S.I. No. 81/1986 - Social Welfare (Amendment of Miscellaneous Social Insurance Provisions) Regulations, 1986.

S.I. No. 81 of 1986.

SOCIAL WELFARE (AMENDMENT OF MISCELLANEOUS SOCIAL INSURANCE PROVISIONS) REGULATIONS, 1986.

The Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by sections 3, 7(1)(a), 11(1)(a), 38(10), 42, 48, 61, 112, 129 and 130 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 (No. 1 of 1981), hereby makes the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Amendment of Miscellaneous Social Insurance Provisions) Regulations, 1986.

PART I VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

2. Where in the contribution year which commenced on the 6th day of April, 1985 a voluntary contributor had no reckonable income or where such income did not exceed the sum of £3,560, in determining the amount of a voluntary contribution to be paid by such contributor in the contribution year commencing on the 6th day of April, 1986, the amount of his income shall be taken to be £3,560.

3. This Part shall be construed as one with the Social Welfare (Voluntary Contributors) Regulations, 1979 and 1984 and with Part I of the Social Welfare (Amendment of Miscellaneous Social Insurance Provisions) Regulations, 1985 ( S.I. No. 101 of 1985 ).

PART II OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES CONTRIBUTIONS

4. Article 7(3) of the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 87 of 1979 ) as amended by the Social Welfare (Amendment of Miscellaneous Social Insurance Provisions) Regulations, 1984 ( S.I. No. 90 of 1984 ) is hereby amended by the substitution in paragraphs 3(a) and (b) of "0.14 per cent" for "0.13 per cent".

5. This part shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1986.

PART III OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES BENEFIT

6. In this part—

"the Act of 1981" means the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981 (No. 1 of 1981);

"the Act of 1986" means the Social Welfare Act, 1986 (No. 8 of 1986);

"the Principal Regulations" means the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Regulations, 1967 ( S.I. No. 77 of 1967 );

"the Regulations of 1952" means the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) Regulations, 1952 ( S.I. No. 374 of 1952 );

"the Regulations of 1953" means the Social Welfare (Overlapping Benefits) Regulations, 1953 ( S.I. No. 14 of 1953 );

"the Regulations of 1979" means the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 87 of 1979 ).

7. (1) The Principal Regulations are hereby amended—

( a ) by the deletion from sub-article (2) of article 4 of "subject to the provisions of section 25 of the Act,";

( b ) by the deletion of article 8;

( c ) (i) by the substitution in sub-article (2) of article 10 for paragraph (a) of—

"(a) If the assessment in respect of which such pension is payable to him amounts to not less than one hundred per cent, such person shall not be entitled to receive any disablement gratuity in respect of such other accident,";

(ii) by the deletion, in sub-article (2) of article 10, of paragraph (b);

(iii) by the deletion, in sub-article 3 of article 10, of paragraph (b);

(d) by the deletion, in sub-article (6) of article 12, of paragraph (c);

(e) by the deletion of article 14;

(f) by the addition to sub-article (2) of article 15 after "hereto" of the words — "or

(iii) is in respect of that day being paid by his employer in respect of holiday leave";

(g) by the substitution in sub-articles (1) and (2) of article 18 for the words "six weeks" of "nine weeks".

(2) With effect from the 19th day of May, 1986, the Principal Regulations are hereby amended—

(a) by the deletion of the proviso to article 6;

(b) by the deletion of the proviso to article 7.

8. Article 11A of the Regulations of 1952 (as inserted by the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations, 1967 ( S.I. No. 85 of 1967 )) is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution in sub-article (1) for paragraph (c) of—

"(c) in the case of an increase of disablement benefit under Section 45 or Section 46 of the Act of 1981 on the grounds respectively of unemployability or need of constant attendance, the period of three months commencing on the first day on which, apart from satisfying the condition of making a claim, the conditions for receipt of the relevant increase of benefit are satisfied,";

(b) by the substitution in sub-article (3) for paragraph (b) of the following—

"(b) disablement benefit, an increase of disablement benefit under Section 45 or Section 46 of the Act of 1981, or death benefit by way of pension in respect of any period more than three months before the day on which the claim therefor is made,";

(c) by the substitution for sub-article (7) of—

"(7) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, injury benefit, disablement benefit, an increase of disablement benefit under Section 45 or Section 46 of the Act of 1981 or death benefit by way of pension shall not be payable in respect of any period more than six months before the date of the actual making of the claim."

9. The Regulations of 1979 are hereby amended—

(1) by the substitution in sub-article (3) of article 4 for paragraph (f)(iii) of—

"(iii) An accident happening to such person who with the express or implied permission of his employer, is travelling to or from such ship or vessel as aforesaid in any other ship or vessel shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment.";

(2) by the substitution, in sub-article (3) of article 6, for paragraph (b) of—

"(b) An accident happening to such person who, with the express or implied permission of his employer, is travelling to or from his place of work in any aircraft shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of his employment."

10. The Regulations of 1953 (as amended by the Social Welfare (Overlapping Benefits) (Amendment) Regulations, 1967 ( S.I. No. 91 of 1967 )) are hereby amended—

(1) by the deletion, in sub-article (1) of article 17, of paragraph (aa);

(2) by the addition to sub-article (1) of article 17, at the end of paragraph (a), of—

"provided that these provisions shall not apply on or after the 1st day of May, 1967 where more than six months has elapsed since the accident in respect of which the person became entitled to the Compensation happened, or the disease in respect of which he became so entitled caused disablement."

11. The following conditions are hereby prescribed for the purpose of section 39(4) of the Act of 1981 (as amended by section 12 of the Act of 1986)—

(1) The insured person, in the case of an accident while travelling to work, shall be engaged in travelling to his place of employment at the time with a view to carrying out the duties of his employment, such journey being an unbroken journey from his normal place of residence.

(2) The insured person, in the case of an accident while travelling from work, shall be engaged in travelling directly, after he has completed the duties of his employment, from his place of employment in an unbroken journey to his normal place of residence.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare

this 27th day of March, 1986.

GEMMA HUSSEY,

Minister for Social Welfare.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Finance

this 27th day of March, 1986.

JOHN BRUTON,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

Part I of these Regulations provides that where a voluntary contributor had no reckonable income in the 1985/86 income tax year or where his income in that year did not exceed £3,560, the amount of his income, for the purpose of determining the amount of the voluntary contribution to be paid by him in respect of the 1986/87 tax year, will be taken to be £3,560.

Part II provides for an increase from 0.13% to 0.14% in the rate of contribution for occupational injuries benefit in respect of civil servants under the P.R.S.I. system. The increased rate comes into effect on 6 April, 1986.

Part III provides for amendments to certain regulations in respect of occupational injuries benefits as a result of changes made under the Social Welfare Act, 1986 . The changes include the extension of the scheme to include commuting accidents to insured persons while travelling to or from their place of work, the abolition of increase of disablement benefit by way of approved hospital treatment allowance and the abolition of limitation of benefits by pre-accident earnings.