Social Welfare Act, 1979

Maternity allowance (removal of restriction on payment).

23.—(1) Section 20 of the Act of 1952, which provides for a maternity allowance, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(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 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.”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on the 2nd day of April, 1979.