S.I. No. 24/1925 - Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund Regulations, 1925.

SAORSTÁT ÉIREANN. STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS, 1925 NO. 24. NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE.

MILITARY FORCES (INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS) INSURANCE FUND REGULATIONS, 1925.

REGULATIONS, DATED 1ST MAY, 1925, MADE BY THE IRISH INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS, WITH THE CONCURRENCE OF THE MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH, UNDER THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE ACTS, 1911 TO 1924.

In exercise of the several powers conferred on them by the National Health Insurance Acts, 1911 to 1924, and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, the Irish Insurance Commissioners do hereby, with the concurrence of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, make the following Regulations :—

1.—(1) These Regulations may be. cited as the National Health Insurance Milltary Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund Regulations, 1925.

(2) The Interpretation Act, 1889, as modified and adapted by or under the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 ) No. 2 of 1922) shall apply to the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

(3) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:—

" The principal Act " means the National Insurance Act, 1911 ;

" the Act of 1913 " means the National Insurance Act, 1913 ; " the Act of 1918 " means the National Health Insurance Act, 1918 ; " the Act of 1920 " means the National Health Insurance Act, 1920 ; " the Act of 1921 " means the National Health Insurance (Prolongation of Insurance) Act, 1921 ; " the Act of 1923 "means

the National Health Insurance Act, 1923 ; and " the Acts " means the National Health Insurance Acts, 1911 to 1924.

" The Commissioners " means the Irish Insurance Commissioners.

" The Fund " means the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund.

" Society " means an Approved Society, and includes a branch of an Approved Society.

A " member of the Fund " means a person serving in the armed forces of Saorstát Éireann, who is a member of the Fund, in accordance with the provisions o Section 14 (1) (c) and (d) of the Act of 1923, and a " re-admitted member " means a person transferred to the Fund from the British Navy and Army Insurance Fund under Sub-sections (1) (a) and (1) (b) of Section 14 of the Act of 1923, or a person who on discharge from the armed forces of Saorstát Éireann is re-admitted to membership of the Fund.

2.—(1) A member of the Fund discharged from service, who becomes resident in Saorstát Éireann, shall upon discharge become a Deposit Contributor, and the provisions of the Acts relating to Deposit Contributors shall apply accordingly; provided always that if such a man proves that the state of his health is such that he cannot obtain admission to an Approved Society, he may, if he so elects, on making application to the Commissioners in the prescribed manner within six months, or, if in any particular case the Commissioners so determine, within twelve months of his discharge be allowed to continue as a member of the Fund. In the case of a Deposit Contributor who more than twelve months after discharge is certified by the Minister for Defence to be suffering from any disease or disablement or bodily or mental unfitness arising out of service with the armed forces, the period within which such application may be made shall be reckoned as if the date of such certificate had been the date of discharge.

(2) An application for re-admission to membership of the Fund after discharge shall be in the form set out in the First Schedule to these Regulations, or in such other form substantially to the like effect as the Commissioners may from time to time determine, and the Commissioners shall, as soon as may be, inform the applicant in writing whether his application has been granted or refused.

(3) A member of the Fund who has been re-admitted within twelve months after his discharge shall be deemed to have been re-admitted on the day following the date of his discharge, and a member who has been re-admitted on or after the expiration of such twelve months shall be deemed to have been re-admitted on such date as the Commissioners may determine.

3.—(1) A re-admitted member shall at such times as may be required by the Commissioners deposit with them his contribution card and produce his member's Record Card and shall comply with any regulations of the Commissioners relating to contribution cards and Record Cards.

(2) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations any Regulations relating to the collection of contributions made under the Acts for the time being in force shall apply to a re-admitted member of the Fund as if the Fund were a Society and as if he were a member of a Society.

4. A re-admitted member, other than a serving soldier, shall be entitled to the benefits (other than additional benefits) provided under the Acts, and such benefits shall be administered by the Commissioners in accordance with the rules contained in the Second Schedule to these Regulations. The cost of these benefits shall be payable out of the Fund.

5. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners to issue in such form as they think fit, instructions with regard to the benefits payable out of the Fund and the administration thereof for the information of members or re-admitted members and any instructions so issued shall be brought to the notice of such members or re-admitted members in such manner as the Commissioners think fit.

6. The Commissioners shall after consultation with the Minister for Finance determine in respect of each year the amount to be charged to the Fund for the expenses incurred by and on behalf of the Commissioners in respect of the administration of the Fund.

7. For the purposes of the provisions of the Acts specified in Part I. of the Third Schedule to these Regulations, the Fund shall be deemed to be a Society, and in so far as such provisions are applicable to members or re-admitted members of the Fund respectively, such members or re-admitted members shall be deemed to be members of a Society, and the provisions of the Acts relating to Societies and to members, and membership of and transfer to and from Societies, and relating to persons lapsing from insurance, shall apply to such members and re-admitted members of the Fund, subject to the following modifications :—

(1) For purposes of the proviso to Section 14 (5) of the Act of 1918, the Commissioners may, in any particular case in which they think fit, extend for such further period as they think fit the period of one year referred to in the proviso within which a person who has ceased to be a re-admitted member of the Fund and becomes an employed contributor may be entitled to be re-admitted to the Fund, and may similarly extend the prescribed time within which application for such re-admission must be made.

(2) The provisions of the Acts relating to valuations, surpluses and deficiencies shall not apply to the Fund, and of the sums retained by the Commissioners under Section 55 (3) of the principal Act out of the weekly contributions paid in respect of members and re-admitted members of the Fund the proportion which would in the case of a Society be carried to the Contingencies Fund and Central Fund under Section 1 (2) of the Act of 1918 shall, instead of being carried to those Funds, be carried to the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund.

8. For the purposes of the provisions of the Acts specified in Part II. of the Third Schedule to these Regulations the powers or duties to be exercised or performed under those provisions by Societies or Insurance Committees shall be exercised or performed by the Commissioners, and references in those provisions to a Society or Insurance Committee shall be construed as references to the Commissioners.

9. In the application of Section 11 of the principal Act to re-admitted members of the Fund the following provisions shall have effect :—

(1) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of the said section, the weekly value of any lump sum shall be determined by the Commissioners, whose determination shall be final.

(2) In sub-section (2) and (3) of the said section the word " Commissioners " shall be substituted for the words " society or committee."

10. The provisions of Part XVI. of the National Health Insurance (Approved Societies) Consolidated Regulations, 1918, relating to sums payable on death shall so far as may be apply to a member or re-admitted member of the Fund, and to the sums payable on his death in like manner as they apply to a member of a Society and the sums payable on his death, and references therein to a Society shall be construed as references to the Commissioners, save that any payments or distributions under the said Part of the said Regulations as so applied may be made by the Commissioners, and the Commissioners shall, as respects the sums payable on the death of a member or re-admitted member of the Fund, have the same protection and privileges as a Society has as respects the sums payable on the death of its members.

11.— (1) If at any time the Commissioners are of opinion that a re-admitted member's state of health is no longer such as to disqualify him for admission to a Society, they may give him notice that he must take steps to become a member of a Society within such period as they may determine, not being less than three months from the date of the notice requiring him to do so ; and if he refuses or neglects to take such steps within that period the Commissioners may terminate his membership of the Fund, and he shall thereupon become a Deposit Contributor : provided that membership shall not be so terminated if the member proves within the aforesaid time or such longer period as the Commissioners may in any particular case allow that the state of his health is such that he cannot obtain admission to an Approved Society.

(2) Any notice required to be given to a re-admitted member under this Article shall be deemed to have been sufficiently sent if sent by post in a letter addressed to him at his last known place of abode.

12. If any question arises in connection with the administration of the benefits payable out of the Fund or otherwise under this Part of these Regulations the question shall be determined by the Commissioners.

13. The Commissioners may, if they think fit, appoint a person to exercise on behalf of a person discharged or about to be discharged from service who is of unsound mind and entitled to become a re-admitted member of the Fund any right of election which that person is under the Acts entitled to exercise.

14. The Commissioners may, if they think fit, appoint a person to receive on behalf of and for the benefit of persons of unsound mind, being re-admitted members of the Fund, any sums by way of benefit which would otherwise have been payable to them.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

FORM OF APPLICATION FOR RE-ADMISSION TO BENEFITS OUT OF THE MILITARY FORCES (INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS) INSURANCE FUND.

To the Secretary, National Health Insurance Commission.

I (names in full)............................................................ ............................................................ ........................... of (home address in full) ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ .....

hereby state that I desire to become a re-admitted member of the Military Forces (International Arrangements) Insurance Fund, and I hereby apply for admission to membership accordingly.

I agree to be bound by all Regulations and Instructions lawfully applicable to me, and I hereby declare that my answers to the following questions are true to the best of my knowledge and belief :—

SECOND SCHEDULE.

RULES OF THE MILITARY FORCES (INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS) INSURANCE FUND.

(In these Rules a member means a " re-admitted member," as defined in Section 1 (3) of these Regulations.)

Sickness and disablement benefits.

1. Sickness or disablement benefit shall not be paid in respect of a Sunday, and one-sixth of the weekly sum shall be paid in respect of each week-day.

2. A member who is rendered incapable of work by specific disease or bodily or mental disablement, whether or not he claims sickness or disablement benefit shall forward to the Commissioners notice of illness, and shall furnish as soon as possible the appropriate medical certificates made available to him under any rules or regulations of the Commissioners.

3. Nothing shall preclude the Commissioners from admitting evidence of incapacity for work other than the medical certificates referred to in the immediately preceding paragraph.

4. The Commissioners may, on giving not less than three days' notice in writing, require any member in receipt of, or claiming, sickness or disablement benefit to submit himself for special medical examination by a duly qualified medical practitioner appointed to examine him, either at his own house or at some other place reasonably convenient to him. Should the member refuse to submit to examination at his home, or to attend elsewhere for that purpose, he shall, unless in the latter case he produces a medical certificate stating that at the date on which the examination would have taken place he is or was physically unable to attend, be deemed to have declared off benefit as from that date.

5. The Commissioners shall in all cases on or before sending notice to the member send or cause to be sent to the doctor in attendance on him notice in writing of the time and place of the special medical examination, together with the name and address of the doctor by whom the examination is to be made.

Behaviour during Sickness.

6.—(1) A member who is incapable of work and is, or may become, entitled to sickness or disablement benefit in respect of the incapacity—

(a) shall obey the instructions of the doctor in attendance, and shall answer any reasonable enquiries by the Commissioners as to the instructions given by the doctor;

(b) shall not be absent from his place of residence for the time being between the hours of 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. from 1st October to 31st March, nor between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. from 1st April to 30th September and shall not be absent at any time without leaving word where he may be found, provided that the Commissioners may, if they think fit, exempt the member from the operation of this Rule upon such conditions, if any, as they may impose;

(c) shall not be guilty of conduct which is likely to retard his recovery; and

(d) shall not do any kind of work, domestic or other, unless it be light work for which no remuneration is, or would ordinarily be payable, or work undertaken primarily as a definite part of the member's medical treatment in a hospital, sanatorium, or other similar institution.

(2) The Commissioners may exempt a member from the operation of paragraph (1) (d) of this Rule for such time as may be determined in a case where the member has become incapable of following his usual occupation and is undergoing a course of training with a view to fitting himself to take up some other occupation.

7. On receipt of a notice of illness from a member the Commissioners shall furnish him with a copy of paragraph (1) of Rule 6 at the first opportunity, and in any case not later than the date of the first payment of benefit.

Suspension for Misconduct,

8. The Commissioners may suspend a member from sickness or disablement benefit in respect of any incapacity for work resulting from his own misconduct taking place after his re-admission to the Fund, and when a member is so suspended the suspension shall take effect from the commencement of incapacity or from such later date as the Commissioners may determine. Such suspension shall not exceed one year, shall not extend beyond the termination of the incapacity due to the misconduct, and shall not affect the right of that member to any of the other benefits provided by the Acts. No suspension shall be made under this rule in the case of a member suffering from any form of venereal disease on the ground that such disease is, or may have been, due to misconduct,

Maternity benefit.

9.—(1) A member shall give notice to the Commissioners of the confinement of his wife within ten days after it has taken place, and shall also, if required, produce a copy of his marriage certificate, or such other satisfactory evidence of the marriage as may be required, together with a certificate signed by the doctor or midwife by whom the mother was attended, or a copy of the birth certificate of the child.

(2) For the purposes of payment of maternity benefit, "confinement" shall mean labour resulting in the issue of a living child or labour after 28 weeks of pregnancy resulting in the issue of a child, whether alive or dead.

Compensation or damages received by member.

10.—(1) A member who has met with any injury or is suffering from any disease in respect of which he is or may appear to be entitled to receive or recover compensation or damages, whether from his employer or any other person, under any provision of any Act relating to compensation or damages or at common law, shall, unless unavoidably prevented, give notice of such injury or disease in writing to the Commissioners within three days of meeting with the injury or becoming aware that he is suffering from the disease.

(2) Before entering into any agreement as to the amount of any compensation or damages payable to him in respect of any injury or disease or as to the redemption of such compensation by a lump sum, a member shall give notice in writing to the Commissioners setting out particulars of the proposed agreement.

Withdrawal

11.—(1) A member may withdraw from membership of the Fund by giving notice in writing to the Commissioners, who will inform him of the date from which his membership of the Fund will terminate.

(2) Any notice given under this rule by a member who intends to transfer to a Society shall state the name of the Society which is prepared to accept him as a member.

Offences and penalties.

12.—(1) In the case of a member who—

(a) has been guilty of serious personal misconduct;

(b) has knowingly made any false statement or declaration with the object of imposing on the Fund;

(c) has made any wilful and material misstatement or omission in his application for membership (not being a member of more than 3 years' standing at the time when notice of the charge is given to him); or

(d) has committed a breach of any of these rules,

the Commissioners shall have power to impose a penalty either by way of fine or suspension from sickness and diablement benefits.

(2) No fine imposed under these rules shall exceed ten shillings, or, in the case of repeated breaches of rules, twenty shillings.

(3) Where the penalty of suspension from benefit is imposed otherwise than under Rule 8, such suspension shall run from the date on which notice of the alleged offence or breach of rule is sent to the member, or from such other date as the Commissioners may determine, not being earlier than the date on which the alleged offence was committed and not being more than two weeks before the date on which notice is sent.

(4) A member suspended under this rule who, at the date from which suspension runs, would, but for the suspension, be actually in receipt of benefit, shall not be suspended for a period exceeding two weeks, or in the case of repeated breaches of rules, four weeks. A member not in receipt of or qualified for benefit shall not be suspended for a period exceeding six months, or in the case of repeated offences or breaches of rules, twelve months.

(5) Where it is proposed to impose any penalty, the Commissioners shall send the member a statement in writing, giving full particulars of the charge against him, together with a copy of the rule under which it is brought. The member shall be given an opportunity of submitting to the Commissioners for consideration his defence together with any evidence in support thereof as may be proper in the circumstances.

(6) A member who has been fined or has been required to repay a sum of money wrongfully obtained from the Fund, and has failed to pay the fine or other sum within four weeks, may be suspended from sickness and disablement benefits subject to the limits specified in paragraph (4) of this rule. If, after two warnings in writing sent to him at intervals of at least one month, the fine or other sum is not paid before the expiration of the period for which he has been suspended, he shall be deemed guilty or repeated breaches of rules and shall be liable accordingly.

THIRD SCHEDULE.

PART I.

PROVISIONS OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE ACTS, 1911 TO 1924, FOR THE PURPOSES OF WHICH THE MILITARY FORCES (INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS INSURANCE FUND IS TO BE DEEMED TO BE AN APPROVED SOCIETY AND MEMBERS OR RE-ADMITTED MEMBERS OF THE FUND MEMBERS OF AN APPROVED SOCIETY.

PART II.

PROVISIONS OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE ACTS, 1911 TO 1924, IN WHICH REFERENCES TO AN APPROVED SOCIETY OR INSURANCE COMMITTEE ARE TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFERENCES TO THE COMMISSIONERS.

Given under the Seal of Office of the Irish Insurance Commissioners this 1st day of May, in the year one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five.

PIERCE KENT.

A person authorised by the

Irish Insurance Commissioners

to act on behalf of their Secretary.