Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008

Child benefit — amendment.

20.— (1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 219 by substituting the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) A child shall be a qualified child (in this Part referred to as a ‘ qualified child ’) for the purposes of child benefit where—

(a) he or she is under the age of 16 years, or

(b) having attained the age of 16 years, he or she is under the age of 18 years and is—

(i) receiving full-time education, the circumstances of which shall be specified in regulations, or

(ii) by reason of physical or mental infirmity, incapable of self-support and likely to remain so incapable for a prolonged period,

and

(c) he or she is ordinarily resident in the State, and

(d) he or she is not detained in a children detention school and is not undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody.”,

and

(b) in section 221 (as amended by section 17 of and Schedule 3 to the Act of 2006) by inserting the following subsections after subsection (1):

“(1A) Notwithstanding section 219(1)(b), for the purposes of subsection (1B) and section 221A, ‘ qualified child ’ shall include a child who, having attained the age of 18 years is under the age of 19 years and is—

(a) receiving full-time education, the circumstances of which shall be specified in regulations, or

(b) by reason of physical or mental infirmity, incapable of self-support and likely to remain so incapable for a prolonged period,

and

(c) ordinarily resident in the State, and

(d) not detained in a children detention school and is not undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody.

(1B) Payment of child benefit in respect of a child referred to in subsection (1A) shall be made to a person qualified for child benefit at half the appropriate amount set out in column (1) or column (2) of Part 4 of Schedule 4, or at half the appropriate amount as determined in accordance with subsection (2)(a) or (2)(b).

(1C) The payment referred to in subsection (1B) shall cease to be payable on 31 December 2009.”,

and

(c) by inserting the following section after section 221:

“Compensatory payment.

221A.— (1) Subject to this Act, a person shall be entitled to a payment provided for in subsection (2) where a qualified child referred to in section 221(1A) normally resides with that person and in any week—

(a) an increase in respect of that child is being paid in accordance with section 43(2), 43(3), 56(2), 56(3), 66(2), 66(3), 76(2), 76(3), 76(5), 81(5), 102(1), 102(2), 109(17), 112(2), 112(3), 113(5)(b), 113A(5)(b), 115(8)(a)(ii), 117(2), 117(3), 122(2), 122(3), 127(1), 142(1)(b)(ii), 146, 150(1)(b), 150(3), 156(1), 158, 161B(1), 161D, 174(1), 178A(3)(a), 181(1)(b)(i), 181(4), 197(b), 211(1)(b), 211(3), 215(1)(b) or 216, or

(b) family income supplement in accordance with Part 6 is being paid in respect of a family which includes a child referred to in section 221(1A).

(2) Subject to subsection (5), an amount of €15 shall be payable in respect of a child referred to in subsection (1) for each week or part thereof in which the conditions in—

(a) subsection (1)(a), or

(b) subsection (1)(b),

are satisfied until the date on which that child attains the age of 19 years.

(3) Subject to this Act, a person shall be entitled to a payment provided for in subsection (4) where a qualified child referred to in section 221(1A) normally resides with that person and in any week that child is in receipt of disability allowance in accordance with Chapter 10 of Part 3.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), an amount of €15 shall be payable in respect of a child referred to in subsection (3) for each week or part thereof in which that child is in receipt of disability allowance until the date on which that child attains the age of 19 years.

(5) The amount payable under subsection (2) or subsection (4) in respect of a child whose birth was part of—

(a) a multiple birth of 2 children, of whom 2 remain qualified, shall be €22.50, or

(b) a multiple birth of 3 or more children, of whom—

(i) not less than 3 remain qualified, shall be €30,

(ii) not less than 2 remain qualified, shall be €22.50, or

(iii) one remains qualified, shall be €15.

(6) Only one weekly amount shall be payable pursuant to subsection (2)(a), (2)(b) or (4).

(7) For the purposes of this section—

(a) the Minister may make rules for determining with whom a child referred to in section 221(1A) shall be regarded as normally residing,

(b) a child referred to in section 221(1A) shall not be regarded as normally residing with more than one person, and

(c) where a child referred to in section 221(1A) is resident in an institution and contributions are made towards the cost of his or her maintenance in that institution, that child shall be regarded as normally residing with the person with whom in accordance with the rules made under paragraph (a) he or she would be determined to be normally residing if he or she were not resident in an institution but, where the person with whom the child would thus be regarded as normally residing has abandoned or deserted the child, the child shall be regarded as normally residing with the head of the household of which he or she would normally be a member if he or she were not resident in an institution.

(8) Section 221(1A) and this section shall cease to have effect on 31 December 2010.”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 January 2009.