S.I. No. 141/1979:

SOCIAL WELFARE (PAY-RELATED BENEFIT) REGULATIONS, 1979.

SOCIAL WELFARE (PAY-RELATED BENEFIT) REGULATIONS, 1979.

The Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 3 of the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952 ) and sections 8, 9, 11 and 15 of the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973 (No. 2 of 1973) and section 1 of that Act (as amended by Section 18 of the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978 (No. 25 of 1978)) and section 4 of that Act (as amended by section 12 of the Social Welfare Act, 1976 (No. 6 of 1976)) and section 20 of the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978 hereby makes the following Regulations:--

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Regulations, 1979 and shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1979.

2. In these Regulations--

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

"the Act of 1967" means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1967 (No. 18 of 1967);

"the Act of 1973" means the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973;

"the Act of 1978" means the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978 ;

"the Acts" means the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979;

"income tax year" means a year of assessment within the meaning of the Income Tax Act, 1967 (No. 6 of 1967);

"pay-related benefit year" means the period commencing on the first Monday in January in any year and terminating at midnight on the day preceding the first Monday in January in the following year;

"period of entitlement to unemployment benefit" means a period of 156 days or 312 days or 390 days in accordance with the provisions of section 16 of the Act of 1952 and section 5 of the Act of 1967 (as amended by section 11 of the Social Welfare Act, 1976 ) and Section 22 of the Social Welfare Act, 1979 (No. 8 of 1979);

"weekly rate of unemployment benefit" includes any increase of that rate under sections 26 or 27 of the Act of 1952.

3. For the purposes of these Regulations "reckonable earnings" means emoluments in respect of which employment contributions are payable at the rates specified in section 6 (1) of the Act of 1952 (inserted by section 5 (1) of the Act of 1978) or those rates as modified by Article 4 (3) (a) or article 8 (2) (a) of the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 87 of 1979 ).

4. (1) The reckonable weekly earnings of a person for any income tax year shall be calculated as one-fiftieth part of the amount of his reckonable earnings for that income tax year and subject to the provisions of article 6 of these Regulations, fractions of a pound being disregarded.

5. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-article (2) of this article--

( a ) the relevant income tax year in relation to pay-related benefit payable in respect of any day of incapacity for work which forms part of a period of interruption of employment shall be the last complete income tax year before the beginning of the pay-related benefit year in which the first day of incapacity for work in the period of interruption of employment occurred,

( b ) the relevant income tax year in relation to pay-related benefit payable in respect of any day of unemployment which forms part of a period of interruption of employment shall be the last complete income tax year before the beginning of the pay-related benefit year in which the first day of unemployment in the period of interruption of employment occurred.

(2) Where in relation to pay-related benefit payable in respect of any particular day the relevant income tax year determined in accordance with the provisions of sub-article (1) of this article would be an income tax year earlier than that which ended on the 5th day of April, 1973, the income tax year which ended on the 5th day of April, 1973 shall be the relevant income tax year in relation to the pay-related benefit payable in respect of that particular day.

6. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-article (2) of this article, for the purpose of calculating reckonable earnings for entitlement to pay-related benefit--

( a ) where the relevant income tax year in relation to a claim for pay-related benefit is the income tax year which precedes the date of the claimant's entry into insurance under the Acts, the claimant shall be credited with reckonable earnings for the relevant income tax year which shall be the equivalent of twice the amount of his reckonable earnings in the twenty-six weeks immediately following his entry into insurance;

( b ) where the relevant income tax year in relation to a claim for pay-related benefit is the income tax year in which the claimant's entry into insurance occurred, the claimant shall be credited with reckonable earnings for each complete week from the beginning of the relevant income tax year up to the date of his entry into insurance, the amount of which shall be the weekly average of his reckonable earnings during the remainder of that income tax year.

(2) Sub-article (1) of this article shall not apply in any case to which article 12 of these Regulations applies.

7. For the purposes of section 4 of the Act of 1973 the limit of reckonable weekly earnings shall be £110 and no account shall be taken of any reckonable weekly earnings in excess of that limit in calculating the weekly rate of a payment of pay-related benefit.

8. (1) In this article "weekly rate of flat-rate benefit" means

( a ) the weekly rate of disability benefit or unemployment benefit payable under the Acts, including any increase of either of those weekly rates under sections 26 or 27 of the Act of 1952, or

( b ) the weekly rate of maternity allowance payable under the Acts, or

( c ) the weekly rate of injury benefit under the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 (No. 16 of 1966) including any increase of injury benefit under sections 10 or 11 of that Act, payable to a person who would otherwise be entitled to disability benefit or maternity allowance under the Acts.

(2) Where the weekly rate of flat-rate benefit payable to a person in respect of any period is equal to or greater than the amount of that person's reckonable weekly earnings for the relevant income tax year pay-related benefit shall not be payable to that person in respect of that period.

(3) Where the sum of the weekly rate of flat-rate benefit payable to a person in respect of any period and the weekly rate of pay-related benefit payable to that person for that period exceeds that person's reckonable weekly earnings for the relevant income tax year, the weekly rate of pay-related benefit shall be reduced to the amount by which the said reckonable weekly earnings exceed the weekly rate of flat-rate benefit payable in respect of that period, and the amount of pay-related benefit payable for that period shall be calculated on the basis of the rate so reduced.

9. (1) This article shall not apply to a person who, for the time being, is employed on short-time whereby he works on a lesser number of days in a working week than is normal to the working week in that employment and whose basic earnings are reduced as a result.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of article 8 (2) and (3) of these Regulations, where in a period of entitlement to unemployment benefit the sum of--

( a ) the weekly rate of unemployment benefit payable under the Acts and

( b ) the weekly rate of pay-related benefit payable and

( c ) the weekly equivalent, as determined by the Revenue Commissioners, of the refund of income tax, if any, which is paid as a result of the unemployment in the said period of entitlement exceeds either eighty-five per cent of that person's average net weekly earnings or £110, whichever is the lesser, the weekly rate of pay-related benefit payable to him shall be reduced by the amount of such excess and the amount of pay-related benefit, if any, payable to him for that period shall be calculated on the basis of such weekly rate as so reduced: provided that

(i) where the weekly rate of unemployment benefit payable or the sum of the said weekly rate and the weekly equivalent, as determined by the Revenue Commissioners, of any refund of income tax arising from the said unemployment paid to that person equals or exceeds either eighty-five per cent of his average net weekly earnings or £110, whichever is the lesser, pay-related benefit shall not be payable to him and

(ii) where an initial payment of a refund of income tax arising from the said unemployment has been made to a person it shall be assumed for the purposes of this sub-article that that person will continue to receive the weekly equivalent, as determined by the Revenue Commissioners, of such refund until his entitlement to such refunds is exhausted or he sooner resumes employment.

(3) For the purpose of sub-article (2) of this article a person's average net weekly earnings shall, subject to sub-article (4) of this article, be calculated

( a ) by--

(i) ascertaining his reckonable earnings from the commencement of the income tax year in which the period of entitlement to unemployment benefit commenced to the first day of the said period, or

(ii) in the case of a person who did not receive reckonable earnings on or after the last day of the first week of the income tax year in which the period of entitlement to unemployment benefit commenced, ascertaining his reckonable earnings in the income tax year preceding that in which the period of entitlement to unemployment benefit commenced, and

( b ) by subtracting the amount of income tax deducted from those earnings and the employee's portion of the amount of employment contributions payable in respect of those earnings, and

( c ) by

(i) dividing the remainder by the number of complete weeks from the commencement of that income tax year to the first day of the said period, or

(ii) in the case of a person whose entry into insurance under the Acts occurs after the commencement of the income tax year in which the period of entitlement to unemployment benefit commenced, dividing the remainder by the number of complete weeks from the date of his entry into insurance under the Acts to the first day of the said period, or

(iii) in the case of a person who was employed outside the State (other than a person who continued to be insured under the Acts while so employed) during the income tax year in which the period of entitlement to unemployment benefit commenced, dividing the remainder by the number of complete weeks during which he was insurably employed under the Acts from the commencement of that income tax year to the first day of the said period, or

(iv) in the case of a person who did not receive reckonable earnings on or after the last day of the first week of the income tax year in which the period of entitlement to unemployment benefit commenced, dividing the remainder by 52.

(4) The amount of benefit paid under the Acts or the amount of unemployment assistance paid under the Unemployment Assistance Acts, 1933 to 1979 to a person, other than a person referred to in clause (iii) of subparagraph (c) of sub-article (3) of this article in respect of a period of at least six days of proved unemployment or duly notified incapacity for work in the whole or relevant part of the income tax year referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of sub-article (3) of this article shall be added to the amount ascertained under that sub-paragraph but the amount of benefit paid in respect of incapacity for work for any period in respect of which that person also received reckonable earnings shall not be so added.

10. Where the weekly rate of pay-related benefit, or the appropriate amount of such weekly rate in respect of a period less than a week, payable to a person includes an amount which is less than a whole new penny, such amount shall be rounded up to a new penny.

11. The Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Regulations, 1974 ( S.I. No. 16 of 1974 ), the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Regulations, 1976 ( S.I. No. 124 of 1976 ) and the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) (Amendment) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 102 of 1979 ) are hereby revoked.

12. Where as respects a claim commencing during the period beginning on 8th day of April 1974 and ending on 4th day of January 1981, a person makes a claim to pay-related benefit in respect of any day and the relevant income tax year in relation to pay-related benefit payable in respect of that day is an income tax year earlier than that beginning on the 6th day of April, 1979, any earnings of that person in any one of the income tax years between the 6th day of April, 1972 and the 5th day of April 1979, which would have been reckonable earnings if the provisions of subsection (1) section 1 of the Act of 1973 as amended by section 18 of the Act of 1978 had been in operation, shall be treated as reckonable earnings.

13. For the purposes of Article 9 of these Regulations, where a person's average net weekly earnings are calculated on the basis of his reckonable earnings in an income tax year prior to the income tax year commencing on the 6th day of April, 1979, such average net weekly earnings shall be calculated as if the provisions of the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Regulations, 1976 ( S.I. No. 124 of 1976 ) were still in operation.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare this 6th day of April 1979.

CHARLES J. HAUGHEY,

Minister for Social Welfare.

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

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Finance this 6th day of April 1979.

SEOIRSE Ó COLLA,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973 provides that pay-related benefit may be paid to insured persons who are entitled to receive flat-rate benefit in respect of periods of unemployment or incapacity for work and who had reckonable earnings in a relevant income tax year. These Regulations prescribe how reckonable weekly earnings and the relevant income tax year are to be determined and also preclude reckonable weekly earnings in excess of £110 a week from being taken into account for pay-related benefit purposes.

Provision is made to restrict the total amount a person may receive by way of flat-rate benefit and pay-related benefit.

The Regulations also provide for the crediting of reckonable earnings for pay-related benefit purposes in the case of persons entering insurance under the Social Welfare Acts for the first time.

Special provision is made to regard previous earnings as reckonable earnings in the case of certain persons coming into the pay-related benefit scheme for the first time.