S.I. No. 182/1998 - Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) (Amendment) Regulations, 1998.

S.I. No. 182 of 1998.

SOCIAL WELFARE (OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1998.

The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 4, 53, 54 and 57 (as amended by section 39 of the Social Welfare Act, 1996 (No. 7 of 1996)), of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 (No. 27 of 1993), hereby makes the following Regulations:

1 Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) (Amendment) Regulations, 1998.

2 Commencement

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of June, 1998.

3 Definition

3. In these Regulations, "the Regulations of 1997" means the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) (Amendment) Regulations, 1997 ( S.I. No. 235 of 1997 ).

4 Increased rates of benefits and pensions under the occupational injuries scheme

4. The Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Regulations, 1967 ( S.I. No. 77 of 1967 ) are hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution for the Second Schedule thereto (inserted by article 4 of the Regulations of 1997) of the Schedule set out in Schedule A to these Regulations, subject in respect of the Scale set out in the said Second Schedule (as inserted by these Regulations), to the following provisions—

(i) the rates of pension specified in column (3) of the Scale shall have effect on and from the 1st day of June, 1998 whether the period taken into account by the assessment began on, before, or after that date, and,

(ii) the amounts of gratuity specified in column (2) of the Scale shall be payable only where the period taken into account by the assessment of the degree of disablement began on or after the 1st day of June, 1998, and

(b) the substitution for the Fourth Schedule thereto (inserted by article 4 of the Regulations of 1997) of the Schedule set out in Schedule B to these Regulations.

SCHEDULE A

"SECOND SCHEDULE

Articles 6 and 7.

Scale of Disablement Gratuities and of Weekly Rates of Pension in Lieu of Disablement Gratuities

Degree of Disablement	Amount of Gratuity	Weekly Rate of Pension
(1)	(2)	(3)
Per Cent.	£	£
1	659	0.94
2	988	1.88
3	1,318	2.83
4	1,647	3.77
5	1,977	4.71
6	2,306	5.65
7	2,636	6.59
8	2,965	7.54
9	3,295	8.48
10	3,624	9.42
11	3,954	10.36
12	4,283	11.30
13	4,613	12.25
14	4,942	13.19
15	5,272	14.13
16	5,601	15.07
17	5,931	16.01
18	6,260	16.96
19	6,590	17.90

SCHEDULE B

" FOURTH SCHEDULE

PART I

Article 4

Weekly Rates of Injury Benefit Payable to Persons under the Age of Sixteen Years

	Weekly rate
(1)	(2)
	£
(a) Where the relevant employment or (if more than one) the relevant employments were, or amounted in the aggregate to, full-time employment or substantially full-time employment	70.50
(b) In any other case	33.80

PART II

Article 9

Increases of Disablement Pension where the beneficiary requires constant attendance

	Weekly rate
(1)	(2)
	Degree of Disablement
	100%	90%	80%	70%	60%	50%
	£	£	£	£	£	£
(a) Increase where the beneficiary (not being a person included in (b) or (c) following) is to a substantial extent dependent on such attendance for the necessities of life and is likely to remain so for a period of not less than six months—
(i) Where the attendance required is full-time	39.60	35.60	31.70	27.70	23.80	19.80
(ii) Where the attendance required is part-time only	20.10	18.10	16.10	14.10	12.10	10.10
(b) Increase where the extent of such attendance required is greater by reason of the beneficiary's exceptionally severe disablement	59.20	53.30	47.40	41.40	35.50	29.60
(c) Increase where the beneficiary is so exceptionally severely disabled as to the entirely or almost entirely dependent on such attendance for the necessities of life and is likely to remain so for life or for a period of not less than six months and the attendance so required is whole-time.	77.60

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, this 21st day of May, 1998.

DERMOT AHERN,

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Social Welfare Act, 1998 provided for increases in the maximum rates of benefits payable under the Occupational Injuries Benefits Scheme arising from the 1998 Budget. These Regulations provide for increases in the reduced rates of the following Occupational Injuries benefits from the 1st of June, 1998—

— in respect of Disablement Gratuities appropriate to degrees of disablement assessed at 19 per cent or under,

— in respect of Disablement Pension payable in lieu of such gratuities,

— in respect of Injury Benefit payable to persons under the age of sixteen, and

— in respect of certain Constant Attendance Allowances.