Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002

Qualified child — extension to end of academic year.

7.—(1) Section 2 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (4) (inserted by section 38 of the Act of 1996):

“(4A) (a) Subject to paragraph (b)—

(i) notwithstanding subsection (3)(a), a person who reaches the age of 18 years while attending a full-time day course of study, instruction or training at an institution of education, shall continue to be regarded as a qualified child for the purposes of that subsection until the next following 30 June or until he or she completes the full-time day course, whichever is earlier, and

(ii) notwithstanding section 170, a person who reaches the age of 18 years while attending a full-time day course of study, instruction or training at an institution of education, shall continue to be regarded as a child dependant for the purposes of that section until the next following 30 June or until he or she completes the full-time day course, whichever is earlier.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a), the Minister may prescribe the conditions subject to which a person shall be regarded as attending a full-time day course of study, instruction or training at an institution of education.

(c) In this subsection, ‘institution of education’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 126(2).”.

(2) This section comes into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to unemployment assistance, pre-retirement allowance and farm assist, on 27 March 2002,

(b) in so far as it relates to unemployment benefit, on 28 March 2002, and

(c) in so far as it relates to disability benefit, health and safety benefit, injury benefit and supplementary welfare allowance, on 1 April 2002.