Written answers
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Commencement of Legislation
Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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685. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details of the Acts falling under her Department that have been signed into law but have not been commenced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17452/21]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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 relation to the above that are yet to be commenced are set out in the following table.
Uncommenced Provision | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 | ||
| Section 21(a) | Amends section 149 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 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. |
| 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 when 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 DSP. There are no known instances where this is likely to be 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. The intention behind these provisions has been met, in large part, by the introduction of the temporary enhanced IB payment in March 2020 to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| 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. |
| 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 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 and additional or alternative statutory provisions may likely be required. |
| 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 is considered that buy-out bonds will be required in the short to medium term. Consideration is being given to this at present as part of the Interdepartmental Pension Reform and Taxation Group. The situation will be kept under review in consultation with the Pensions Authority as part of this working 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. |
| 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 (FIS) (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. |
| Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Act 2018 | ||
| Section 14 | Review of carer’s allowance payment. The Minister shall conduct a review and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas on the financial hardship faced by carers who must provide full-time care in order to receive carer’s allowance restricting them from taking up other work to supplement their income, examining their access to pension entitlements as well as the barriers to the labour market they face after a period of caring and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection within 6 months of the enactment of this Bill. | The review was prepared by the Department and was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 28 August 2019. |
| Section 19 | Benchmarking of social welfare payment rates. The Minister shall consult with stakeholders on examining ways in which social welfare rates are increased with the aim of ensuring adequacy for all recipients and shall do so in quarter 1 of 2019. | The consultation with stakeholders on this issue has taken place. |
| Section 21 | Review of means testing of maintenance payments. The Minister shall conduct a review and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas on the financial effects of the consideration of maintenance payments as household income in the means test for various social welfare payments and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection within 6 months of the enactment of this Bill. | The report was completed and laid before the Oireachtas in June 2019. |
| Section 24 | Impact of Brexit The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection shall, when complete, share the analysis being conducted by her Department on the impact of Brexit on the reciprocal arrangements for social insurance schemes, social assistance schemes and child benefit between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. | A report was prepared and submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee in August 2019. |
| Section 25 | Eligibility criteria for community employment schemes. The Minister shall review the eligibility criteria for community employment schemes for those aged 55 and over and, in particular, give consideration to allow those aged 55 and over participating on the scheme to do so on a continuous basis until they reach State pension age. The Minister shall bring forward a report on same within 3 months of this Bill being enacted. | A report was prepared and submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee in August 2019. |
| Section 26 | Tús scheme. The Minister shall review the operation of the Tús scheme, in particular, the possibility of allowing Tús scheme participants to extend their participation on the scheme beyond one year with their host group whilst also participating on JobPath. The Minister shall bring forward a report on same within 3 months of this Bill being enacted. | A report was prepared and submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee in August 2019. |
| Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 | ||
| Section 28 | Amendment of section 58 of Act of 2005 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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 of citizenship of a deceased person are to be added to the particulars of a death to 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. |
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