S.I. No. 10/1953:

SOCIAL WELFARE ( MODIFICATIONS OF INSURANCE) REGULATIONS, 1953.

SOCIAL WELFARE ( MODIFICATIONS OF INSURANCE) REGULATIONS, 1953.

The Minister for Social Welfare in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 3, 12 and 31 and paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 47 of the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952) and of all other powers enabling him in this behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations with the sanction of the Minister for Finance :--

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1953.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 5th day of January, 1953.

3. (1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires--

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

" the Minister " means the Minister for Social Welfare.

(2) References in these Regulations to any enactment shall include a reference to such enactment as amended or extended by any subsequent enactment, order or regulations.

4. (1) This article applies to persons in employment under such a contract as is specified in paragraph 1 of Part I of the First Schedule to the Act as master or a member of the crew of--

(i) any ship registered in the State, or

(ii) any other ship or vessel of which the owner, or, if there is more than one owner, the managing owner or manager, resides or has his principal place of business in the State.

(2) The provisions of the Act in their application to a person to whom this article applies shall be modified in the following manner :--

(a) Where a person to whom this article applies is neither domiciled nor has a place of residence in the State he shall be deemed not to be employed within the meaning of section 4 of the Act, but the employer shall, save where the ship is engaged in regular trade on foreign stations, be liable to pay the same contributions in respect of such person as would otherwise have been payable as employer's contributions under the Act and such contributions shall be paid into the Fund.

(b) Where a person to whom this article applies is employed on a foreign-going ship or a ship engaged in regular trade on foreign stations, the employer's contribution shall be sixpence less in the case of a male employed contributor and fourpence less in the case of a female employed contributor than the appropriate employer's contribution payable under the Act, and every four employment contributions paid for any contribution year by or in respect of any insured person while so employed shall be treated as five such contributions for the purpose of determining whether the contribution conditions for benefit are satisfied as respects the number of contributions paid or credited for a contribution year.

(c) (i) Where the owner of a ship or vessel is, under the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1947, or otherwise, liable in respect of a person to whom this article applies who is suffering from any disease or disablement to defray the expense of the necessary surgical and medical advice and attendance and medicine and of his maintenance for any period but is not liable for part of such period to pay wages to such person, then such person shall not be disqualified by reason of absence from the State for receiving disability benefit in respect of such part of such period.

(ii) Payment of the foregoing benefit shall not be made, however, until such person returns to the State, unless he nominates his wife or some other person to receive payment on his behalf, but where such nomination is not made, payment may be made for such period to such other person as the Minister thinks fit.

(d) It shall be the duty of the master of every ship or vessel to comply with all orders or directions given to him by the owner or managing owner or manager of the ship or vessel with a view to the carrying into effect of the provisions of or made under the Act.

(e) The provisions of or made under the Act shall, so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of these Regulations, apply to a person to whom this article applies with the modification, that, where such a person is, on account of his being at sea or outside the State by reason of his employment, unable to perform an act required to be done either forthwith or on the happening of a certain event or within a specified time, he shall be deemed to have complied therewith if he performs the Act as soon as is reasonably practicable, although after the happening of the event or the expiration of the specified time.

(3) In this article--

" foreign-going ship " includes

(a) every ship or vessel employed in trading or going between some place or places in the State and some place or places situate beyond the following limits, that is to say, the whole Island of Ireland, Great Britain, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the mainland of Europe between the River Elbe and Brest inclusive ;

(b) every fishing vessel proceeding beyond the following limits :--

on the South, Latitude 48° 30' N. ;

on the West, Longitude 12° W. ;

on the North, Latitude 61° N. ;

" home-trade ship " includes

(a) every ship or vessel employed in trading or going within the following limits, that is to say, the whole Island of Ireland, Great Britain, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the mainland of Europe between the River Elbe and Brest inclusive ;

(b) every fishing vessel proceeding beyond the following limits :--

on the South, Latitude 48° 30' N. ;

on the West, Longitude 12° W. ;

on the North, Latitude 61° N. ;

" ship engaged in regular trade on foreign stations " means a ship or vessel, other than a home-trade ship, engaged regularly in trade between ports outside the State when trading between such ports, but a ship or vessel shall not be deemed not to be engaged in such a trade by reason only that she has put into a port in the State for the purpose of survey or repair ;

" vessel " and " ship " have the same meanings as are assigned to them in the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1947.

5. In the case of persons employed in the following employments--

(i) employment in the civil service of the Government in a capacity in respect of which a superannuation allowance may be granted ;

(ii) employment as a member of the Defence Forces where the insured person is an officer holding permanent commissioned rank in the Forces ;

(iii) employment under any local or other public authority where the insured person is pensionable and employed in a permanent capacity and the terms and conditions of his employment provide for payments during illness on a basis which is considered adequate by the Minister ;

(iv) employment in a statutory transport undertaking where the insured person is a pensionable officer employed in a permanent capacity as a clerk or other salaried official ;

(v) pensionable employment as a teacher in a national school ;

(vi) pensionable employment as a teacher in a secondary school where the insured person receives incremental salary in accordance with the Rules made by the Minister for Education for the payment by him of such salary to secondary teachers ;

(vii) employment as a member (otherwise than as a temporary member) of the Army Nursing Service ;

the provisions of the Act in their application shall be modified in the following manner :--

(a) There shall be added at the end of the Second Schedule to the Act a new paragraph as follows :--

" 4. In case the employment is mainly in any one or more of the employments specified in article 5 of the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1953, there shall be special rate employment contributions as follows :--

(b) Any employment contribution paid under this article in respect of an insured person shall be reckoned only in relation to the grant of widow's (contributory) pension or orphan's (contributory) allowance on the insurance of that person and shall not be reckoned in relation to the grant of any other benefit.

6. In the case of persons in employment as a member of the Defence Forces or the Army Nursing Service other than the persons specified in paragraphs (ii) and (vii) of article 5 of these Regulations, the provisions of the Act in their application shall be modified in the following manner :--

(a) The following paragraphs shall be added at the end of the Second Schedule to the Act as amended by paragraph (a) of article 5 of these Regulations :--

" 5. In case the employment is mainly employment as a member of the Defence Forces, otherwise than as a member of the Forces mentioned in paragraph (ii) of article 5 of the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1953, there shall be special rate employment contributions as follows :--

6. In case the employment is mainly employment as a member of the Army Nursing Service, otherwise than as a member of that service mentioned in paragraph (vii) of article 5 of the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1953, there shall be special rate employment contributions as follows :--

(b) Benefit, other than maternity benefit, treatment benefit to such extent as may be provided for in regulations (a) made under section 25 of the act or widow's (contributory) pension where such pension is granted in respect of widowhood arising before the current period of employment, shall not be granted in respect of the insurance of any such person while such person is serving as a member of the Defence Forces or the Army Nursing Service as the case may be.

(c) Every question or dispute as to whether a person is or is not a person to whom this article applies shall be referred for decision to the Minister for Defence and the decision of that Minister shall be final.

7. In the case of persons employed in either of the employments specified in paragraphs 6 and 7 of Part I of the First Schedule to the Act, the provisions of the Act in their application shall be modified by the insertion immediately after the expression " domestic service " in paragraph 3 of the Second Schedule to the Act of the following words :--

" or in the employments specified in paragraphs 6 and 7 of Part I of the First Schedule to this Act, whether in one or more of such employments, and in case the employment is of a male employed contributor and is mainly in one or both of the employments specified in the said paragraphs 6 and 7 ".

(a) S.I. No. 23 of 1953 .

8. The expression " paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 " shall be substituted for the expression " paragraphs 2 and 3 " in paragraph 1 of the Second Schedule to the Act.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare this 2nd day of January, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty-three.

SÉAMAS Ó RIAIN,

Minister for Social Welfare.