a ) in the case of person over the age of eighteen—
(i) for a man, single woman or widow, married woman living apart from and unable to obtain any financial assistance from her husband or married woman entitled to an increase for a qualified child or qualified children or for a husband	4·95	3·45	0·90	0·65	—
(ii) for any other married woman	3·90	—	—	—	—
( b ) in the case of person under the age of eighteen—where the person is entitled to an increase for a qualified child or qualified children or for an adult dependant	4·95	3·45	0·90	0·65	—
where the person is not so entitled	3·90	—	—	—	—
2. Maternity Allowance	4·95	—	—	—	—
3. Widow's (Contributory) Pension	5·00	—	1·00	1·00	2·75
4. Orphan's (Contributory) Allowance	3·30	—	—	—	—
5. Old Age (Contributory) Pension	5·50	3·85	0·90	0·65	2·75
6. Retirement Pension	4·95	3·45	0·90	0·65	—

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation—

( a ) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, unemployment benefit and maternity allowance, on the 4th day of October, 1971.

( b ) in so far as it relates to invalidity pension and retirement pension, on the 30th day of September, 1971, and

( c ) in so far as it relates to any other benefit, on the 1st day of October, 1971.

Amendment of Seventh Schedule to Act of 1952.

13.—(1) The Seventh Schedule to the Act of 1952 is hereby amended by the substitution in subparagraph (j) (inserted by the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1960 ) of paragraph (II) of Rule 1 of "£78" for "£39".

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 6th day of August, 1971.

Restriction of section 13 of Act of 1966 and of certain regulations under section 32 of Act of 1952.

14.—(1) Section 13 of the Act of 1966 shall not during the relevant period operate to permit a person to receive a non-contributory old age pension in respect of that period or any part thereof solely because, by virtue of the increases in the rates of such pension under section 2 of this Act, the rate of such pension payable to that person would be greater than the rate of old age (contributory) pension or widow's (contributory) pension to which that person is entitled.

(2) The regulations made under section 32 of the Act of 1952 (as amended by section 7 of the Act of 1966) and for the time being in force shall not during the relevant period operate to permit a widow to receive a widow's (non-contributory) pension in respect of that period or any part thereof solely because, by virtue of the increases in the rates of such pension under section 5 of this Act, the rate of such pension payable to her would be greater than the rate of widow's (contributory) pension payable to her.

(3) In this section "relevant period" means the period commencing on the 6th day of August, 1971, and ending on the 30th day of September, 1971.

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

15.—(1) The Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 , is hereby amended as follows:

( a ) in section 8 (3) (a) "five pounds and fifty new pence" shall be substituted for "five pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( b ) in section 8 (3) (b) "seven pounds and fifty new pence" shall be substituted for "seven pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( c ) in section 9 (7) (a) "five hundred and twenty pounds" shall be substituted for "four hundred and eighty pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( d ) in TABLE I annexed to section 9 (8) "£7.50" shall be substituted for "£7", "£6.75" for "£6 6s", "£6" for "£5 12s", "£5.25" for "£4 18s", "£4.50" for "£4 4s", "£3.75" for "£3 10s", "£3" for "£2 16s", "£2.25" for "£2 2s" and "£1.50" for "£1 8s" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( e ) in TABLE II annexed to section 9 (8) "£5.50" shall be substituted for "£5", "£4.95" for "£4 10s", "£4.40" for "£4", "£3.85" for "£3 10s", "£3.30" for "£3", "£2.75" for "£2 10s", "£2.20 " for "£2", "£1.65" for "£1 10s" and "£1.10" for "£1" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( f ) in section 9 (9) (b) (ii) "£1.50" shall be substituted for "£1 8s" and "£1.10" for "£1" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( g ) in section 10 (1) "three pounds and forty-five new pence" shall be substituted for "three pounds and three shillings" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( h ) in section 12 (1) (a) "three pounds and ninety new pence" shall be substituted for "three pounds and twelve shillings" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( i ) in section 12 (1) (b) "four pounds and ninety-five new pence" shall be substituted for "four pounds and ten shillings" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( j ) in section 13 (1) "£2.75" shall be substituted for "forty shillings",

( k ) in section 15 (1) (a) (i) "five pounds and fifty new pence" shall be substituted for "five pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( l ) in section 15 (1) (a) (ii) "seven pounds and fifty new pence" shall be substituted for "seven pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( m ) in section 17 (2) "seven pounds" shall be substituted for "six pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( n ) in section 18 (2) "seven pounds" shall be substituted for "six pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( o ) in section 18 (3) "three hundred and sixty-five pounds" shall be substituted for "three hundred and fifteen pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( p ) in section 19 "one pound" shall be substituted for "eighteen shillings" (inserted by the Act of 1970) and "one pound" shall be substituted for "thirteen shillings" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( q ) in section 20 "two pounds and fifty new pence" shall be substituted for "two pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970) in each place where it occurs and "seven pounds" shall be substituted for "six pounds" (inserted by the Act of 1970) in each place where it occurs,

( r ) in section 21 (2) "three pounds and sixty new pence" shall be substituted for "three pounds and five shillings" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( s ) in section 22 "sixty pounds" shall be substituted for "fifty pounds" in each place where it occurs,

( t ) in section 25 (3) (a) "one pound and ten new pence" shall be substituted for "one pound" (inserted by the Act of 1970),

( u ) in section 25 (3) (b) "one pound and fifty new pence" shall be substituted for "one pound and eight shillings" (inserted by the Act of 1970).

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on the 4th day of October, 1971.

Short title, construction and collective citation.

16.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare Act, 1971 .

(2) This Act—

( a ) in so far as it amends and extends the Old Age Pensions Acts, 1908 to 1970, shall be construed as one with those Acts and may be cited together with them as the Old Age Pensions Acts, 1908 to 1971,

( b ) in so far as it amends and extends the Unemployment Assistance Acts, 1933 to 1970, shall be construed as one with those Acts and may be cited together with them as the Unemployment Assistance Acts, 1933 to 1971,

( c ) in so far as it amends and extends the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Acts, 1935 to 1970, shall be construed as one with those Acts and may be cited together with them as the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Acts, 1935 to 1971,

( d ) in so far as it amends and extends the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1970, shall be construed as one with those Acts and may be cited together with them as the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1971.

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Irish Legislation

Social Welfare Act, 1971