S.I. No. 288 of 2006

SOCIAL WELFARE (CONSOLIDATED PAYMENTS PROVISIONS) (AMENDMENT) (No. 8) (CARERS AND HOMEMAKERS) REGULATIONS 2006

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 4, 99, 100, sub-section (2) of section 108 (as amended by section 8 of the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006 (No. 5 of 2006)), 179, 224, 225 and 241(1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26 of 2005), hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and construction.

1.(1)  These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 8) (Carers and Homemakers) Regulations 2006.

(2)  These Regulations and the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) Regulations 1994 to 2006 shall be construed together as one and may be cited as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) Regulations 1994 to 2006.

Commencement.

2.  These Regulations come into operation in so far as they relate to carer's benefit, carer's allowance, and respite care grant on 1 June 2006.

Definition.

3.  In these Regulations -�the Principal Regulations-� means the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) Regulations 1994 ( S.I. No. 417 of 1994 ).

Carer's benefit, carer's allowance and respite care grant - amendments to hours worked etc.

4.  The Principal Regulations are amended -

(a)  in article 35E (amended by article 4(a) of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 2) (Carers) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 145 of 2006 )) by substituting the following for sub-articles (1), (2) and (3):

-�Conditions and circumstances under which a carer may engage in employment, self-employment, training and education.

35E (1)  Where it is shown to the satisfaction of a deciding officer or an appeals officer that adequate provision has been made for the care of the relevant person, a carer may-

(a)  engage, subject to sub-article (2), in employment, or

(b)  engage, subject to sub-article (3), in self-employment, or

(c)  undertake such training or courses of education as the Minister may from time to time determine,

provided that the aggregate duration of the activities outside the home referred to in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) shall not exceed 15 hours per week.

(2)  The earnings derived from employment outside the home under paragraph (a) of sub-article (1) and calculated in accordance with sub-article (4) shall not exceed €290 per week.

(3)  The conditions for the purposes of paragraph (b) of sub-article (1) are that the amount of gross income derived from such self-employment, outside the home, reduced by any expenses necessarily incurred, does not exceed €290 per week.-�,

(b)  in article 86(c)(inserted by article 5(b) of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 4) (Carer's Allowance) Regulations, 1999 ( S.I. No. 256 of 1999 )), by substituting the following:

-�(c)  where it is shown to the satisfaction of a deciding officer or an appeals officer that adequate provision has been made for the care of the relevant person, a carer may -

(i)  engage in employment, or

(ii)  engage in self-employment, or

(iii)  undertake such training or courses of education as the Minister may from time to time determine,

provided that the aggregate duration of the activities outside the home referred to in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) shall not exceed 15 hours per week.-�,

(c)  by substituting for article 93F (as inserted by article 4 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 3) (Respite Care Grant) Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 231 of 2005 )), the following:

-�Certain circumstances in which carer may continue to be regarded as providing full-time care and attention.

93F.  A carer may, for the purposes of Part 5 of the Principal Act, continue to be regarded as providing full-time care and attention to a relevant person where:

(a)  the carer is undergoing medical or other treatment of a temporary nature in an institution for a period or periods amounting to not more than 13 weeks;

(b)  the relevant person is -

(i)  undergoing medical or other treatment of a temporary nature in an institution, or

(ii)  temporarily being cared for by, or temporarily residing with, another person, for a period or periods amounting to not more than 13 weeks;

(c)  the relevant person is attending -

(i)  a non-residential course of rehabilitation training provided by an organisation (being an organisation recognised by the Minister for Health and Children for the purposes of the provision of such training), or

(ii)  a non-residential place of day care approved by the Minister for Health and Children,

or

(d)  for the purposes of respite care grant payable in respect of full-time care and attention provided on or after 1 June 2006, the carer is undertaking such training or course of education outside the home as the Minister may determine from time to time, subject to the limits with respect to duration imposed by article 93H(3).-�.

and

(d)  by substituting for article 93H (as inserted by article 4 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 3) (Respite Care Grant) Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 231 of 2005 )), the following:

-�Conditions and circumstances under which a carer may engage in employment, self-employment, training and education.

93H (1)  For the purposes of a respite care grant payable in respect of full-time care and attention provided in respect of a period which includes 2 June 2005, where it is shown to the satisfaction of a deciding officer or an appeals officer that adequate provision has been made for the care of the relevant person, a carer may, subject to sub-article (2), engage in employment, self-employment, or both.

(2)  The aggregate hours of employment, self-employment or both outside the home shall not exceed 10 hours in any week.

(3)  For the purposes of a respite care grant payable in respect of full-time care and attention provided on or after 1 June 2006, where it is shown to the satisfaction of a deciding officer or an appeals officer that adequate provision has been made for the care of the relevant person, a carer may engage in employment or self-employment provided that where the employment or self-employment is outside the home the aggregate duration of such employment or self-employment and any training or course of education referred to in article 93F(d) shall not exceed 15 hours per week.-�.

Saver.

5.  Where, immediately before the commencement of these regulations, a person is in receipt of or entitled to carer's benefit or carer's allowance, article 4 shall not have the effect of reducing the rate of that benefit or allowance for the duration of that person's continuous entitlement to that benefit or allowance.

Prescribed time for making application to be regarded as a homemaker.

6.  The Principal regulations are amended in article 102A by substituting the following for sub-article (2) (as amended by the Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 2) (Homemakers) Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 186 of 2005 )):

-�(2)  Where a person has commenced as a homemaker on or after the 6^th day of April 1994 and not later than the 31^st day of December 2006, an application to be regarded as a homemaker shall be made not later than the 31^st day of December 2007.-�.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

For the purposes of Carer's Benefit, Carer's Allowance and Respite Care Grant, Social Welfare legislation currently provides that a carer, who has made appropriate care arrangements, may engage in employment and for Respite Care Grant purposes, self-employment, for a maximum of 10 hours per week and still be considered to be providing full-time care and attention to the care recipient.

These regulations amend the legislation to provide that the care giver may engage, outside the home, in employment, self-employment or participate in training or education courses approved by the Minister, for an aggregated maximum of 15 hours per week.

These regulations also provide for the extension of the time limit within which an application to become a homemaker for the purposes of Old Age (Contributory) pension may be made. The new registration deadline for an applicant who commenced homemaking during the period 6 April 1994 to 31 December 2006, is 31 December 2007.