S.I. No. 7/1924 - National Health Insurance (Great Britain Reciprocal Arrangements) Order, 1924


SAORSTÁT ÉIREANN. STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1924. No. 7.NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE.

GREAT BRITAIN RECIPROCAL ARRANGEMENTS ORDER, 1924.

THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE (GREAT BRITAIN RECIPROCAL ARRANGEMENTS) ORDER, 1924, DATED THE 29TH FEBRUARY, 1924, MADE BY THE IRISH INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS.

Whereas by Section 17 of the National Health Insurance Act, 1923 , it is enacted that if the Irish Insurance Commissioners and the National Health Insurance Joint Committee enter into arrangements—

( a ) for securing continuity of insurance of persons who being insured in Saorstát Eireann or Great Britain are or become resident and employed in Great Britain or Saorstát Eireann as the case may be (including the insurance of men serving in the armed forces of Saorstát Eireann who previously to enrolment or enlistment in any such forces were resident in Great Britain, and of men who having so served within six months after their discharge from any such forces become resident in Great Britain);

( b ) for securing exemption from liability to make contributions in the case of persons who being ordinarily resident and not insured in Saorstát Eireann become temporarily employed in Great Britain, or who being ordinarily resident and not insured in Great Britain become temporarily employed in Saorstát Eireann;

(c) with respect to the insurance of persons who, being resident in Saorstát Eireann, are employed either temporarily or permanently in Northern Ireland, or who, being resident in Northern Ireland, are employed either temporarily or permanently in Saorstát Eireann;

(d) in the case of a ship registered in Saorstát Eireann or Great Britain, the owner of which resides or has his principal place of business in Great Britain or Saorstát Eireann, as the case may be, for determining whether contributions payable in respect of the persons employed on the ship are to be payable under the Acts in their application to the country in which the ship is registered, or under the Acts in their application to the country in which the owner resides or has his principal place of business;

( e ) for rendering insurable persons who in consequence of the establishment of Saorstát Eireann are no longer insurable either under the Acts in their application to Saorstát Eireann or under the Acts in their application to Great Britain;

the Irish Insurance Commissioners shall, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make such Orders as may be necessary to carry out any such arrangements, and may by any such Order make such modifications in the Acts in their application to Saorstát Eireann and to persons resident and employed therein as may be necessary to give effect to the arrangements, and for enabling such financial adjustments to be made as may be necessary or expedient in consequence of any such arrangements:

And whereas the Irish Insurance Commissioners and the National Health Insurance Joint Committee have on the 16th day of February, 1924, entered into the arrangements set out in the Schedule to this Order:

Now therefore the Irish Insurance Commissioners in pursuance of the powers conferred on them by the said Section 17 of the National Health Insurance Act, 1923 , and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order:—

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the National Health Insurance (Great Britain Reciprocal Arrangements) Order, 1924.

(2) The Interpretation Act, 1889, as modified and adapted by or under the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 (No. 2 of 1922), applies to the interpretation of this Order in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.

(3) This Order shall have effect as from the first day of July, 1923, but shall not come into force unless and until an Order has been made by the National Health Insurance Joint Committee in pursuance of the powers conferred on them by Article 19 of the National Health Insurance (International Arrangements) Order, 1923, for the purpose of carrying out the arrangements set out in the Schedule to this Order.

2. The provisions contained in the arrangements set out in the Schedule to this Order shall have full force and effect so far as they relate to Saorstát Eireann or to persons resident and employed therein, and the National Health Insurance Acts shall have effect in Saorstát Eireann and in relation to persons resident and employed therein subject to such modifications as may be required in those Acts for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions contained in the said arrangements.

SCHEDULE.

ARRANGEMENTS MADE BETWEEN THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE JOINT COMMITTEE AND THE IRISH INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS.

Memorandum of Arrangements which have been mutually agreed upon between the National Health Insurance Joint Committee and the Irish Insurance Commissioners pursuant to the powers vested in them by Articles 3 and 19 of the National Health Insurance (International Arrangements) Order, 1923, and by Section seventeen of the National Health Insurance Act, 1923 (No. 20 of 1923), respectively.

1. The National Health Insurance Joint Committee and the Irish Insurance Commissioners shall make such Orders as may be necessary to carry these Arrangements into effect, and such Orders shall be made simultaneously by each party on a day to be mutually agreed.

PART I.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR SECURING CONTINUITY OF INSURANCE OF PERSONS WHO BEING INSURED IN ONE COUNTRY ARE OR BECOME RESIDENT AND EMPLOYED IN THE OTHER COUNTRY.

Members of Approved Societies and Deposit Contributors.

2.—(1) A person who being a member of a British Society is or becomes resident and employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall continue to be insured as though he were resident and employed in Great Britain (save that the rate of contribution payable in respect of him while so resident and employed shall be the rate applicable to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) and that he shall be entitled to sanatorium benefit but not to medical benefit):—

(a) until he becomes a member for the purposes of the Acts of an Irish Society; or

(b) until the expiration of the half-year next after the second half-year in which he has been employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), the period or periods of such employment in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) not having been interrupted by a period of employment in Great Britain.

For the purpose of this paragraph any week in which the insured person is incapable of work while resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall be treated as a week in which he was employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

(2) Upon the expiration of the period mentioned in the last preceding paragraph such person shall cease to be a member of the British Society, and shall become insured under the Acts as they apply to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) and for that purpose shall be treated as though his previous insurance under the Acts in Great Britain had been insurance under the Acts as they apply to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann). The Society of which such person is a member shall not less than eight weeks before the expiration of the period specified in Article 2 (1) (b) inform the member in writing of the date when his membership terminates.

(3) When an insured person whose membership of a British Society has been terminated in accordance with the foregoing provisions returns to and becomes employed in Great Britain within twelve months after the termination of his membership, he shall on making application to that Society at any time before the first day of April or the first day of October first occurring after the end of the half-year in which he becomes again employed in Great Britain be entitled to be re-admitted to that Society.

3.—(1) A person who being insured in Great Britain as a deposit contributor is or becomes resident and employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall continue to be insured and the balance standing to the credit of his account in the Deposit Contributors Fund of the country where he formerly resided shall be transferred to the Deposit Contributors Fund of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) as soon as it comes to the notice of the Health Insurance Authority of the country where he formerly resided that his residence in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) has extended or will extend to a period of not less than three months.

(2) A person who being insured in Great Britain is or becomes resident and employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) before the expiration of the time prescribed for joining an Approved Society and without having joined an Approved Society shall continue to be insured and shall be treated as though his previous insurance under the Acts in Great Britain had been insurance under the Acts as they apply to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

4. The provisions of Articles 2 and 3 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to persons who having been insured in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) become resident and employed in Great Britain, but such persons shall not be entitled to sanatorium benefit during the period of their residence in Great Britain, but shall be entitled to medical benefit during that period.

5. The provisions of paragraph (1) of the Third Schedule to the National Insurance Act, 1911, shall apply notwithstanding that an employed contributor may be employed during a single week (whether by one or more employers) both in Great Britain and the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

6. The Health Insurance Authority concerned and the Irish Insurance Commissioners shall account to each other for all contributions received in respect of a person who is actually resident in Great Britain or in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), as the case may be, but who is treated as being resident and employed in the other country, or in respect of a person to whom the provisions of Article 3 (2) apply, and such financial adjustments, including provision for transfer values, shall be made between the National Health Insurance Fund and the Scottish and Welsh and Northern Irish National Health Insurance Funds on the one hand, and the Irish National Health Insurance Fund on the other hand as the Joint Committee and the Irish Insurance Commissioners may from time to time agree.

Men, not being members of Approved Societies, who are serving or have served in the Military Forces.

7. A person who having served in the Navy, Army or Air Force of Great Britain and not having been a member of an Approved Society during that service becomes resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) within six months after his discharge shall for the purpose of his insurance in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) be treated as if his insurance during service in the Forces had been insurance under the Acts as applied to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), and if within that period or such further period not exceeding six months as the Irish Insurance Commissioners may allow he proves to the satisfaction of the Irish Insurance Commissioners that the state of his health is such that he cannot obtain admission to an Approved Society in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) he shall as from such date as the Minister of Health and the Irish Insurance Commissioners may agree become entitled to benefits out of the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund.

8. The provisions of the preceding Article shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to a person who having served in the Armed Forces of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) and having been a member of the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund during that service becomes resident in Great Britain within six months after his discharge, the Navy and Army Insurance Fund being substituted for the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund.

9.—(1) A person, other than a serving seaman, marine, soldier or airman who has been admitted to benefit out of the Navy and Army Insurance Fund and who, being still a member of that Fund, becomes resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall as from the commencement of the half-year next after that in which he becomes resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) become entitled to benefits out of the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund and shall be treated as if his previous insurance in Great Britain had been insurance under the Acts as applied to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

(2) Nothing in this Article shall affect the operation of any notice issued in pursuance of any Regulations in that behalf requiring a member of the Navy and Army Insurance Fund to take steps to become a member of a Society, and a member to whom such a notice has been issued and who has become resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall become entitled to benefits out of the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund for such period only as he would have continued to be entitled to benefits out of the Navy and Army Insurance Fund if he had remained in Great Britain.

10. The provisions of the preceding Article shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to a person who has been admitted to benefit out of the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund and who, being still a member of that Fund, becomes resident in Great Britain, the Navy and Army Insurance Fund being substituted for the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund.

11. Such sum as the Joint Committee and the Irish Insurance Commissioners may agree to be required by way of transfer value shall be paid by the Minister of Health to the Irish Insurance Commissioners or by the Irish Insurance Commissioners to the Minister, as the case may be, in all cases to which Articles 7, 8, 9 and 10 apply.

Men insured in one country who enter the Military Forces of the other country.

12.—(1) A person who being or for the purpose of these arrangements treated as being resident and insured in Great Britain enters the armed forces of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall thereupon cease to be insured in Great Britain, and if he is or elects to become insured during service with those Forces the contributions paid in respect of him during that service shall be paid into the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund, and he shall be treated during that service as if he had been continuously insured since the date on which he became insured in Great Britain.

(2) A person who being or for the purposes of these Arrangements treated as being resident and insured in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) enters the Navy or enlists in the Army or Air Force of Great Britain shall thereupon cease to be insured in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), and the contributions paid in respect of him during that service shall be paid into the Navy and Army Insurance Fund, and he shall be treated during that service as if he had been continuously insured since the date on which he became insured in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

(3) Such sum as the Joint Committee and the Irish Insurance Commissioners may agree to be required in the case of a person entering the Military Forces of one country after being resident and insured in the other country shall be paid by the Minister of Health to the Irish Insurance Commissioners or by the Irish Insurance Commissioners to the Minister, as the case may require.

PART II.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR SECURING EXEMPTION IN THE CASE OF PERSONS WHO ARE ORDINARILY RESIDENT AND NOT INSURED IN ONE COUNTRY BECOMING TEMPORARILY RESIDENT IN THE OTHER.

13.—(1) A person who holds a certificate of exemption issued by a Health Insurance Authority and who is temporarily resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall upon production of the certificate to his employer be entitled, if he so elects, to remain an exempt person in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) until the expiration of the contribution period following that in which he first became employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) or during the period for which the certificate is valid, whichever period is the shorter: Provided that he shall not thereby become entitled to any benefits as an exempt person.

(2) If such person as aforesaid surrenders his certificate of exemption to the Irish Insurance Commissioners at any time during the period above-mentioned and applies for a certificate of exemption the Irish Insurance Commissioners shall issue a certificate under the Acts as they apply to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

(3) The Health Insurance Authority by whom a certificate of exemption has been issued shall, on receipt of an exemption card which is so stamped as to indicate that the holder is employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), thereupon notify him that his existing certificate of exemption will not be valid after the expiration of the contribution period following that to which the card related, if his residence in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) continues beyond that period, and that he is not entitled to benefits as an exempt person while resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), unless and until he has made application for and obtained a certificate of exemption from the Irish Insurance Commissioners.

14. The foregoing provisions shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to persons who hold certificates of exemption issued by the Irish Insurance Commissioners and who are temporarily resident in Great Britain, but a person who holds a certificate of exemption issued by the Irish Insurance Commissioners on the ground that he is an Irish migratory labourer shall not be entitled by reason of surrendering such a certificate to obtain a certificate of exemption from the Health Insurance Authority.

15. Such financial adjustments shall be made between the Exempt Persons Funds under the control of the Irish Insurance Commissioners and the Health Insurance Authority concerned as the Joint Committee and the Irish Insurance Commissioners may agree.

PART III.

ARRANGEMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE INSURANCE OF PERSONS WHO WHILE RESIDENT IN NORTHERN IRELAND ARE EMPLOYED TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY IN THE IRISH FREE STATE (SAORSTÁT EIREANN) OR WHILE RESIDENT IN THE IRISH FREE STATE SAORSTÁT EIREANN) ARE EMPLOYED TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY IN NORTHERN IRELAND.

16.—(1) A person who is resident in Northern Ireland whilst employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) shall be deemed to be insurable under the Acts as applied to Northern Ireland and a person who is resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) whilst employed in Northern Ireland shall be deemed to be insurable under the Acts as applied to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), but nothing in these provisions shall affect the obligation of the employer of an insured person to pay contributions in respect of him in the country where he is employed.

(2) The contributions paid in respect of the employment of such persons as aforesaid in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) or in Northern Ireland shall be treated as if they were contributions paid under the Acts as applied to Northern Ireland or to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) respectively, and the Irish Insurance Commissioners and the Ministry of Labour for Northern Ireland shall account to each other for all contributions received in respect of persons employed in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) and resident in Northern Ireland or employed in Northern Ireland and resident in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), as the case may be.

PART IV.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR SECURING THAT CONTRIBUTIONS PAYABLE IN RESPECT OF PERSONS EMPLOYED ON A SHIP SHALL BE PAYABLE UNDER THE ACTS IN THEIR APPLICATION TO THE COUNTRY IN WHICH THE SHIP IS REGISTERED, AND FOR SECURING THE INSURANCE OF PERSONS WHO IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE IRISH FREE STATE (SAORSTÁT EIREANN) ARE NOT INSURABLE.

17.—(1) The provisions of Section 48 (3) of the National Insurance Act, 1911, shall not apply—

(a) to a person who is domiciled or has a place of residence in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) and who is serving on a ship the owner of which is liable to pay contributions under the Acts in their application to Great Britain; or

(b) to a person who is domiciled or has a place of residence in Great Britain and who is serving on a ship the owner of which is liable to pay contributions under the Acts in their application to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

18.—(1) In the case of a ship registered in one country the owner of which resides or has his principal place of business in the other all contributions payable by or in respect of persons employed on board the ship shall be paid under the Acts in their application to the country in which the ship is registered.

(2) Where an owner, or, where there is more than one owner, the managing owner or manager of a ship registered in Great Britain does not reside or have his principal place of business in Great Britain, the agent in Great Britain of the owner shall for the purposes of the Acts in their application to Great Britain be deemed to be the employer of the master and members of the crew of the ship.

(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) of this Article shall apply, mutatis mutandis, in the case of the owner, managing owner, or manager of a ship registered in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) who does not reside or have his principal place of business in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann).

19. The Health Insurance Authority and the Irish Insurance Commissioners shall account to each other for all contributions received in respect of a person who is resident in Great Britain or in the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann), as the case may be, and who is serving on a ship registered in the other country, and such financial adjustments shall be made between the National Health Insurance Fund and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish National Health Insurance Funds on the one hand and the Irish National Health Insurance Fund on the other hand, as the Joint Committee and the Irish Insurance Commissioners may from time to time agree.

PART V.

GENERAL.

20. Except where the context otherwise requires, words and expressions in this Memorandum shall have the same meaning as in the National Health Insurance (International Arrangements) Order, 1923, and in the National Health Insurance Act, 1923 , (No. 20 of 1923), respectively.

21. The arrangements set forth in this Memorandum shall apply to Northern Ireland as if it were part of Great Britain save for the provisions substituting medical benefit for sanatorium benefit and substituting the rate of contribution applicable to Great Britain for the rate applicable to the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) and in their application to Northern Ireland the expression "Health Insurance Authority" means the Ministry of Labour for Northern Ireland.

22. These arrangements shall be treated as having had effect as from the first day of July, 1923.

The Official Seals of the National Health Insurance Joint Committee and of the Irish Insurance Commissioners have hereunto been affixed and to a duplicate hereof this 16th day of February, in the year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-four.

The Official Seal of the National Health Insurance Joint Committee was hereunto affixed in the presence of

W. F. WACKRILL,

Secretary.

The Official Seal of the Irish Insurance Commissioners was hereunto affixed in the presence of

JOSEPH A. GLYNN,

Chairman

Given under the Official Seal of the Irish Insurance Commissioners this 29th day of February, in the year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-four.

JOSEPH A. GLYNN,

Chairman.

I consent,

EARNÁN DE BLAGHD,

Minister for Finance.