S.I. No. 120/2002 - Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2002

The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 4 (as amended by section 9 of the Social Welfare Act, 2001 (No. 5 of 2001) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 (No. 27 of 1993) Rule 1 (2) (s) (ii) (amended by section 21 (3) of the Social Welfare Act, 2000 (No. 4 of 2000)) and Rule 2A (inserted by section 13 o the Social Welfare Act, 2001 ) of Part I and Rule 1 (4) (h) (ii (inserted by section 26 of the Social Welfare Act, 1997 (No. 10 of 1997)), Rule 1 (8) (as amended by section 11 of the Social Welfare Act, 2000 ), Rule 2 (as amended by section 13 of the Social Welfare Act, 2001 ) and Rule 4 (1B) (as inserted by section 12 of the Social Welfare Act, 1999 (No. 3 of 1999)) of Part II of the Third Schedule to the said Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and Construction.

1.  (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2002.

(2)  These Regulations and the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) Regulations 1994 to 2001 shall be construed together as one and may be cited as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) Regulations 1994 to 2002.

Definitions.

2.   In these Regulations “the Principal Regulations” means the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) Regulations 1994 ( S.I. No. 417 of 1994 ).

Commencement.

3.   These Regulations come into operation -

(a)  in so far as they relate to disability allowance on 3 April, 2002;

(b)  in so far as they relate to carer's allowance on 4 April, 2002 and

(c)  in so far as they relate to old age (non-contributory) and blind pension on 5 April, 2002.

Means assessment.

4.   The principal Regulations are amended by -

(a)  the substitution in article 89 (2) (a amended by article 5 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions (Amendment) (No. 1) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 103 of 2001 )) for “£125” of “EUR 191”, and for “£250” of “EUR 382”,

(b)  the substitution in article 89B (as amended by article 4 (a) of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 4) (Rehabilitative Employment) Regulations 2000 ( S.I. No. 103 of 2000 )) for “£75” for “EUR 120”, and

(c)  the substitution in sub-article (1) of article 90A (as amended by article 4 (b) of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 4) (Rehabilitative Employment) Regulations 2000 ( S.I. No. 103 of 2000 )) for “£75.00” of “EUR 120”.

Sale of residence.

5.   Article 90 of the Principal Regulations (as amended by article 3 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 2) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 132 of 2001 )) is amended by -

(a)  the substitution in paragraph (ii) of sub-article (1) (a) for “residence, or” of “residence,”;

(b)  the insertion after paragraph (iii) of sub-article (1) (a) of the following sub-paragraphs:

“(iv)   residing with a carer, as defined in section 82A or section 163(1), who is in receipt of carer's benefit or carer's allowance in respect of the care and attention provided to the claimant or beneficiary or

(v)  residing in accommodation suitable for elderly persons which incorporates communal and support facilities and which is provided by a body approved of by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government for the purposes of section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992 ( No. 18 of 1992 ),”,

(c)  the substitution in paragraph (ii) of sub-article (2) (a) for “residence, or” of “residence,”, and

(d)  the insertion after paragraph (iii) of sub-article (2) (a) of the following sub-paragraphs:

“(iv)    residing with a carer, as defined in section 82A or section 163 (1), who is in receipt of carer's benefit or carer's allowance in respect of the care and attention provided to the claimant or beneficiary or

(v)    residing in accommodation suitable for elderly persons which incorporates communal and support facilities and which is provided by a body approved of by the Minister for Environment and Local Government for the purposes of section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992 (No. 18 of 1992),”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

[This Note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.]

These Regulations give effect to a number of social welfare improvements provided for in Budget 2002. These include: -

-       increase in the weekly income disregarded for the purposes of determining entitlement to Carer's Allowance which amount to EUR 191 for single people and EUR 382 in the case of married people;

-       increase from £75 (EUR 95.23) to EUR 120 (£94.51) in the disregard applicable to earnings from rehabilitative employment in the case of Disability Allowance and Blind Pension;

-       increase from £75 (EUR 95.23) to EUR 120 (£94.51) in the disregard applicable to income from self-employment of a rehabilitative nature in the case of Disability Allowance; and

-       extension of the Sale of Residence provisions to cases where the pensioner disposes of his or her main residence for the purposes of residing with a person in receipt of Carer's Benefit or Allowance where the recipient is the pensioner's carer, or where the pensioner moves to reside in sheltered housing funded under the Capital Assistance Scheme operated by the Department of Environment and Local Government.