Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1989

Unemployment assistance — couples.

1.Section 12 (as amended by section 25 of the Social Welfare Act, 1988 ) of the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1985 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) In the case of a couple both of whom 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 only one of them was entitled to be paid unemployment assistance and the other was an adult dependant, and each of them shall be entitled to be paid one-half of the amount which would be payable to him if the other were his adult dependant.”, and

(b) by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following subsections:

“(4) Where one of a couple 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 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, or the total amount of unemployment assistance, 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 the benefit, pension or unemployment assistance included an increase in respect of the other as his adult dependant; 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.

(5) 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 man and wife.

(6) In subsection (4) of this section ‘spouse’ means each person of a couple in relation to the other.”.