Vol. 505 No. 1
196 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the Acts and provisions of Acts not in force by reason of the fact that a commencement order has not been made; if such an order will be made; if so, when it will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13248/99]
The Social Welfare Act, 1999, was passed on 1 April 1999 and the sections listed below have yet to be commenced. The remaining provisions of earlier social welfare Acts in respect of which commencement orders have not been made are also set out in the following table:
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Relevant Provision |
General Outline |
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Social Welfare Act, 1999 |
Section 10 provides for the extension of carer's allowance to cover carers of children in respect of whom domiciliary care allowance is payable, and carers of people aged between 16 and 65 years not in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment but requiring full-time care and attention. |
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It further provides for modification of the residency condition, and for the relaxation of the requirement to provide full-time care and attention. It is planned to bring these provisions into effect from August 1999. |
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Section 11 provides for the introduction of an annual respite care grant of £200 to qualified carers as a contribution towards the cost of respite care. This section will be brought into effect from the beginning of June 1999. |
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Section 12 provides for the application of the current £150 weekly disregard in respect of the spouse of a carer to the couple's joint income, and the provision of a £75 disregard to a single carer's income. This provision will be brought into effect from August 1999. |
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Section 13 contains a number of amendments to the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, consequent on the provisions in section 10 outlined above and will also come into effect from August 1999. |
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Relevant Provision |
General Outline |
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Section 20 provides for a change in the arrangements for payment of disability allowance for recipients admitted to hospital or institutional care. It will be brought into effect from 1 August 1999. |
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Section 29 introduces a time limit of 21 days for the submission of appeals in relation to social welfare entitlements to the Circuit Court in certain circumstances (in line with arrangements for appeals made to the Social Welfare Appeals Office). |
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Section 30 empowers officers of my Department assigned to the Criminal Assets Bureau to determine or to revise a decision on entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance in certain cases.Both sections 29 and 30 will be brought into effect later this year. |
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Social Welfare Act, 1998 |
Section 17 provides for actuarial reviews of the social insurance fund to be undertaken on a five yearly basis and will be commenced later this year. |
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Social Welfare Act, 1997 |
Section 29 provides regulatory powers which will be used to determine the amount which a liable relative is required to contribute. It is planned to introduce the relevant regulations under this section later this year. |
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Part IV provides for the introduction of a new sickness allowance scheme. The overall purppose of the proposed sickness allowance scheme will be reviewed this year as part of the review of the income maintenance schemes for people with illness/disability. All those who would have qualified for sickness allowance are currently being catered for through other payments, such as supplementary welfare allowance. |
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Section 26 (1) (b) contains regulatory powers to prescribe the provisions to benefit and privilege in the context of means assessment. The relevant regulations will be introduced later this year. |
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Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1995 |
Section 10 (4) provides regulatory social welfare powers under which a divorced person may receive a qualified adult allowance in respect of more than one person. |
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An interdepartmental working group is currently examining the treatment of different types of households under both the tax and social welfare systems. In the context of that group's report which I expect to receive shortly, I will be examining the whole area of qualified adult allowances, including the commencement of this provision. |
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Social Welfare Act, 1995 |
Section 22 provides regulatory powers, designed to standardise the arrangements applying to various social welfare schemes, in relation to absence from the State. It is planned to introduce the relevant regulations later this year. |
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Social Welfare Act, 1994 |
Section 20 provides for the integration of injury benefit and unemployability supplement, payable under the benefits scheme, with disability benefit. |
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The overall role of occupational injuries benefit payments will be included in the review of sickness/disability schemes taking place this year. Decisions on the implementation of this section will be taken in the light of the findings of this review. |
