Social Welfare Act, 2001

Living alone allowance — extension of scheme.

17.—(1) The Principal Act is amended by—

(a) the substitution in section 56 for subsection (1) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 1994) of the following subsection:

“(1) Subject to this Act, the weekly rate of disablement pension shall be increased by the amount set out in column (2) of Part IV of the Second Schedule if, as a result of the relevant loss of faculty, the beneficiary is incapable of work and likely to remain permanently so incapable and by the amount set out in column (3) of Part IV of the Second Schedule where the beneficiary is living alone.”,

(b) the substitution for subsection (4) of section 99 (as amended by section 15 of this Act) of the following subsection:

“(4) The weekly rate of invalidity pension shall be increased by the amount set out in column (6) of Part I of the Second Schedule where the beneficiary is living alone.”,

(c) the substitution in section 137 (as amended by section 15 of this Act) for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

“(b) by the amount set out in column (6) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule where the beneficiary is living alone,”,

(d) in section 191C(1) (as amended by section 28 of the Act of 1997)—

(i) the deletion in paragraph (a) of “and”, and

(ii) the substitution for paragraph (b) of the following paragraphs:

“(b) the appropriate amount set out in column (4) of that Part in respect of each qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary, and

(c) the amount set out in column (6) of that Part where the claimant or beneficiary is living alone.”.

(2) This section comes into operation—

(a) in so far as it relates to disability allowance, on 4 April 2001,

(b) in so far as it relates to invalidity pension, on 5 April 2001, and

(c) in so far as it relates to disablement pension and blind pension, on 6 April 2001.