Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 29th October, 2019.

I, Katherine Zappone, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, in the exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 11 of the Childcare Support Act 2018 (No. 11 of 2018), hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Childcare Support Act 2018 (Assessment of Income) (Amendment) Regulations 2019.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on 28 October 2019.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations, “Principal Regulations” means the Childcare Support Act 2018 (Assessment of Income) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 373 of 2019).

Amendment of Principal Regulations

3. Regulation 4 of the Principal Regulations is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (5) -

“(5) Where a manual assessment of net income is carried out under Regulation 4(1)(b)(i), the applicant may -

(a) from 1 January to 28 February of a calendar year or from 1 January to 29 February in a leap year, choose one of the following as the period in respect of which income will be assessed:

(i) 1 January to 31 December of the previous calendar year; or

(ii) the four weeks prior to the Sunday preceding the submission of the application.

(b) from 1 March to 31 December of a calendar year, choose one of the following as the period in respect of which income will be assessed:

(i) 1 January to 31 December of the previous calendar year;

(ii) 1 January of the current year to the Sunday preceding the submission of the application; or

(iii) the four weeks prior to the Sunday preceding the submission of the application where the applicant or his or her partner has sustained a reduction in net income and where the applicant reasonably believes such reduction will endure for an indefinite period.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

23 October, 2019.

KATHERINE ZAPPONE,

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations amend the Regulations previously made under section 11 of the Childcare Support Act 2018 (S.I. 373/2019) to bring greater clarity to the period which an applicant may choose as the reference period in respect of which income will be assessed by the scheme administrator where a manual assessment of income is selected by an applicant.