Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I move amendment No. 9:

In page 8, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:“Further amendment of section 2(1) of Principal Act
5. The Principal Act is amended in section 2(1) by inserting the following definitions:

“ ‘EEA Agreement’ means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that Agreement;
‘European Economic Area’ means the European Economic Area created by the EEA Agreement;
‘member state of the European Economic Area’ means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;”.”.

This amendment clarifies the powers contained in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act enabling the Minister for Social Protection to make regulations providing for refunds of employer PRSI contributions in the case of certain seafarers employed on board vessels registered in a member state of the European Union or the European economic area who are providing scheduled passenger services between points of these states. This is a technical amendment proposed by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in the light of certain provisions contained in sections 5 and 10. Section 5 relates to refunds of employer PRSI contributions in respect of certain seafarers. Section 10 provides for changes in the application of the habitual residence condition for entitlement to certain social welfare payments. Both sections make reference to member states of the European economic area. While the term "member state of the European Union" is defined for the purposes of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, the term "member state of the European economic area" is not so defined. The purpose of the amendment is to provide a definition of the term "member state of the European Economic Area" to be included in section 2(1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act. A member state of the European economic area is defined as a state that is a contracting party to the European economic area agreement, that is, the 28 existing member states of the European Union with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
By way of background, there is a scheme of PRSI refunds of employer PRSI paid in respect of seafaring employees. This commenced a long time ago in 1996-97 on foot of proposals brought forward by the then Department of the Marine.

This was part of a package of concessions on income tax and PRSI applicable to seafarers, which this reflects. This amendment has been widely welcomed by people who have an interest in this area of economic activity and seafarers, employers and unions.