Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981

Employment contributions.

[1952, s. 6; 1978 AM, s. 5(1); 1980, s. 26]

10.—(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 (7) and to regulations under section 7 , 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 3.5 per cent., and

(ii) a contribution by his employer at the rate of 8.5 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 £7,000 and contributions under paragraph (b) 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 6 ), the provisions of paragraph (c) shall, in relation to contributions mentioned in paragraph (b) (ii), apply to the reckonable earnings from each of the employments separately.

[1978 AM, s. 5(5)]

(2) (a) The Minister may by regulations vary the sum specified in subsection (1) (c) and such variation 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) 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.

(3) The employer shall, as respects any employment contribution, be liable in the first instance to pay both the employer's contribution comprised therein and also, on behalf of and to the exclusion of the employed contributor, the contribution comprised therein payable by such contributor.

(4) An employer shall be entitled, subject to and in accordance with regulations, to recover from an employed contributor the amount of any contribution paid or to be paid by him on behalf of that contributor and, notwithstanding anything in any enactment, regulations for the purposes of this subsection may authorise recovery by deductions from the employed contributor's remuneration, but any such regulations shall provide that—

(a) where the employed contributor does not receive any pecuniary remuneration either from the employer or from any other person, the employer shall not be entitled to recover the amount of any such contribution from him, and

(b) where the employed contributor receives any pecuniary remuneration from the employer, the employer shall not be entitled to recover any such contribution otherwise than by deductions.

(5) Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, an employer shall not be entitled to deduct from the remuneration of a person employed by him, or otherwise to recover from such a person, the employer's contribution in respect of that person.

(6) Any sum deducted by an employer from remuneration under regulations for the purposes of this section shall be deemed to have been entrusted to him for the purpose of paying the contribution in respect of which it was deducted.

[1978 AM, s. 5 (6)]

(7) The employment contribution payable by the employed contributor under subsection (1) (b) or under regulations made under section 7 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 section 50 ,

(f) a social assistance allowance under section 197 ,

(g) a payment corresponding to a pension referred to in paragraph (a) or (e) 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.