National Health Insurance Act, 1929

Married women.

15.—(1) Section 22 of the Act of 1918 shall cease to have effect in relation to a woman being an insured person and a member of an approved society who marries after the passing of this Act.

(2) A woman being an insured person who marries after the passing of this Act shall as from the date of her marriage be deemed for the purposes of the Acts and this Act to have ceased to be an insured person, and if she again becomes employed after her marriage she shall be treated as if she had become an insured person for the first time on the date on which she becomes so employed.

(3) Subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section a woman being an insured person and a member of an approved society who marries after the passing of this Act shall be entitled to receive from such society payment of a sum by way of benefit (in this section referred to as marriage benefit) if, being an employed contributor, she proves that she has in the period between the date of her last entry into insurance and the date of her marriage been employed within the meaning of Part I. of the Act of 1911 for a period of fifty-two weeks, whether consecutive or not, and that fifty-two weekly contributions have been properly paid in respect of her, or if, being a voluntary contributor, she proves that fifty-two weekly contributions have been paid in respect of her whether as an employed contributor or as a voluntary contributor.

(4) A woman being an insured person who remarries after the passing of this Act and who is at the date of such remarriage entitled to benefits under sub-section (1) of section 22 of the Act of 1918, shall not be entitled to receive a marriage benefit unless she has since the date of unemployment as defined by the said section 22 become an employed contributor and is otherwise qualified for a marriage benefit under the foregoing sub-section.

(5) The amount of a marriage benefit shall be such amount as is prescribed by the Insurance Commissioners and in prescribing such amount regard shall be had to the effect of arrears, the duration of insurance and the number of contributions paid.

(6) The sum to be contributed out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas towards the cost of any payments made in respect of marriage benefit and the administration thereof shall be the same as if those payments were benefits to insured persons.

(7) Subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section a woman married after the passing of this Act shall not, during her coverture, be entitled to be a voluntary contributor, and any such woman who is at the date of her marriage a voluntary contributor shall as from such date cease to be such a contributor.

(8) Nothing contained in the foregoing sub-section shall operate to prevent a married woman who has been employed for at least the prescribed number of weeks in any period being deemed to be a voluntary contributor for the purposes of any regulations made under the Acts with respect to benefits of persons in arrears.

(9) Where a woman being an insured person and a member of an approved society marries after the passing of this Act the prescribed sum shall be transferred from the credit of such society to the credit of the Reserve Suspense Fund.

(10) Where a woman being an insured person and a member of an approved society marries after the passing of this Act and continues to be, or again becomes, employed after the date of her marriage the appropriate reserve value in respect of her shall be credited to the approved society of which she becomes a member.

(11) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, the Acts shall apply to a woman who has been married both during and after her coverture as if she had never been married.

(12) It shall be the duty of every woman being an insured person and a member of an approved society who marries after the passing of this Act to give notice of her marriage to such society within eight weeks after such marriage and if such society pays to any such woman who has failed to give such notice any sum by way of benefit to which she would not have been entitled by reason of her marriage such society shall, if it was not aware of her marriage, be entitled, without prejudice to any other method of recovery, to deduct the amount so paid from the amount of her marriage benefit or, if she again becomes a member of such society on becoming insurably employed within one year of her marriage, from any benefits to which she may become entitled within two years of the date on which she again so becomes a member of such society.