S.I. No. 180/1971:

SOCIAL WELFARE (CREDITING OF CONTRIBUTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1971.

SOCIAL WELFARE (CREDITING OF CONTRIBUTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1971.

I, JOSEPH BRENNAN, Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by Section 7 of the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952), hereby make the following regulations:--

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Crediting of Contributions) Regulations, 1971.

2. These Regulations shall come into force on the 3rd day of May, 1971.

3. In these Regulations--

"the Act of 1952" means the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952) "the Order" means the Social Welfare (Remuneration Limit for Insured Persons) Order, 1971 ( S.I. No. 163 of 1971 ).

4. (1) Where on the coming into force of the Order an insured person becomes by virtue thereof an employed contributor and is a person who by virtue of paragraph 1 of Part II of the First Schedule to the Act of 1952 was not immediately before such commencement an employed contributor then, subject to sub-articles (2) (3) and (4) of this article, the insured person being a man shall be credited with employment contributions in respect of the period which commenced on the 6th day of January 1969 and which ended on the 2nd day of May 1971, or being a woman shall be credited with employment contributions in respect of the period which commenced on the 7th day of July 1969 and which ended on the 2nd day of May 1971.

(2) The contributions to be credited under sub-article (1) of this article shall not be reckonable for the purposes of widow's (contributory) pension or old age (contributory) pension.

(3) An insured person shall not be credited under sub-article (1) of this article with an employment contribution in respect of any contribution week for which an employment contribution, reckonable for the purposes of benefits including unemployment benefit, has been paid or credited in respect of him.

(4) Employment contributions shall not be credited under sub-article (1) of this article to an insured person who, on the coming into force of the Order is a person to whom article 5 of the Social Welfare (Modifications of Insurance) Regulations, 1956 ( S.I. No. 236 of 1956 ) applies.

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 31st day of May 1971.

JOSEPH BRENNAN,

Minister for Social Welfare.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations provide for the crediting of employment contributions to persons who again become compulsorily insurable following the raising of the remuneration limit for insurance purposes from £1,200 to £1,600 a year. The credited contributions, which will reckon for all benefits except widows' (contributory) and old age (contributory) pensions, will be granted for a period sufficient to enable such persons to satisfy the statutory condition requiring them to have a specified number of employment contributions paid or credited in respect of them in the contribution year immediately prior to the current benefit year. As a consequence they will be able to qualify on 3 May, 1971 for benefits such as disability, unemployment and treatment benefit, retirement pension and death grant provided they satisfy the other statutory conditions governing title to such benefits.