S.I. No. 198/1974:

SOCIAL WELFARE (CHILDREN'S ALLOWANCES) (NORMAL RESIDENCE) RULES, 1974.

SOCIAL WELFARE (CHILDREN'S ALLOWANCES) (NORMAL RESIDENCE) RULES, 1974.

The Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by subsection (2) of section 5 of the Children's Allowances (Amendment) Act, 1946 (No. 8 of 1946) hereby prescribes the following Rules for determining for the purpose of subsection (1) of the said section 5 with whom a qualified child shall be regarded as normally residing:--

1. These Rules may be cited as the Social Welfare (Children's Allowances) (Normal Residence) Rules, 1974.

2. A qualified child who is resident with more than one of the following persons--

his mother,

his step-mother,

his father,

his step-father,

shall be regarded as normally residing with the person first so mentioned and with no other person.

3. A qualified child who is resident with one only of the persons mentioned in Rule 2, shall be regarded as normally residing with that person and with no other person provided, where that person is the mother, who is not a widow or a married woman living apart from her husband, and who is herself a member of a household, that this Rule shall not apply in respect of the child unless the mother so elects and, in the absence of such an election, the person with whom the child shall be regarded as normally residing shall be determined in accordance with Rule 7.

4. A qualified child, whose mother is alive and who is resident elsewhere than with a parent or a step-parent, shall, where his mother is entitled to his custody whether solely or jointly with any other person, be regarded as normally residing with his mother and with no other person.

5. A qualified child, whose father is alive and who is resident elsewhere than with a parent or a step-parent, shall, where his father is entitled to his custody whether solely or jointly with any person other than his mother, be regarded as normally residing with his father and with no other person.

6. A qualified child, whose mother has re-married and is living with the child's step-father, and who is resident elsewhere than with his mother and step-father, shall, where his mother is entitled to his custody whether solely or jointly with any other person, be regarded as normally residing with his mother and with no other person.

7. A qualified child, to whom none of the foregoing rules applies, shall be regarded as normally residing with the woman who has care and charge of him in the household of which he is normally a member and with no other person provided that where there is no such woman in that household he shall be regarded as normally residing with the head of that household and with no other person.

8. Where the normal residence of a qualified child falls to be determined under Rule 4, Rule 5 or Rule 6 and the person with whom he would thus be regarded as normally residing has abandoned or deserted the child or has failed to contribute to the child's support, the relevant Rule shall cease to apply in respect of that child and the person with whom the child shall be regarded as normally residing shall be determined in accordance with Rule 7.

9. A qualified child who is a refugee from another country shall be regarded as normally residing with the woman who has care and charge of him in the household, in the State, of which he is for the time being a member and with no other person provided that where there is no such woman in that household he shall be regarded as normally residing with the head of that household and with no other person.

10. These Rules shall come into operation on the 3rd day of July, 1974.

11. The Social Welfare (Children's Allowances) (Normal Residence) Rules, 1967 ( S.I. No. 120 of 1967 ) are hereby revoked.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare this 24th

day of June, 1974.

BRENDAN CORISH,

Minister for Social Welfare.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

For the purposes of the Social Welfare (Children's Allowances) Acts a qualified child can be regarded as normally residing only with one person. These Rules, which supersede the Social Welfare (Children's Allowances) (Normal Residence) Rules, 1967, determine the person with whom a qualified child shall be regarded as normally residing. They contain the provisions necessary to ensure that title to a children's allowance is now vested in the mother of the child in the first instance and not, as previously, in the father of the child.