Social Welfare Act, 1999

Limitation of payments to a couple.

32.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in section 122 for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) In the case of a couple, where each of the couple is entitled to unemployment assistance or pre-retirement allowance, the total amount payable to them pursuant to this Chapter shall not exceed the amount which would be payable if only one of them was entitled to be paid unemployment assistance or pre-retirement allowance, as the case may be, (including any increases thereof, where appropriate) and each of them shall be entitled to be paid one-half of the amount (including any increases thereof, where appropriate) which would be payable to him or her if only one of them were in receipt of unemployment assistance or pre-retirement allowance as the case may be.”,

(b) the substitution in section 122 for subsection (4) of the following subsection:

“(4) Where one of a couple is entitled to disability benefit, unemployment benefit, injury benefit, disablement pension, old age (contributory) pension, old age (non-contributory) 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 such benefit or pension, as the case may be, and such unemployment assistance, (in this subsection referred to as ‘the relevant amount’) shall not exceed the total amount of benefit or pension, as the case may be, (including any increases thereof, where appropriate), or the total amount of unemployment assistance (including any increases thereof, where appropriate), whichever is the greater (in this subsection referred to as ‘the greater amount’), that would be payable if only one of the couple were in receipt of benefit, pension or unemployment assistance, as the case may be, and, if the relevant amount would but for this subsection exceed the greater amount, the amount of unemployment assistance payable to the spouse who is entitled to such unemployment assistance shall be reduced by the amount of the excess.”,

and

(c) the substitution for section 191E (as amended by section 22 of the Act of 1997), of the following section:

“191E.—(1) Where one of a couple is entitled to disability benefit, unemployment benefit, injury benefit, disablement pension, old age (contributory) pension or retirement pension and the other is entitled to disability allowance, the total of the amount payable to them by way of such benefit or pension, as the case may be, and such disability allowance (in this subsection referred to as ‘the relevant amount’) shall not exceed the total amount of benefit or pension (including any increases thereof, where appropriate), as the case may be, or the total amount of disability allowance (including any increases thereof, where appropriate), whichever is the greater (in this subsection referred to as ‘the greater amount’) that would be payable if only one of the couple were in receipt of benefit, pension or disability allowance, as the case may be, and, if the relevant amount would but for this subsection exceed the greater amount, the amount of disability allowance payable to the spouse who is entitled to such disability allowance shall be reduced by the amount of the excess.

(2) Where one of a couple is entitled to unemployment assistance or pre-retirement allowance and the other is entitled to disability allowance, the total amount payable to them pursuant to this Act shall not exceed the amount which would be payable if only one of them was entitled to be paid unemployment assistance, pre-retirement allowance or disability allowance, as the case may be, (including any increases thereof, where appropriate), and each of them shall be entitled to be paid one-half of the amount which would be payable to him or her if only one of the couple were in receipt of the assistance or allowance.

(3) In this section—

‘couple’ means a married couple who are living together or a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting as husband and wife;

‘spouse’ means each person of a couple in relation to the other.”.

(2) This section shall apply in respect of a claim for assistance or allowance made on or after the coming into operation of this section.