Social welfare and pensions act 2010

• Act Number: 37
• Enactment Date: 21 December 2010

Number 37 of 2010
SOCIAL WELFARE AND PENSIONS ACT 2010
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
Section
1. Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement.
2. Definitions.
PART 2
Amendments to Social Welfare Acts
3. Duration of illness benefit payment.
4. Proving unemployment by electronic communication.
5. Jobseeker’s allowance — days of unemployment.
6. Calculation of means for rent and mortgage supplement.
7. Provision by landlord of tax reference number for rent supplement.
8. Information required for personal public service number.
9. Public services card.
10. Carer’s allowance — assessment of means.
11. Supplementary welfare allowance — amendments.
12. Partial capacity benefit.
13. Amendment to section 91 of Principal Act.
14. Contributions by public office holders.
15. Amendment to section 2 of Principal Act.
16. Amendment to section 3 of Principal Act.
17. Amendment to Part 2 of Principal Act.
18. Widowed or surviving civil partner grant.
19. Miscellaneous amendments to Part 3 of Principal Act.
20. One-parent family payment.
21. Qualified adult.
22. Amendment to Part 6 of Principal Act.
23. Amendments to Part 9 of Principal Act.
24. Amendments to Part 12 of Principal Act.
25. Amendments to Schedule 3 of Principal Act.
26. Amendments to Principal Act relating to the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010.
27. Status of persons engaged in work experience pursuant to certain placements.
PART 3
Employment schemes and other schemes and programmes
28. Interpretation.
29. Functions of Minister in relation to employment schemes and related schemes and programmes.
30. Amendment of section 4 of Act of 1987.
31. Transfer of rights and liabilities.
32. Transfer of certain property.
33. Transfer of certain members of staff of An Foras.
34. Amendment of Act of 2010.
35. Savings and transitional provisions relating to section 30.
PART 4
Transfer of Certain Employees, Property, etc. of Health Service Executive
36. Transfer of certain rights and liabilities of Executive.
37. Transfer of certain property of Executive.
38. Transfer of certain employees of Executive.
39. Amendment to section 208 of Principal Act.
PART 5
Approval of Certain Policies or Contracts of Assurance
40. Definition.
41. Amendment of section 48 of Principal Act.
42. New Part IVA of Principal Act.
43. Amendment of section 59 of Principal Act.
44. Amendment of Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.
45. Collective citation and commencement.
SCHEDULE 1
Amendments to Principal Act
SCHEDULE 2
Amendments Relating to Supplementary Welfare Allowance
SCHEDULE 3
Amendments to Principal Act Relating to the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010
Acts Referred to
Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 and 2005 Carer’s Leave Act 2001 2001, No. 19 Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 2010, No. 24 Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005 Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 2001, No. 50 Defence Act 1954 1954, No. 18 Defence (Amendment) Act 2007 2007, No. 24 Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001 European Parliament (Irish Constituency Members) Act 2009 2009, No. 17 Finance Act 1970 1970, No. 14 Finance Act 2007 2007, No. 11 Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 2009, No. 5 Insurance Act 1989 1989, No. 3 Labour Services Act 1987 1987, No. 15 Labour Services Acts 1987 to 2010 Local Government Act 2001 2001, No. 37 Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004 Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005 Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 1997, No. 20 Parental Leave Acts 1998 and 2006 Pensions Act 1990 1990, No. 25 Pensions Acts 1990 to 2009 Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 2003, No. 29 Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 2001, No. 45 Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 2004, No. 33 Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 2005, No. 10 Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 2008, No. 22 Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010 2010, No. 28 Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 2007, No. 8 Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2008 2008, No. 2 Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2009 2009, No. 43 Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 2005, No. 26 Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006 2006, No. 5 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 1997, No. 39 Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 and 2001 Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007
Number 37 of 2010
SOCIAL WELFARE AND PENSIONS ACT 2010
AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE SOCIAL WELFARE ACTS, TO CONFER CERTAIN FUNCTIONS RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT SCHEMES AND RELATED SCHEMES AND PROGRAMMES ON THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION; TO AMEND THE LABOUR SERVICES ACT 1987 AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF CERTAIN ASSETS, LIABILITIES, PROPERTY AND STAFF OF AN FORAS ÁISEANNA SAOTHAIR, TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONTINUANCE OF CERTAIN SCHEMES PROVIDED BY AN FORAS ÁISEANNA SAOTHAIR AND FOR THE PROVISION BY THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION OF THOSE SCHEMES; TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF CERTAIN ASSETS, LIABILITIES, PROPERTY AND EMPLOYEES OF THE HEALTH SERVICE EXECUTIVE; TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE (THEFT AND FRAUD OFFENCES) ACT 2001, THE PENSIONS ACT 1990, AND THE TAXES CONSOLIDATION ACT 1997; AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.
[21st December, 2010]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
PART 1 Preliminary and General
	Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement.	1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010.
	(2) The Social Welfare Acts and Parts 1, 2 and 4, section 29 and Schedules 1, 2 and 3 shall be read together as one.
	(3) The Labour Services Acts 1987 to 2010 and sections 30 and 35 may be cited together as the Labour Services Acts 1987 to 2010.
	(4) Sections 4 , 11 (1), 12 , 13 and 15 to 26 and Parts 3 and 4 , shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
	Definitions.	2.— In this Act—
	“Act of 2006” means the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006 ;
	“Act of 2007” means the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 ;
	“Act of 2008” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 ;
	“Act of 2010” means the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010 ;
	“Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland;
	“Minister” means the Minister for Social Protection;
	“Principal Act” means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 .
PART 2 Amendments to Social Welfare Acts
	Duration of illness benefit payment.	3.— (1) Section 44 (amended by section 4 of the Act of 2006) of the Principal Act is amended—
	(a) in subsection (1), by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (b):
	“(b) before that day was entitled, in respect of any period of interruption of employment (whether including that day or not), to illness benefit for 312 days,”,
	(b) in subsection (1A) (inserted by section 15(2) of the Act of 2008), by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (b):
	“(b) before that day was entitled, in respect of any period of interruption of employment (whether including that day or not) during the period beginning on 5 January 2009, to illness benefit for 624 days,”, and
	(c) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (2):
	“(2A) Notwithstanding subsection (1)—
	(a) where a period of incapacity for work commences before 3 January 2011 and continues on or after that date, subsection (1)(b) shall apply as if the words ‘during the period beginning on the date one year immediately before that day’ were inserted after ‘(whether including that day or not)’, and
	(b) where a period of incapacity for work commences on or after 3 January 2011 and forms part of a period of interruption of employment during which a previous period of incapacity for work commenced before 3 January 2011, the period for which illness benefit shall be paid in respect of the period of incapacity for work commencing on or after 3 January 2011 shall be 312 days less the cumulative number of days for which illness benefit was determined as having been paid at the end of the last period of incapacity for work that commenced before 3 January 2011.”.
	(2) This section shall come into operation on 3 January 2011.
	Proving unemployment by electronic communication.	4.— The Principal Act is amended—
	(a) in section 2(1) (amended by section 24 of the Act of 2010) by inserting the following definition:
	“ ‘electronic’ includes digital, magnetic, optical, electro-magnetic, biometric, photonic and any other form of related technology;”,
	(b) in section 2 by inserting the following subsection after subsection 7:
	“(8) In sections 62, 141 and 274A, ‘electronic communication’ means the communication of information that is generated, transmitted, processed, received, recorded, stored or displayed by electronic means or in electronic form, and includes—
	(a) information communicated in the form of speech which is processed at its destination by an automatic voice recognition system,
	(b) a communication transmitted by means of the internet or by means of mobile phone telephony, and

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