S.I. No. 527/2010 - Social Welfare (Agreement with the Government of Japan on Social Security) Order 2010.

1. This Agreement shall remain in force for an indefinite period. Either Contracting State may give to the other Contracting State, through diplomatic channels, written notice of termination of this Agreement. In that event, this Agreement shall remain in force until the last day of the twelfth month following the month in which the termination was notified.

2. If this Agreement is terminated in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, rights regarding entitlement to and payment of benefits acquired under this Agreement shall be retained, in respect of a person who submits an application for those benefits and who fulfils the requirements for entitlement to those benefits prior to the date of termination.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

Done in duplicate at Dublin this 29th day of October 2009, in the English and Japanese languages, each text being equally authentic.

MARY HANAFIN T.D

URABE TOSHINAO

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Protection,

5 November 2010.

ÉAMON Ó CUÍV,

Minister for Social Protection.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

This Order gives effect to the bilateral Agreement on Social Security made between Ireland and Japan which comes into effect from 1 December 2010. The Order provides that the Social Welfare Acts and relevant Regulations will be modified to take account of the provisions of the Agreement.

The Agreement provides that periods of insurance in Ireland and in Japan may be taken into account, where necessary, by either State in order to qualify for certain benefits and pensions.

In the case of Ireland the Agreement covers State pension (contributory), State pension (transition), widows and widowers (contributory) pension, guardian’s payment (contributory), invalidity pension and bereavement grant.

The Agreement also contains provisions which allow workers in one State, who are sent temporarily by an employer to work in the territory of the other State, to remain attached to the social security system of the first State for a period up to 5 years.

3. In applying paragraph 1 or 3 of Article 7, in the case of a person who has been working in the territory of a Contracting State prior to the entry into force of this Agreement, the period of detachment or self-employed activity referred to in paragraph 1 or 3 of Article 7 shall be considered to begin on the date of entry into force of this Agreement.

4. Decisions made before the entry into force of this Agreement shall not affect any rights to be established by virtue of this Agreement.

5. The application of this Agreement shall not, for a beneficiary, result in any reduction in the amount of benefits to which entitlement was established before the entry into force of this Agreement.

6. Where an application for benefit, or for a revised determination in accordance with this Article, is made within two years from the date of entry into force of this Agreement, any right arising from the implementation of this Agreement shall be acquired on that date or on the earliest relevant date thereafter. If the application is made after two years from the date of entry into force of this Agreement, the date of effect of the determination will be subject to the legislation of the relevant Contracting State.

Article 25

Entry into Force

This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the month in which the Contracting States shall have completed an exchange of diplomatic notes informing each other that their respective constitutional requirements necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement have been fulfilled.

Article 26

Duration and Termination

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

9

th November

, 2010.

WHEREAS the arrangements in respect of matters relating to social security set out in the Agreement in the Schedule to this Order (hereinafter called “the Agreement”) were made by the Government of Ireland with the Government of Japan;

AND WHEREAS it is provided in Article 25 that the Agreement will come into force on the first day of the third month following the month in which each Contracting Party shall have received from the other Contracting Party written notification that it has fulfilled all requirements for the entry into force of this Agreement;

AND WHEREAS the aforesaid notifications were exchanged in Dublin on the 9th day of September, 2010,

NOW THEREFORE the Minister for Social Protection, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Sections 4 and 287 of the

Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

(No. 26 of 2005), hereby makes the following Order—