Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1985

Unemployment assistance—married couples.

12.—(1) Where a married couple are living together and both husband and wife are entitled to be paid unemployment assistance, the total amount payable to them pursuant to Chapter 2 of Part III of the Principal Act shall not exceed the amount which would be payable if one only of the married couple had entitlement to unemployment assistance and the other were an adult dependant, and each of them shall be entitled to be paid one-half of the amount which would be payable if the spouse were his adult dependant.

(2) Where the spouse of an applicant for unemployment assistance is not an adult dependant, the unemployment assistance payable to the applicant shall be at a rate equal to the scheduled rate reduced by 5p for every 10p or part of 10p of his means and whenever the rate of unemployment assistance payable as a result of such calculation is not an even multiple of 5p, the amount payable shall be rounded up to the nearest 5p.

(3) Subsection (2) of this section shall not apply in any case where the spouse is living apart from the applicant.

(4) Where one of a married couple who are living together is entitled to disability benefit, unemployment benefit, injury benefit, disablement pension, old age (contributory) pension, old age pension, retirement pension or invalidity pension and the other is entitled to unemployment assistance, the total of the amount payable to them by way of benefit or pension, as the case may be, and unemployment assistance shall not, except where regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance otherwise provide, exceed the total amount of benefit or pension, as the case may be, that would otherwise be payable to the spouse entitled to benefit or pension if an increase of benefit or pension were payable to that spouse in respect of an adult dependant and if the total amount so payable to the married couple does exceed the amount that would be payable to the spouse entitled to benefit or pension, as the case may be, if he had an adult dependant, the amount of assistance payable to the spouse who is entitled to unemployment assistance shall be reduced accordingly.