Social Welfare Act, 1952

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Maternity allowance.

20.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a woman shall be entitled to a maternity allowance if—

(a) it is certified by a registered medical practitioner or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Minister that it is to be expected that she will be confined in a week specified in the certificate (hereafter in this section referred to as the expected week of confinement), not being more than the prescribed number of weeks after that in which the certificate is given, and

(b) she satisfies the relevant contribution conditions.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the period for which a maternity allowance is payable shall be the period of twelve weeks beginning with the sixth week before the end of the expected week of confinement, but—

(a) if the woman who is entitled to the allowance dies, the allowance shall not be payable for any subsequent week,

(b) if the date of the confinement occurs before or after the expected week of confinement, the allowance shall, subject to paragraph (a) of this subsection, be payable until the expiration of the sixth week after the week in which that date occurs and no longer.

(3) Regulations may modify subsections (1) and (2) of this section in relation to cases where—

(a) it is certified by a registered medical practitioner or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Minister that a woman has been confined, and

(b) no such certificate as is referred to in paragraph (a) of the said subsection (1) has been given.

(4) Regulations may provide for disqualifying a woman for receiving a maternity allowance if—

(a) during the period for which the allowance is payable, she engages in any occupation other than domestic duties in her own household, or

(b) she fails, without good cause, to attend for or to submit herself to any medical examination that may be required in accordance with the regulations.

(5) In this section, “week” means a contribution week.