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1 1981

SOCIAL WELFARE (CONSOLIDATION) ACT, 1981

PART IV

Children's Allowances

Qualified child.

[1946 CA, s. 4; 1973, s. 6]

223. —(1) A child shall be a qualified child (in this Part referred to as a qualified child) for the purposes of children's allowances if—

(a) he is under the age of 16 years, or

(b) having attained the age of 16 years he is under the age of 18 years and—

(i) is receiving full-time instruction by day at any university, college, school or other educational establishment, or

(ii) is an apprentice, or

(iii) is, by reason of physical or mental infirmity, incapable of self-support and likely to remain so incapable for a prolonged period, and

(c) he is ordinarily resident in the State, and

(d) he is not detained in a reformatory or an industrial school and is not undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody.

[1965 MP, s. 17]

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a child who resides with his father while the father (being a member of the Defence Forces or the civil service of the Government or the State) is in the service, outside the State, of the Government, the State or an international organisation shall be a qualified child for the purposes of this Part.

Qualified persons.

[1946 CA, s. 5; 1963 MP, s. 5]

224. —(1) A person with whom a qualified child normally resides shall be qualified for a children's allowance in respect of that child and is in this Part referred to as a qualified person.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1)—

(a) the Minister may make rules for determining with whom a qualified child shall be regarded as normally residing,

(b) a qualified child shall not be regarded as normally residing with more than one person, and

[1974 (No. 1), s. 8]

(c) where a qualified child is resident in an institution and contributions are made towards the cost of his maintenance in that institution, he shall be regarded as normally residing with the person with whom in accordance with the rules made under paragraph (a) he would be determined to be normally residing if he were not resident in an institution but, where the person with whom he would thus be regarded as normally residing has abandoned or deserted the child, the child shall be regarded as normally residing with the head of the household of which he would normally be a member if he were not resident in an institution.

[1946 CA, s. 5]

(3) Rules made under subsection (2) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made, and if a resolution is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next subsequent 21 days on which that House has sat after the rules are laid before it annulling the rules, the rules shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the rules.

[1974 (No. 1), s. 9; S.I. No. 196 of 1974]

(4) Where, immediately before 3rd July, 1974, the mother or stepmother of a qualified child was in receipt of a children's allowance in respect of that child, having been nominated in accordance with regulations made under the Social Welfare (Children's Allowances) Acts, 1944 to 1973, to receive the allowance, she shall on becoming the qualified person in respect of that child be treated as having made the claim for that allowance.

(5) Where, immediately before 3rd July, 1974, a person who was qualified for a children's allowance in respect of a qualified child had not so nominated the mother or step-mother of the child to receive the allowance, that person if he had ceased to be a qualified person at that date shall be treated as having been so nominated by the qualified person to receive the allowance unless and until the qualified person otherwise elects.

Amounts of children's allowance.

[1946 CA, s. 6; 1980, s. 24]

225. —(1) Subject to this Part and the regulations there-under, a person who is qualified for a children's allowance shall, so long as he remains so qualified, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas a monthly allowance of the amount set out in column (1) of Part IV of the Fourth Schedule in respect of one qualified child, and, in addition, the amount set out in column (2) of that Part in respect of each qualified child (if any) in excess of one.

[1965 MP, s. 18]

(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Part, the monthly allowance payable to a qualified person in respect of a qualified child whose birth was part of a multiple birth of three or more children of whom not less than three remain qualified shall be double the allowance that would have been payable if this subsection had not been enacted.

[1969 MP, s. 8; 1980, s. 25]

(3) A person who is qualified for a children's allowance under this Part shall, subject to this Part and the regulations made there-under, be paid children's allowances by way of a grant in respect of three or more qualified children where the birth of each of them was part of the same multiple birth, and the amount of the grant shall be £300 if such qualified children are three in number and £400 if they exceed three in number.

(4) A grant under subsection (3) shall become payable on the date of birth of the last-born of the qualified children of the multiple birth.

(5) Payment of a grant under subsection (3) shall be in addition to any children's allowance payable by way of a monthly allowance under this Part in respect of the children concerned.

Time limit for payment.

[1944 CA, s. 18; 1952 CA, s.6]

226. —A sum shall not be paid on account of a children's allowance if payment of the sum is not obtained within 3 months (or, where the Minister so thinks fit, 6 months) after the date on which it has become payable.

Appointment and duties of social welfare officers.

[1944 CA, ss. 5, 6; 1960 MP, s. 24]

227. —(1) The Minister may, with the sanction of the Minister for the Public Service, appoint such and so many persons as he thinks proper to be social welfare officers for the purposes of this Part.

(2) Every such officer shall investigate into and report to the Minister upon any claim for or in respect of a children's allowance and any question arising on or in relation to a children's allowance which may be referred to him by the Minister, and may, for the purpose of such investigation and report, require any claimant for a children's allowance or any person in charge of a child in respect of whom the claim is based to furnish him with such information and to produce to him for inspection such documents relative to the claim as such officer may reasonably require.

(3) If any person, being a claimant for a children's allowance or a person in charge of a child in respect of whom the claim is based, fails to furnish to a social welfare officer such information as he is required by this section to furnish to such officer or to produce to a social welfare officer for inspection such documents as he is required by this section to produce to such officer, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding £5.

Exclusion of children's allowance for superannuation or pension purposes.

[1944 CA, s. 15]

228. —Income from a children's allowance shall not be reckoned for the purpose of any abatement provisions in any enactment relating to superannuation or pensions.

Repayment of children's allowances overpaid.

[1944 CA, s. 11; 1946 CA, s. 12]

229. —(1) If it is found at any time that a person has been in receipt of a children's allowance to which he was not entitled or has been in receipt of a children's allowance at a higher rate than that appropriate to the case, then he or, in case he is dead, his personal representative, shall be liable to pay to the Minister on demand any sums paid to such person in respect of the children's allowance or, as the case may be, a sum representing the difference between a children's allowance at the rate actually paid and a children's allowance at the rate appropriate to the case.

(2) Any sum payable by a person to the Minister under this section shall be a debt due by such person to the Minister and may be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in a court of competent jurisdiction or by deduction from any payment or payments on account of a children's allowance to which such person subsequently becomes entitled.

(3) Every sum repaid or recovered by the Minister under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

(4) This section shall apply with the necessary modifications in the case of a person to whom a children's allowance is paid under any of the provisions of this Part or regulations made thereunder and who is not the person to whom such children's allowance is granted.

Payments to appointed persons and absence from State.

[1946 CA, s. 6; S.I. No. 143 of 1973]

230. —(1) The Minister may, where it appears to him that the circumstances so warrant, appoint a person to receive and deal with a children's allowance on behalf of an applicant.

(2) The Minister may at any time revoke an appointment made under subsection (1) and any person appointed under that subsection may resign on giving to the Minister one month's notice of his intention to do so.

(3) A person appointed under subsection (1) may receive and deal with a children's allowance on behalf of the applicant and the receipt by such person for any sums paid to him on behalf of the applicant shall be a good discharge to the Minister.

(4) Where a qualified person is for the time being absent from the State, an application on his behalf in respect of a children's allowance may be accepted from such person as the Minister thinks fit.

(5) A children's allowance shall be paid only within the State.

Penalty for false statements.

[1944 CA, s. 12; 1946 CA, s. 12; 1976 (No. 2), ss. 9, 10, 11]

231. —(1) Every person—

(a) who, for the purpose of obtaining or continuing a children's allowance, either for himself or for any other person, or for the purpose of obtaining or continuing a children's allowance for himself or for any other person at a rate higher than that appropriate to the case, knowingly makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect or knowingly conceals any material fact, or

(b) who knowingly obtains payment of, or continues to receive, a children's allowance to which he is not entitled, or

(c) who knowingly obtains or receives any payment on account of a children's allowance which for any reason whatsoever is not payable to him,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500 or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and such imprisonment, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £2,000 or (at the discretion of the court) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2) A person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) shall be disqualified for the receipt of the children's allowance in respect of which the offence was committed for a period of 6 months immediately following the date of the conviction. This subsection shall not have effect in relation to offences committed prior to 12th July, 1976.

(3) Subsection (1) shall apply with the necessary modifications in the case of a person to whom a children's allowance is paid under any of the provisions of this Part or regulations made thereunder and who is not the person to whom the children's allowance is granted.

(4) Where, in a prosecution for an offence under this Part or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of this Part, it is shown to the satisfaction of the court—

(a) that an application has been made by a person (in this section referred to as the defendant) for a children's allowance, and

(b) that as a result of that application an allowance has been paid to any person (whether or not such allowance was that applied for and whether or not it was paid to the defendant),

the defendant shall be presumed to have given any information contained in the application (or to have caused it to be given on his behalf) and, where such information is false, with full knowledge of such falsity and with intent that it should deceive; but this presumption may be rebutted.

[1976 (No. 2), s. 5]

(5) Notwithstanding any provision in any Act specifying the period within which proceedings may be commenced, a prosecution for an offence under this Part or under regulations made under or applying the provisions of this Part may be brought at any time within whichever of the following periods later expires—

(a) the period of three months commencing on the date on which it is certified in writing sealed with the official seal of the Minister that evidence sufficient to justify the institution of that prosecution came into the procurement or possession of the Minister, or

(b) the period of two years commencing on the date on which the offence was committed.

[1976 (No. 2), s. 12]

(6) Regulations under this Part may provide for offences consisting of contraventions of or failures to comply with such regulations and for the imposition, at the discretion of the court on summary conviction of such offences, of fines not exceeding specified amounts of not more than £500 or of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or of both such fines and such imprisonment.

Regulations.

[1944 CA, s. 20]

232. —(1) The Minister may—

(a) prescribe the manner in which and the times at which children's allowances are to be paid;

(b) prescribe the procedure to be followed on references (which relate to children's allowances) under section 298 and for applying for the purposes of any such reference any of the provisions of the Common Law Procedure Amendment Act(Ireland) 1856 and for excluding the application of any of the other provisions of that Act;

(c) make regulations for enabling a person to whom a children's allowance is payable to nominate another person to receive that allowance on behalf of the first-mentioned person;

(d) make regulations for authorising in such cases as may be specified the payment of any sum by way of children's allowance during any period intervening between the making of any claim or the referring of any question and the final determination of the claim or question;

(e) make regulations for providing that, notwithstanding anything contained in section 226

[1952 CA, s. 6]

(i) in the case of the death of a person who was in receipt of a children's allowance, payment may be made of any sum which became payable within 3 months (or, where the Minister so thinks fit, 6 months) before the date of his death on account of the children's allowance, but has not been paid, and

[1946 CA, s. 12]

(ii) in the case of the death of a person who was qualified for a children's allowance, payment may be made of any sum which, if a claim for the children's allowance had been allowed immediately before his death, would have become payable on account of the children's allowance up to the date of his death;

[1944 CA, s. 20]

(f) make regulations for providing that, subject to the regulations, probate or other proof of the title of the personal representatives of the deceased person may be dispensed with in the case of any such sum as is mentioned in paragraph (e), and that any such sum may be paid or distributed to or among the persons appearing in manner provided by the regulations to be entitled to receive the said sum or any part thereof, either as being persons beneficially entitled thereto under any testamentary instrument or as next of kin, or as being creditors of the deceased person, or to or among any one or more of such persons exclusive of the others, or, in the case of any illegitimacy of the deceased person or any child of his, to or among such person or persons as may be directed by the regulations;

[1952 CA, s. 5]

(g) prescribe the manner in which claims for children's allowances are to be made;

(h) prescribe the dates on which children's allowances, as awarded originally, are to commence to accrue;

(i) prescribe the dates on which children's allowances, as revised from time to time on account of changes of circumstances, are, notwithstanding anything contained in section 300 , to take effect;

(j) make regulations for applying any of the provisions of or made under sections 111 , 112 , 113 , 128 , 295 , 296 , 297 , 298 , 299 and 300 to children's allowances, whether such application is with or without modifications and whether in addition to or in substitution for any provisions of this Part or Part VIII .

(2) Regulations under this section which provide for the payment of children's allowances through the Post Office shall be made with the consent of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.