S.I. No. 16/1953:

SOCIAL WELFARE (GENERAL BENEFIT) REGULATIONS, 1953.

SOCIAL WELFARE (GENERAL BENEFIT) REGULATIONS, 1953.

The Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by subsection (1) of section 2 and sections 3 , 31 and 48 of the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952) and of all other powers enabling him in this behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations :--

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (General Benefit) Regulations, 1953.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 5th day of January, 1953.

3. (1) In these Regulations--

" the Act " means the Social Welfare Act, 1952 ;

" the Minister " means the Minister for Social Welfare;

" criminal lunatic " means a person who, in pursuance of an order of the Minister for Justice, is removed to and detained in a district mental hospital within the meaning of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 (No. 19 of 1945) or the Dundrum Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

(2) References in these Regulations to any other regulations shall include references to such other regulations as amended or extended by any subsequent regulations.

4. (1) A contribution year shall be--

(a) in relation to a man, the period commencing on the first Monday in January in any year and terminating at midnight on the day preceding the first Monday in January in the following year ;

(b) in relation to a woman, the period commencing on the first Monday in July in any year and terminating at midnight on the day preceding the first Monday in July in the following year.

(2) A benefit year shall be--

(a) in relation to a man, the period commencing on the first Monday in June in any year and terminating at midnight on the day preceding the first Monday in June in the following year ;

(b) in relation to a woman, the period commencing on the first Monday in December in any year and terminating at midnight on the day preceding the first Monday in December in the following year.

5. (1) The disqualification imposed on a person by subsection (1) of section 31 of the Act for receiving any benefit for any period during which that person is undergoing detention in legal custody, and the prohibition imposed by subsection (2) of the said section on payment of increase of benefit in respect of a husband or wife undergoing such detention, shall not apply, subject to the provisions of the next following sub-article, in respect of any period during which such person, or such husband or wife, as the case may be (not being a criminal lunatic) is detained in any institution for the treatment of mental or infectious disease.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing sub-article, subsection (1) of the said section 31 shall operate to disqualify for receiving an increase under section 27 of the Act a person who is detained in an institution for the treatment of mental disease.

(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-articles (1) and (2) of this article, subsection (1) of the said section 31 shall not operate so as to disqualify a person undergoing a period of penal servitude, imprisonment or detention in legal custody--

(a) for receiving a marriage grant, a maternity grant or an orphan's (contributory) allowance;

(b) for receiving disability benefit (including any increase thereof) or widow's (contributory) pension (including any increase thereof), if--

(i) the detention is in respect of his being charged with a criminal offence, and

(ii) the charge is subsequently withdrawn, or

(iii) he is acquitted of the offence, and

(iv) in the case of disability benefit, immediately before the detention he was entitled to the said benefit or would but for subsection (2) of section 15 of the act (which relates to waiting days) have been so entitled;

(c) for receiving widow's (contributory) pension (including any increase thereof) if, in a case of imprisonment, the imprisonment is undergone as the alternative to payment of a fine.

(4) Subject to the provisions of sub-article (1) of this article, subsection (2) of the said section 31 shall not operate so as to prohibit payment of an increase under section 26 of the Act in respect of a husband or wife for any period during which such husband or wife is undergoing detention in legal custody if--

(a) the detention is in respect of his or her being charged with a criminal offence, and

(b) the charge is subsequently withdrawn, or

(c) he or she is acquitted of the offence.

(5) (a) Notwithstanding that a person, by reason of undergoing a period of penal servitude, imprisonment or detention in legal custody is disqualified by virtue of subsection (1) of the said section 31 for receiving disability benefit which includes an increase, or a widow's (contributory) pension which includes an increase, or for receiving an increase under section 27 of the Act, the increase shall be paid to any person appointed for the purpose by the Minister to receive and deal with any sums payable on account of such increase for the benefit of the person or persons in respect of whom the increase is payable, and the receipt of any person so appointed shall be a good discharge to the Minister and to the Social Insurance Fund for any sum so paid.

(b) In the case of disability benefit, the provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall not apply unless the said person is a person detained in an institution for the treatment of mental disease or is a person who was entitled to such benefit immediately before the commencement of any such period, or would but for subsection (2) of section 15 of the Act have been so entitled.

6. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-articles (1) and (5) of article 5 and of sub-article (2) of this article, the payment to any person of any benefit or increase of benefit--

(a) which is excepted from the operation of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of section 31 of the Act by virtue of the provisions of article 5, or

(b) which is payable otherwise than in respect of a period during which he is undergoing penal servitude, imprisonment or detention in legal custody,

shall be suspended while that person, or, in the case of an increase, the person in respect of whom the increase is payable, is undergoing penal servitude, imprisonment or detention in legal custody.

(2) A marriage grant, a maternity grant, an orphan's (contributory) allowance or a widow's (contributory) pension to which the foregoing sub-article applies, and any other benefit to which paragraph (b) of that sub-article applies, may nevertheless be paid during any such period to any person appointed for the purpose by the Minister to receive and deal with any sums payable on behalf of the beneficiary on account of that benefit, and the receipt of any person so appointed shall be a good discharge to the Minister and to the Social Insurance Fund for any sum so paid.

(3) Where by virtue of sub-article (1) of this article payment of a widow's (contributory) pension or an orphan's (contributory) allowance is suspended for any period, the period of suspension shall not be taken into account in calculating any period under article 12 of the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) Regulations, 1952 ( S.I. No. 374 of 1952 ) (which relates to the extinguishment of the right to any sum payable by way of pension which is not obtained within the prescribed time).

7. (1) Where--

(a) two or more claims are made for disability benefit or unemployment benefit by an insured person in respect of different periods in the same period of interruption of employment, and

(b) at a date when a claim in respect of any such first mentioned period is decided or the decision in relation thereto is revised in favour of that person, benefit of the same description has been received by him in respect of any days in the said period of interruption of employment subsequent to the days to which that decision or the said revised decision relates, and

(c) by virtue of subsection (1) or subsection (2), as may be appropriate, of section 16 of the Act benefit would be overpaid if the benefit payable under the said decision or the said revised decision were paid,

the following provisions shall apply :--

(i) any such benefit so subsequently paid which on the foregoing basis would have been overpaid shall be treated as having been paid on account of the benefit payable under the said decision or the said revised decision, and the amount due under that decision or revised decision shall be reduced accordingly, and

(ii) for the purposes of requalification for disability or unemployment benefit under subsection (3) of the said section 16, the last day for which the insured person was entitled to any such benefit shall be taken to be the day on which, having regard to the said decision or the said revised decision and the provisions of this article, his right to the appropriate benefit is exhausted under that section.

(2) (a) Where on revision or appeal a decision is varied and by reason thereof any sum on account of disability benefit or unemployment benefit, as the case may be, is shown to have been paid to any person for days for which he was not entitled thereto, then, in determining for the purposes of the said section 16 whether that person has exhausted his right to the appropriate benefit and what is the last day for which he was entitled thereto, any days for which any such sum has been so paid in pursuance of the original decision shall, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b) of this sub-article, be treated as if they were days for which that person was entitled to that benefit.

(b) If any sum was so paid to such a person and that sum or any part thereof is recovered, then there shall be excluded for the purposes of the said determination under the said section 16 a number of days (to the nearest whole number) equal to the number to be obtained by dividing the amount recovered by the daily rate at which the benefit was paid, and for the purposes of requalification for disability or unemployment benefit under the said subsection (3) of the said section 16 the provisions of paragraph (ii) of sub-article (1) of this article shall apply.

8. Where it appears to the Minister that a question has arisen or may arise as to whether--

(a) the conditions for the receipt of benefit payable under a decision are or were fulfilled, or

(b) a decision that benefit is payable ought to be revised under section 46 of the Act,

he may direct that payment of the benefit shall be suspended in whole or in part until that question has been decided.

9. Where by a decision on revision or appeal it is decided that some other benefit is payable to a person in lieu of the benefit payable to him by virtue of the original decision, any payments already made on account of the benefit originally payable in respect of any period covered by the decision on revision or appeal shall be treated as having been made on account of the benefit made payable by that decision.

10. (1) Where on revision or appeal--

(a) a decision is varied so as to disallow or reduce benefit paid or payable to a person, and

(b) the decision on appeal or the revised decision is given owing to the original decision having been given, or having continued in effect, by reason of any statement or representation (whether written or oral) which was to the knowledge of the person making it false or misleading in a material respect or by reason of the wilful concealment of any material fact,

any benefit paid in pursuance of the original decision shall be repayable to the Social Insurance Fund to the extent to which it would not have been payable if the decision on the appeal or revision had been given in the first instance and such person and any other person to whom the benefit was paid on behalf of such person, or the personal representative of such person, shall be liable to pay to the Fund on demand by the Minister the sum so repayable.

(2) Any benefit repayable in accordance with the preceding sub-article of this article may, without prejudice to any other method of recovery, be recovered by deduction from any benefit (except maternity benefit) to which such person or any other person on the death of such person then is or becomes entitled.

(3) If the Minister pays to or in respect of any married woman who has failed to give notice of her marriage in accordance with article 18 of the Social Welfare (Claims and Payments) Regulations, 1952, any sum by way of benefit to which she would not have been entitled by reason of her marriage, the Minister shall, if he was not aware of the marriage, be entitled, without prejudice to any other method of recovery, to deduct the amount so paid from the amount of her marriage benefit or from the amount of any other benefit (except maternity grant payable to her by virtue of her husband's insurance) subsequently payable to her.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare this 5th day of January, One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty-three.

SÉAMAS Ó RIAIN,

Minister for Social Welfare.