Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Act 2018

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 37/2018

Number 37 of 2018
SOCIAL WELFARE, PENSIONS AND CIVIL REGISTRATION ACT 2018
CONTENTS
PART 1
Preliminary and general
1. Short title, construction, collective citations and commencement
PART 2
Amendments to Social Welfare Acts
2. Definitions (Part 2)
3. Employment contributions
4. PRSI amendments - PAYE modernisation
5. Maternity benefit - new rate
6. Adoptive benefit - new rate
7. Paternity benefit - new rate
8. Increase in rates of jobseeker’s benefit relating to certain reckonable weekly earnings, certain reckonable weekly income and certain periods
9. State Pension (contributory)
10. Jobseeker’s allowance - rates of assistance
11. Supplementary welfare allowance - weekly amounts
12. Exceptional needs payment
13. Payment after death - domiciliary care allowance
14. Review of carer’s allowance payment
15. Decisions by deciding officers - electronic applications
16. Prescribed relative allowance - repeals etc.,
17. Increase for qualified children - amendments
18. Social insurance benefits - new rates
19. Benchmarking of social welfare payment rates
20. Earnings disregarded for disability allowance, blind pension and certain supplements payable under supplementary welfare allowance
21. Review of means testing of maintenance payments
22. One-parent family payment - weekly earnings disregard
23. Social assistance payments - new rates
24. Impact of Brexit
25. Eligibility criteria for community employment schemes
26. Tús scheme
PART 3
Amendment to Pensions Act 1990
27. Insertion of new Part VIIA into Pensions Act 1990
PART 4
Amendments to Civil Registration Act 2004
28. Definition (Part 4)
29. Amendment of section 7 of Act of 2004
30. Amendment of section 9 of Act of 2004
PART 5
Miscellaneous
31. Amendment of section 4 of National Training Fund Act 2000
SCHEDULE 1
Increase for qualified children - Amendments to Principal Act
SCHEDULE 2
Social Insurance Benefits (New Rates) - Substitution of Parts 1 to 4 of Schedule 2
SCHEDULE 3
Social Assistance Payments (New Rates) - Substitution of Parts 1 to 3 of Schedule 4
Acts Referred to
Child Care Act 1991 (No. 17)
Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (No. 24)
Civil Registration Act 2004 (No. 3)
Civil Registration Acts 2004 to 2015
Marriage Act 2015 (No. 35)
National Training Fund Act 2000 (No. 41)
Pensions Act 1990 (No. 25)
Pensions Acts 1990 to 2015
Social Welfare Act 2011 (No. 37)
Social Welfare Act 2017 (No. 38)
Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 (No. 20)
Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2013 (No. 38)
Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2015 (No. 47)
Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26)
Number 37 of 2018
SOCIAL WELFARE, PENSIONS AND CIVIL REGISTRATION ACT 2018
An Act to amend and extend the Social Welfare Acts; to amend and extend the Pensions Act 1990 ; to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004 ; to amend the National Training Fund Act 2000 ; and to provide for related matters.
[24th December, 2018]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
PART 1 Preliminary and general
		Short title, construction, collective citations and commencement
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Act 2018.
	(2) The Social Welfare Acts and Part 2 shall be construed together as one Act.
	(3) The Pensions Acts 1990 to 2015 and Part 3 shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Pensions Acts 1990 to 2018.
	(4) The Civil Registration Acts 2004 to 2015 and Part 4 shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Civil Registration Acts 2004 to 2018.
	(5) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection 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.
PART 2 Amendments to Social Welfare Acts
		Definitions (Part 2)
2. In this Part—
	“Act of 2013” means the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2013 ;
	“Act of 2015” means the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2015 ;
	“Act of 2017” means the Social Welfare Act 2017 ;
	“Principal Act” means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 .
		Employment contributions
3. (1) Section 13(2) of the Principal Act is amended—
	(a) in paragraph (d) (amended by section 10(1)(b) of the Act of 2015) by the substitution—
	(i) in subparagraph (i), of “€386” for “€376”, and
	(ii) in subparagraph (ii), of “€386” for “€376”,
	and
	(b) in paragraph (da) (amended by section 13 (2) of the Social Welfare Act 2011 ) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (i):
	“(i) so much of the allowable contribution referred to in subparagraph (e) of Regulation 31(1) of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 345 of 2018 ), and”.
	(2) This section comes into operation on 1 January 2019.
		PRSI amendments - PAYE modernisation
4. (1) The Principal Act is amended—
	(a) in section 17(4), by the substitution of “Chapter 4 of Part 42 of the Act of 1997 and the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 345 of 2018 )” for “the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 559 of 2001 )”,
	(b) by the insertion of the following sections after section 17:
	“Return by employer to Revenue Commissioners
	17A. (1) In this section and in section 17B—
	‘income tax month’ has the same meaning as it has in Chapter 4 of Part 42 of the Act of 1997;
	‘return filing date’ means, in relation to an income tax month, the day that is 15 days from the last day of the income tax month.
	(2) An employer shall, on or before the return filing date for an income tax month, make a return to the Revenue Commissioners specifying the total amount of contributions payable by that employer in respect of an income tax month consisting of—
	(a) employment contributions,
	(b) self-employment contributions, and
	(c) contributions under Chapter 5B of Part 2.
	(3) Where the Revenue Commissioners issue a statement to an employer which sets out, in summary form in respect of an income tax month, the total amount of contributions payable by that employer, the details on the statement shall, on the return filing date, or where the statement is issued on a later date, on that later date, be deemed to be a return made by the employer in respect of that month for the purposes of subsection (2).
	(4) Subsection (3) shall not apply where a statement referred to in that subsection is issued to an employer and the details on that statement do not accurately reflect the total amount of contributions payable by the employer.
	(5) Where subsection (4) applies, the employer concerned shall ensure that the total amount of contributions payable are accurately reflected in the return required under subsection (2) in respect of that income tax month.
	Payment date for contributions
	17B. (1) In this section ‘payment date’ means, in relation to an income tax month—
	(a) the day that is 15 days from the last day of the income tax month, or
	(b) the day that is 24 days from the last day of the income tax month where the following conditions are met:
	(i) the return and the remittance of the amount of the contributions due for the income tax month are made by such electronic means as the Revenue Commissioners require;
	(ii) the return is made by the return filing date and the remittance concerned is made on or before the day that is 24 days from the last day of the relevant income tax month.
	(2) An employer shall, on or before the payment date for an income tax month, pay to the Collector-General the amount of the contributions that the employer is liable to pay for that month.
	(3) The Collector-General may, by notice to an employer, vary the payment date for the payment of total contributions in respect of an income tax month.
	(4) Any notice issued under subsection (3) may be withdrawn by the Collector-General at any time prior to the payment date concerned, as varied by the notice.”,
	(c) in section 23(3), by the substitution of “Chapter 4 of Part 42 of the Act of 1997 and the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 345 of 2018 )” for “the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 559 of 2001 )”, and
	(d) in section 30G(3) (inserted by section 6 (3)(a) of the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 , by the substitution of “Chapter 4 of Part 42 of the Act of 1997 and the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 345 of 2018 )” for “the Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 559 of 2001 )”.
	(2) This section comes into operation on 1 January 2019.
		Maternity benefit - new rate
5. (1) Section 49(1) (amended by section 4 of the Act of 2017) of the Principal Act is amended, in paragraph (b), by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):
	“(ii) €245.”.
	(2) This section comes into operation on 25 March 2019.
		Adoptive benefit - new rate
6. (1) Section 60(1) (amended by section 5 of the Act of 2017) of the Principal Act is amended, in paragraph (b), by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):
	“(ii) €245.”.
	(2) This section comes into operation on 25 March 2019.
		Paternity benefit - new rate
7. (1) Section 61D (amended by section 6 of the Act of 2017) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):
	“(b) €245.”.
	(2) This section comes into operation on 25 March 2019.
		Increase in rates of jobseeker’s benefit relating...