Legislative Process

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022

Tuesday, 1 February 2022

Questions (549)

Denis Naughten

Question:

549. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a list of Acts, or sections or other provisions of Acts, for which a commencement order has yet to be signed in her Department; the reason for the delay; when commencement orders will be signed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4768/22]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

My Department is responsible for the legislation underpinning the social welfare code, occupational and private pensions, civil registration and gender recognition and the Citizens Information Board / Comhairle.

Details of provisions in the above that are yet to be commenced are set out in the table below.

Uncommenced Provision	Description	Status
Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002
Section 3	Inserts new Part X (sections 91 to 125) into the Pensions Act 1990, which provides for the establishment of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs). Part X has been commenced with the exception of section 122, which provides for the replacement of buy-out bonds with PRSAs. A buy-out-bond is a pension bond into which persons can transfer the value of their fund if they leave their employment/ pension scheme.	Originally, the intention was that new buy-out bonds would cease when PRSAs became available. However, it was subsequently considered that buy-out bonds would still be required. Consideration is being given to this at present as part of an interdepartmental working group. The situation will be kept under review in consultation with the Pensions Authority as part of this group.
Section 39	Inserts new section 56A into the Pensions Act 1990 to provide for the consideration of index-linked increases in the rates payable in Defined Benefit pension schemes.	The situation in relation to this provision is being kept under review in consultation with the Pensions Authority.
Civil Registration Act 2004
Section 4 and the Second Schedule	Repeal various enactments dealing with civil registration matters prior to the enactment of the Civil Registration Act 2004.	Section 4 and the Second Schedule have been commenced, except in so far as they relate to the repeal of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1952. The repeal of the 1952 Act has been examined in the context of the commencement of section 73 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 – see section 73 below.
Sections 13(1)(f) and (g)	Provide for the establishment and maintenance of a register of all decrees of divorce and all decrees of nullity of marriage.	Commencement of these provisions is not currently being proposed for operational reasons.
Part 7 (section 59)	Provides for the registration of decrees of divorce and decrees of nullity of marriage.	Commencement of this Part is not currently being proposed for operational reasons.
Section 73	Provides for the compilation and publication of statistics relating to events registered under the Act.	Section 73 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 mirrors the provisions contained in the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1952. Section 73 and section 4, in so far as it relates to the repeal of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1952, will be commenced following examination of the effects of repealing the Act of 1952.
Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007
Section 21(a)	Amends section 149 of the SWCA in relation to entitlement to the Pre-Retirement Allowance (PRETA) where a person had previously been in receipt of Carer’s Allowance.	As the PRETA scheme has been closed since 2007, this section will not require commencement.
Section 27	Amends section 220 of the SWCA 2005 to enable payment of Child Benefit to be split between the child’s parents.	There are no plans to commence this provision at present.
Citizens Information Act 2007
Section 5	Provides that a qualifying person, in the case of a person 18 years or over, is a person who in the opinion of the Director is unable to obtain or has difficulty in obtaining a social service without the support of a personal advocate because of his or her disability.	The Department continues to review this statutory provision, in consultation with the Citizens Information Board (CIB), with the view to identifying the most appropriate response to meet the advocacy needs of persons over 18 with disabilities. This includes the consideration that public policy in the area of disability has changed from a “best interest” approach, from when the 2007 Act was enacted, to a person-centred and rights-based approach. Therefore, Section 5 of the 2007 Act may not be sufficiently comprehensive in light of societal and policy developments in the intervening years. The forthcoming Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Amendment Bill 2021 is also in this policy space.
Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2008
Sections 12 to 14	Inserts new Chapter 5A in Part 3 of the SWCA 2005 and makes consequential amendments to the provisions of that Act to provide for the transfer of the Blind Welfare Allowance from the HSE to the Department of Social Protection.	This provision will be commenced as soon as the necessary administrative arrangements have been agreed with the HSE and Department of Health.
Section 17(5)	Makes provision for the treatment of outstanding claims for Domiciliary Care Allowance held by the HSE on the transfer of administrative responsibility for that scheme to the Department of Social Protection.	This provision is not required to be commenced. It related to the possible transfer of outstanding claims from a period in 2009 when the scheme transferred to Department of Social Protection. There are no known instances where this was required.
Section 27(i)	Inserts section 64P into the Pensions Act 1990.	Section 64P was originally inserted to provide trustees with flexibility to remove a particular registered administrator where they were unhappy with the service being provided or considered the administration fees excessive. Section 64P sought to achieve this flexibility by prohibiting the bundling of a registered administrator’s services with other services or products. It later transpired that it would be in breach of EU and domestic legislation for an insurer to act as a registered administrator, without also holding the underlying policy of insurance. As insurance companies would be unable to provide separate registered administrator services to comply with section 64P, its commencement was revoked (S.I. 398 of 2008 refers).
Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010
Section 3	Inserts new section 296A into the SWCA 2005 and makes consequential amendments to the provisions of that Act to clarify the rules relating to which parent a child will normally be regarded as residing with for social welfare payment purposes.	This amendment is being reviewed in the light of more recent developments in this area and a decision will be taken on its continued necessity in the light of this review.
Section 6	Confers power to make regulations to provide for the conditions under which a person is regarded as being incapable of work for the purposes of qualification for the payment of Illness Benefit.	This provision will be commenced if the need arises.
Section 14	Amends section 220 of the SWCA 2005 to clarify the rules relating to which parent a child will normally be regarded as residing with for Child Benefit purposes.	This amendment is being reviewed in the light of more recent developments in this area and a decision will be taken on its continued necessity in the light of this review.
Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2014
Section 9	Clarifies the provisions contained in Part 6 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act (SWCA) 2005 in relation to entitlement to family income supplement (now working family payment) in cases where the claimant is living apart from his or her spouse or civil partner and children.	This amendment is being reviewed in the light of more recent developments in this area and a decision will be taken on its continued necessity in the light of this review.
Section 10	Clarifies the provisions contained in Part 6 of the SWCA 2005 relating to the impact of a change of circumstances on continuing entitlement to FIS during the 52 week entitlement period and on the weekly rate of FIS payable during that period.	This amendment is being reviewed in the light of more recent developments in this area and a decision will be taken on its continued necessity in the light of this review.
Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014
Section 6	This section amends section 22 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and contains a number of amendments relating to the registration of the father’s name where the parents are not married	Requires further amendment to section 22 to correct a drafting error.
Section 12	Provides that early neonatal deaths are notified to the Superintendent Registrar of the area where the death occurred.	Requires consultation with the HSE.
Section 21(a)	Amends section 59B of the Civil Registration Act 2004 (Notification of civil partnerships).	No longer required. Superseded by the enactment of the Marriage Act 2015.
Section 22	Amends section 59C of the Civil Registration Act 2004 (Civil partnership registration form).	No longer required. Superseded by the enactment of the Marriage Act 2015.
Section 29(c)	Provides for sharing of information with the Road Safety Authority.	Pending further clarification of Data Protection issues.
Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016
Section 31	Paragraph (b)(ii)(III) of the definition of “relevant parent” in section 61A(1) of Chapter 11A.	It is intended that this provision will be commenced in due course.
Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019
Section 28	Section 58 of the Act of 2005 is amended, in subsection (2), by the substitution of “Subject to this Act and section 6A of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995, an adopting parent shall be entitled to adoptive benefit” for “Subject to this Act, an adopting parent shall be entitled to adoptive benefit”.	It is intended that this provision will be commenced in due course.
Section 29 [part]	Insofar as it relates to the insertion, in Part 2 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (26/2005), of paragraph (b)(ii)(III) of the definition of “relevant parent” in section 61F(1) of Chapter 11B	It is intended that this provision will be commenced in due course.
Civil Registration Act 2019
Section 4	Amendment of section 22 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 regarding, in certain circumstances, rebuttal of automatic presumption of paternity in the birth registration process.	Requires commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014, which requires further amendment to section 22 to correct a drafting error.
Section 6	Provides for greater involvement by a qualified informant (usually a family member) in the registration of a death by a coroner.	It is intended to commence this section at the same time as Section 10(1)(c).
Section 10(1)(c)	Provides that the country of birth and the country ofcitizenship of a deceased person are to be added to the particulars of a deathto be entered in the register of deaths.	Requires development work to the civil registration computer system in advance of commencement.
Section 11	Amendment of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 regarding arrangements for registration of the names of unmarried fathers.	Requires commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014, which requires further amendment to section 22 to correct a drafting error.
Social Welfare Act 2021
Section 8	Extends the duration for which parent’s benefit is payable from five weeks to seven weeks in line with Ireland’s commitments under the EU Work Life Balance Directive.	Requires the Minister for Children, Equality, Integration, Disability and Youth to make a corresponding commencement order relating to the parent’s leave provisions.
Section 14	Provides for a €10 increase in the weekly income thresholds of working family payment for all qualifying families.	It is intended that this provision will be commenced in due course.
Section 20	Provides for the expansion of the list of agri-environmental schemes (e.g. Glas) attracting the specific means disregard applicable to jobseeker’s allowance, farm assist and state pension (non-contributory).	It is intended that this provision will be commenced in due course.