Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

Conditions for receipt.

[SI 25/96 Art 6; 2005 (SW&P) s11(c)]

53.—(1) The conditions for health and safety benefit are—

(a) (i) that the claimant has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than 13 contribution weeks in the 12 months immediately before the expected date of confinement or the actual date of confinement, as the case may be, or

(ii)  (I) that the claimant has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than 52 contribution weeks in the period beginning with her entry into insurance and ending immediately before the first day for which health and safety benefit is claimed, and

(II) (A) that the claimant has qualifying contributions or credited contributions in respect of not less than 39 contribution weeks in the second last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year or in a subsequent complete contribution year which includes the first day for which health and safety benefit is claimed, or

(B) that the claimant has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than 26 contribution weeks in each of the second last and third last complete contribution years before the beginning of the benefit year which includes the first day for which health and safety benefit is claimed,

and

(b) that the claimant has prescribed reckonable weekly earnings in excess of a prescribed amount in a prescribed period.

[2003 s9(2)(b)]

(2) In the case of a claim for health and safety benefit where the period of health and safety leave began before 5 April 2004, subsection (1)(a)(ii)(I) shall be read as if “39” were substituted for “52”.

[SI 25/95 Art 6]

(3) The requirement in subsection (1)(a) shall not apply in the case of a claim for health and safety benefit which is made in a relevant period where the claimant was previously in receipt of maternity benefit under section 47 in that relevant period.

[SI 25/95 Art 6]

(4) Subject to subsection (5), regulations may provide for entitling to health and safety benefit a woman who would be entitled to that benefit but for the fact that the condition in subsection (1)(b) is not satisfied.

[SI 25/95 Art 6]

(5) Regulations for the purposes of subsection (4) shall provide that benefit payable by virtue of that subsection shall be payable at a rate less than that specified in Schedule 2, and the rate specified by the regulations may vary with the extent to which the condition in subsection (1)(b) is satisfied.

[1999 s24(3)]

(6) The requirement contained in subsection (1)(b) that the claimant must have prescribed reckonable weekly earnings in excess of a prescribed amount in the prescribed period shall not apply in the case of a claim for health and safety benefit made by a person in the benefit year in which that person, having been a volunteer development worker, returns to the State from a developing country or in the next 2 succeeding benefit years.