S.I. No. 572 of 2006

SOCIAL WELFARE (CONSOLIDATED SUPPLEMENTARY WELFARE ALLOWANCE) (AMENDMENT) (No. 2) (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) REGULATIONS 2006

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 4 (as amended by section 17 and Schedule 3 of the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006 (No. 5 of 2006)) and 198, Rule 1(2) of Part 4 and reference 19 of Table 2 of Schedule 3 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26 of 2005), hereby makes the following regulations:

Citation and construction.

1. (1) These regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) (No. 2) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2006.

(2)  These regulations and the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 1995 shall be construed together as one and may be cited together as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 1995 to 2006.

Definitions

2.  In these regulations

-�the Principal Regulations-� means the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 1995 ( S.I. No. 382 of 1995 ).

Entitlement to rent supplement.

3. Article 9 of the Principal Regulations is amended -

(a) in sub-article (2) (as amended by article 6 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 54 of 2005 )) by substituting for clause (aa)(ii)(V) the following:

-�(V) is in receipt of a disability allowance, invalidity pension or blind pension from the Department of Social and Family Affairs or an equivalent payment from another Member State or a country with which Ireland has a reciprocal social security agreement under section 287 of the Principal Act, or-�.

(b) by inserting after sub-article (4) (as amended by article 7 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) Regulations 2005) the following:

-�(5)  Notwithstanding the provisions of this Chapter, the Executive may determine that rent supplement is not payable where, arising from the performance of a housing authority's functions, a notification is received regarding non-compliance with standards prescribed in regulations made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions Act) 1992 (No. 18 of 1992).-�.

Diet Supplements - amendment.

4.  The Principal Regulations are amended in article 15 (substituted by the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) (Diet Supplement) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 146 of 2006 )) by substituting for sub-article (1) the following:

-�(1) Subject to these Regulations, a claimant shall be entitled to a supplement towards the cost of a diet, being a diet specified for the purposes of this article, which the claimant, or his or her qualified adult or qualified child has been prescribed by virtue of a specified medical condition.-�.

Assessment of means - non-cash benefits.

5.  The Principal Regulations are amended by inserting after article 33A (inserted by the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) (No. 1) (Training Course Disregard, Benefit and Privilege) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 203 of 2006 )) the following:

-�Assessment of means - non-cash benefits.

33B. The non-cash benefits prescribed for the purposes of Rule 1(2) of Part 4 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Act shall be -

(a)  subject to paragraph (b) the net cash value to the person of his or her annual housing costs actually incurred and paid by a liable relative insofar as the cash value exceeds €4,951.98 per annum,

(b)  for the purposes of determining entitlement to a rent or mortgage interest supplement payable to a person in accordance with the provisions of Part III of these regulations, the net cash value to the person of his or her annual housing costs actually incurred and paid by a liable relative, subject to a disregard of any amount in excess of €4,952 per annum and less than €8,072 per annum, together with half the amount in excess of €8,072 per annum and less than €9,632 per annum,

and

(c)  the net cash value to the person of meals, accommodation and related services provided under a scheme administered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and known as direct provision, where the costs are met in full by the State.-�.

Compensation payments.

6.  The Principal Regulations are amended by substituting for article 34 (substituted by article 3 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 324 of 2003 )) the following:

-�Compensation payments.

34.  The income prescribed for the purposes of reference 19 of Table 2 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Act shall be the yearly value of all income derived from compensation awarded -

(a)  by the Compensation Tribunal established by the Minister for Health on 15 December, 1995, the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal established under section 3 of the section 2 of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Act 2002 (No. 21 of 2002), or by a court of competent jurisdiction, to compensate certain persons who have contracted Hepatitis C or Human Immunodeficiency Virus within the State from the use of Human Immunoglobulin - Anti-D, whole blood or other blood products,

(b)  by the Residential Institutions Redress Board established under section 3 of the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 (No. 13 of 2002),

(c)  to persons who have disabilities caused by Thalidomide, or

(d)  under the provisions of the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 (No. 17 of 2006) to a relevant person (within the meaning of that Act).-�.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of the foregoing regulations.

Explanatory Note

[This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.]

These regulations provide for amendments to the conditions for entitlement to Rent Supplement payable under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme.

The regulations provide that rent supplement may not be payable in cases where a housing authority is not satisfied that the accommodation meets the standards for rented houses as provided for in regulations made under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions Act) 1992.

Regulations currently provide that Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension or Blind Pension are qualifying payments for the purposes of Rent Supplement. These regulations provide that equivalent payments made by EU Member States and countries with which Ireland has a reciprocal social security agreement will also be treated as qualifying payments for the purposes of Rent Supplement.

These regulations also provide for two technical amendments. The first relates to the provisions governing the diet supplement provided under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme and the second inserts an article relating to the assessment of non-cash benefits previously provided for under separate regulations.

Regulations currently provide that any moneys received by way of compensation awarded to persons -

-�   who have contracted Hepatitis C or HIV,

-�   who have disabilities caused by Thalidomide, and

-�   by the Residential Institutions Redress Board

will be disregarded in the assessment of means for Supplementary Welfare Allowance purposes.

These Regulations replace the existing provisions to extend this disregard to include any moneys received by a way of compensation awarded under the provisions of the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006 .