S.I. No. 96/1977:

SOCIAL WELFARE (OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1977.

SOCIAL WELFARE (OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1977.

The Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 3 of the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952 ), and section 1 of the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 (No. 16 of 1966), hereby makes the following Regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) (Amendment) Regulations, 1977.

(2) These Regulations and the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Regulations, 1967 to 1976, may be cited together as the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Regulations, 1967 to 1977.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 4th day of April, 1977.

3. In these Regulations--

"the Principal Regulations" means the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Regulations, 1976 ( S.I. No. 77 of 1967 );

"the Regulations of 1976" means the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) (Amendment) Regulations, 1967 ( S.I. No. 76 of 1976 ).

4. Article 4 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended--

(a) by the substitution in subarticle (2) (a) of "£13.60" for "£11.90" (inserted by the Regulations of 1976), and

(b) by the substitution in subarticle (2) (b) of "£5.75" for "£5" (inserted by the Regulations of 1976),

and the Article, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this Article.

TABLE.

4. (1) Subject to the following provisions of this article, a person under the age of sixteen years shall be entitled to injury benefit in accordance with the provisions of subsections (1) to (4) of section 8 of the Act.

(2) The weekly rate of injury benefit in the case of any such person shall, subject to the provisions of section 25 of the Act, be--

(a) £13.60 where the relevant employment or (if more than one) the relevant employments was, or amounted in the aggregate to, full time employment or substantially full time employment;

(b) £5.75 in any other case;

and such injury benefit shall not be payable otherwise than to a parent or guardian of such person or to a person appointed by the Minister to receive the benefit on behalf of such person.

(3) In the last foregoing subarticle, "relevant employment" means any employment in which the person under the age of sixteen years was or would but for the relevant injury have been employed during the week in which as the result of the relevant injury he first became incapable of work.

5. Article 9 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended--

(a) by the substitution in subarticle (a) of "£6.55", "£3.30" and "£9.85", respectively, for "£5.70", "£2.85" and "£8.55" (inserted by the Regulations of 1976), and

(b) by the substitution in subarticle (b) of "£13.10" for "£11.40" (inserted by the Regulations of 1976),

and this Article, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this Article.

TABLE.

9. The amount by which the weekly rate of disablement pension may be increased under section 13 of the Act where constant attendance is required by a beneficiary as a result of the relevant loss of faculty shall--

(a) where the beneficiary (not being a case to which paragraph (b) of this article relates) is to a substantial extent dependent on such attendance for the necessities of life and is likely to remain so dependent for life or for a period of not less than six months, be £6.55 (unless the attendance so required is part-time only, in which case the amount shall be £3.30) or where the extent of such attendance required is greater by reason of the beneficiary's exceptionally severe disablement, £9.85;

(b) where the beneficiary is so exceptionally severely disabled as to be entirely or almost entirely dependent on such attendance for the necessities of life, and is likely to remain so for life or for a period of not less than six months and the attendance so required is whole-time, be £13.10.

6. (1) The Second Schedule to the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the substitution, for the scale (inserted by the Regulations of 1976) set out in the Schedule, of the scale set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

(2) The weekly rate of pension specified in column (3) of the scale set out in the Schedule to these Regulations shall have effect on and from the 4th day of April, 1977, whether the period taken into account by the assessment began on, before or after that date.

(3) Notwithstanding Article 2 of these Regulations, the amount of a disablement gratuity payable by virtue of this Article shall be payable only where the period taken into account by the assessment of the degree of disablement begins on or after the 4th day of April, 1977.

SCHEDULE.

Scale of Disablement Gratuities and of Weekly Rates of Pension in lieu of Disablement Gratuities.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 28th day of March, 1977.

BRENDAN CORISH,

Minister for Social Welfare.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

Consequent on increases in standard weekly rates of occupational injuries benefits effected by the Social Welfare Act, 1977 , these Regulations amend the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Regulations, 1967 ( S.I. No. 77 of 1967 ) for the purpose of increasing rates of injury benefit payable to persons under age sixteen, amounts of disablement gratuities (and rates of pension which may be substituted therefor) appropriate to degrees of disablement below 20% and rates of constant attendance allowance.