S.I. No. 923/2005 - Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (Commencement) Order 2005

1. This Order may be cited as the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (Commencement) Order 2005.

Commencement.

2. The 1st day of December 2005 is appointed as the day on which the

Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

(No. 26 of 2005) other than Schedule 6, comes into operation.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, this 1st day of December, 2005.

SÉAMUS BRENNAN

Minister for Social and Family Affairs.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

This Order provides for the commencement of the

Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

.

The Act is made up of 13 separate Parts (consisting of 364 sections) and 7 Schedules. Each Part is subdivided into Chapters covering specific aspects of the Code.

Part 1

provides for the definitions and interpretation for the purposes of the Act, together with general provisions in relation to Regulations.

Part 2

contains the provisions relating to social insurance and the social insurance schemes, and

Part 3

contains the provisions relating to the social assistance schemes.

Parts 4, 5

and

6

provide for Child Benefit, Respite Care Grant and Family Income Supplement respectively.

Part 7

provides for continued payment in respect of a qualified child, and

Part 8

provides for entitlement to Island Allowance for recipients of certain EU payments.

Part 9

contains the general provisions relating to social welfare payments and insurability, including provisions in relation to

• making claims and payments,

• appointment and duties of Social Welfare Inspectors,

• offences and proceedings, and

• alienation of books and documents.

Part 10

contains the provisions governing decisions and appeals in relation to social welfare payments and the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme. This Part also contains the provisions governing the Social Welfare Tribunal.

Part 11

contains the provisions governing overpayment repayment and suspension of payments, and

Part 12

contains the Liable Relative provisions, which require that people must contribute towards certain social welfare payments made to their families.

Part 13

contains provisions to ensure the continuity of enactments repealed, the continuance of officers appointed under the repealed enactments and all instruments and documents made or issued under those enactments. This Part also contains the commencement section which provides that the Act will come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Minister.

Schedule 1

to the Act relates to insured employments, and to employments and self-employed people excepted from social insurance.

Schedule 2

sets out the rates of the various social insurance payments.

Schedule 3

contains the provisions governing the assessment of means for the purposes of the social assistance schemes, and

Schedule 4

sets out the rates of social assistance payments, and the rates of Child Benefit.

Schedule 5

lists the bodies authorised to use the Personal Public Service (PPS) number as a unique identifier in accessing public services.

Schedule 6

contains amendments to the

Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993

which have not yet been brought into force.

Schedule 7

lists the enactments repealed by this Act, and a Memorandum listing enactments proposed to be repealed, and the sections in the Act in which these enactments are reproduced is prefixed to the Act.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by

section 364

of the

Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

(No. 26 of 2005), hereby orders as follows

Citation.