Social Welfare Act, 1985

Appointment and duties of social welfare officers (Part III, Chapter 2).

13.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 143 of the following section:

“Appointment and duties of social welfare officers.

143A.—(1) The Minister may, with the sanction of the Minister for the Public Service, appoint such and so many persons as he thinks proper to be social welfare officers for the purpose of this Chapter.

(2) Every such officer shall investigate into and report to the Minister upon any application for or in respect of a qualification certificate and any question arising on or in relation to such qualification certificate or in relation to unemployment assistance which may be referred to him by the Minister, and may, for the purpose of such investigation and report require an applicant for, or holder of, a qualification certificate or the spouse or any employer of the applicant or holder to furnish him with such information and to produce to him such documents as he may reasonably require.

(3) A social welfare officer shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, have power to do all or any of the following things:—

(a) to enter at all reasonable times any premises or place liable to inspection under this section,

(b) to make such examination and enquiry as may be necessary for the purposes of this Chapter,

(c) to examine either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, in relation to any matters on which he may reasonably require information for the purposes of this Chapter, every person he finds in any such premises or place and to require every such person to sign a declaration of the truth of the matters in respect of which he is so examined.

(4) The occupier of any premises or place liable to inspection under this section, and any other person who is or has been employing any applicant for, or holder of, a qualification certificate, and the servants and agents of such occupier or other person, and any applicant for, or holder of, a qualification certificate shall furnish to a social welfare officer all such information and produce for inspection all such registers, cards, wages sheets, records of wages and other documents as the social welfare officer may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter.

(5) If any person—

(a) wilfully delays or obstructs a social welfare officer in the exercise of any duty or power under this section, or

(b) refuses or neglects to answer any question or to furnish any information or to produce any document when required to do so under this section, or

(c) conceals or prevents or attempts to conceal or prevent any person from appearing before or being examined by a social welfare officer appointed under this section,

he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and such imprisonment,

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £3,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment,

but no one shall be required under this section to answer any question or to give any evidence tending to incriminate himself.

(6) Every social welfare officer shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment, and on applying for admission to any premises or place for the purposes of this section shall, if so requested, produce the said certificate.

(7) The premises or places liable to inspection under this section are any premises or places where a social welfare officer has reasonable grounds for believing that persons are, or have been, employed and any premises or place where a social welfare officer has reasonable grounds for believing that any documents relating to persons in employment are kept.”.