Social Welfare Act, 1999
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Amendment to Third Schedule of the Principal Act. |
16.—The Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after Part III of the following Part: | |
“PART IV | ||
Section 191M. | ||
Farm Assist | ||
1. In calculating the means of a farmer for the purposes of Chapter 14 of Part III, account shall be taken of the following— | ||
(1) the gross income received by the farmer or his or her spouse from: | ||
(a) farming (other than the use of a domestic dwelling, or farm building owned and occupied, furniture and personal effects), and | ||
(b) any other form of self-employment less— | ||
(i) any expenses necessarily incurred in carrying on farming or other form of self-employment, and | ||
(ii) where the farmer has a qualified child, who normally resides with him or her, an amount of— | ||
(I) £100 per annum in respect of each of the first two qualified children, and | ||
(II) £200 per annum in respect of each subsequent qualified child, | ||
calculated at the rate of 80 per cent.; | ||
(2) the yearly value ascertained in the prescribed manner of all property belonging to him or her or to his or her spouse (not being a farm of land owned or leased either by him or her or by his or her spouse) which is invested or is other wise put to profitable use or which, though capable of investment or profitable use is not invested or put to profitable use by the farmer or his or her spouse; | ||
(3) all other income which the farmer or his or her spouse may reasonably expect to receive during the succeeding year in cash, whether as contributions to the expenses of the household or otherwise, but excluding— | ||
(a) any moneys received by way of benefit, pension, assistance, allowance, supplement or continued payment for qualified children under Part II, III, IV, V or VA or by way of a payment corresponding to child benefit under Part IV, from another Member State, | ||
(b) any income arising from a bonus under a scheme administered by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands for the making of special grants to parents or guardians resident in the Gaeltacht or Breac-Ghaeltacht (as defined in such scheme) of children attending primary schools, | ||
(c) in the case of qualified applicant under a scheme administered by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Island and known as Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge, any income received under that scheme in respect of a person who is temporarily resident with the qualified applicant, together with any other income received in respect of such temporary resident, | ||
(d) an amount of an allowance, dependant's allowance, disability pension or wound pension under the Army Pensions Acts, 1923 to 1980, or a combination of such allowances and such pensions so far as such amount does not exceed £80 per year, | ||
(e) any moneys received from a charitable organisation, being a body whose activities are carried on otherwise than for profit (but excluding any public or local authority) and one of whose functions is to assist persons in need by making grants of money to them, | ||
(f) such amount as may be prescribed of income from employment by a health board or by a person approved by a health board, as a home help, | ||
(g) any moneys received by way of training allowance from an organisation while undergoing a course of rehabilitation training provided by the organisation (being an organisation approved of by the Minister for Health and Children for the purpose of the provision of such training), | ||
(h) any moneys, except so far as they exceed £104 per year, received by a farmer or by his or her spouse in respect of work as an outworker under a scheme that is, in the opinion of the Minister, charitable in character and purpose, | ||
(i) where the farmer or his or her spouse is engaged on a seasonal basis in the occupation of fishing, one-half of so much of the income derived therefrom as does not exceed £120 per year and one-third of so much of such income as exceeds £120 per year but does not exceed £300 per year, | ||
(j) payments by a health board in respect of a child who is boarded out, | ||
(k) subject to paragraph (5), all moneys earned by the farmer or his or her spouse in respect of current personal employment under a contract of service, | ||
(l) in such cases as may be prescribed, any moneys received by way of a maintenance grant under a scheme administered by the Minister for Education and Science under the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts, 1968 to 1992, | ||
(m) any moneys received by way of a mobility allowance payable under section 61 of the Health Act, 1970 , | ||
(n) an amount of £1,000 per annum from the harvesting of seaweed, | ||
(o) subject to paragraph (5), any moneys earned by the farmer or his or her spouse from insurable employment of a seasonal nature, | ||
(p) payments by a health board in respect of the provision of accommodation for a child under section 5 of the Child Care Act, 1991 , | ||
(q) all income received under the following schemes: | ||
(i) the Rural Environment Protection scheme administered by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, and | ||
(ii) the Special Areas of Conservation Scheme administered by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, | ||
except in so far as such income exceeds the sum of— | ||
(I) £2,000, plus | ||
(II) one-half of any amount in excess of £2,000 received under those schemes, plus | ||
(III) any expenses necessarily incurred in participating in those schemes, | ||
(r) such other income received by a farmer or his or her spouse as may be prescribed; | ||
(4) all income and the yearly value ascertained in the prescribed manner of all property of which the farmer or his or her spouse have directly or indirectly deprived themselves in order to qualify for the receipt of farm assist, but where such income or the yearly value of the property so ascertained has reduced since the date of calculation, the calculation may be revised, subject to such conditions and in such circumstances as may be prescribed: | ||
Provided that any such regulation shall not cause the income or yearly value of the property taken to be part of the means to be increased; | ||
(5) in the case of a farmer or his or her spouse engaged in current personal or seasonal employment, the value, ascertained in the prescribed manner, of any moneys derived from the said employment and the value so calculated shall be deemed to constitute the weekly means of that person from such employment. | ||
2. In Rule 1(3), the income of a person shall, in the absence of other means of ascertaining it, be taken to be the income actully received during the year immediately preceding the date of calculation. | ||
3. In this Schedule ‘spouse’ means— | ||
(a) each person of a married couple who are living together, or | ||
(b) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting together as husband and wife. | ||
4. The Minister may by regulations vary the provisions of Rule 1.”. |