Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 27th December, 2016.

I, LEO VARADKAR, Minister for Social Protection, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 290A(3)(b) (inserted by section 15 of the Social Welfare Act 2012 (No. 43 of 2012)) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26 of 2005) hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Social Welfare (Section 290A) (Agreement) Order 2016.

2. For the purposes of section 290A(3) (inserted by section 15 of the Social Welfare Act 2012 (No. 43 of 2012)) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26 of 2005), it is specified that the Minister for Social Protection has entered into an agreement with An Post, and the period for which that agreement has effect is the period beginning on 1 January 2017 and ending on 31 December 2017.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

16 December 2016.

LEO VARADKAR,

Minister for Social Protection.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

Section 15 of the Social Welfare Act 2012 extended the Household Budgeting facility for social welfare recipients by introducing new provisions specific to local authority rents. Under these provisions a new household budgeting arrangement was introduced whereby tenants of a housing authority or housing body who are in receipt of a social welfare payment could agree to have a portion of their social welfare payment withheld and paid to a local authority in respect of their rent.

The Social Welfare (Section 290A) (Agreement) Order 2015 ( S.I. No. 601 of 2015 ) provided that for the purposes of section 290A(3)(b) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 —

• it is specified that the Minister for Social Protection has entered into an agreement with An Post for the purposes of carrying out this household budgeting arrangement, and

• the period for which that agreement has effect is the period beginning on 1 January 2016 and ending on 31 December 2016.

It is now necessary to make a new Order for the same purposes for 2017. The Order will have effect for one year.

This Order specifies that the Minister for Social Protection has entered into an agreement with An Post for the purposes of carrying out this household budgeting arrangement and that this agreement will have effect from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.