Social Welfare Act, 1996

Assessment of means for social assistance payments.

37.—(1) Paragraph (4) of Rule 1 of Part II of the Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion in subparagraph (h) after “(including wages and profit from any form of self-employment)” of “other than from employment of a rehabilitative nature,”,

(b) the insertion after subparagraph (h) of the following subparagraph:

“(hh) in the case of a blind person, such amount as may be prescribed of his or her earnings from employment of a rehabilitative nature,”,

(c) the insertion in subparagraph (jj) (inserted by section 15 of the Act of 1994) after “of self-employment)” of “having deducted such amount in respect of social insurance contributions payable under Part II, childminding and travel expenses, which a deciding officer considers reasonable in all the circumstances of the case,”,

(d) the insertion in subparagraph (o) (inserted by section 18 of the Act of 1994) before “lone parent's allowance,” of “blind pension or”, and

(e) the insertion after subparagraph (p) (inserted by section 18 of the Act of 1994) of the following subparagraphs:

“(q) payments by a health board in respect of the provision of accommodation for a child under section 5 of the Child Care Act, 1991 ,

(r) in the case of old age (non-contributory) pension, all moneys received, except and in so far as they exceed such amount as may be prescribed, under a scheme administered by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry and known as the Rural Environment Protection Scheme,

(s) in the case of a person who has attained pensionable age, any moneys received under a scheme administered by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry and known as the Early Retirement Scheme from Farming operated under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2079/92 of the 30th day of July, 1992(1) ,”.

(2) Paragraph (1) of Rule 1 of Part III of the Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subparagraph (j) (inserted by section 18 of the Act of 1994) of the following subparagraphs:

“(k) any income arising from a grant or allowance in pursuance of a scheme for promoting the welfare of the blind prepared under section 2 of the Blind Persons Act, 1920 ,

(l) payments by a health board in respect of the provision of accommodation for a child under section 5 of the Child Care Act, 1991 ,

(m) such amount as may be prescribed of earnings from employment of a rehabilitative nature,

(n) in such cases as may be prescribed, any moneys received by way of a maintenance grant under a scheme administered by the Minister for Education under the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts, 1968 to 1992.”.

(3) (a) Rule 1 of Part II of the Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph (3) of the following paragraph:

“(3A) Regulations may modify the provisions of this Rule in relation to the calculation of the yearly value of property belonging to a person.”.

(b) Rule 1 of Part III of the Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph (2) of the following paragraph:

“(2A) Regulations may modify the provisions of paragraph (2) in relation to the calculation of the yearly value of property belonging to a person.”.

(c) Section 4(5) (as amended by section 11 of the Act of 1995) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after “or 115(2),” of “or Rule 1(3A) of Part II of the Third Schedule and Rule 1(2A) of Part III of the Third Schedule,”.

(4) Each provision of the Principal Act mentioned in column (1) of Schedule I to this Act is hereby amended in the manner specified in column (2) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that provision in column (1).

(5) Section 4 (4) (a) (as amended by section 11 of the No. 2 Act of 1995) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for “Rule 1 (2) (m) and 1 (6) of Part I of the Third Schedule, Rule 3 (3) of Part II of the Third Schedule and Rule 2 of Part III of the Third Schedule,” of “Rule 1 (2) (m), 1 (2) (u) and 1 (6) of Part I of the Third Schedule, Rule 1 (4) (u) and 3 (3) of Part II of the Third Schedule and Rule 1 (1) (o) and 2 of Part III of the Third Schedule,”.

OJ No. L215 of 30.7.1992