Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 12th June, 2012.

I, JOAN BURTON, Minister for Social Protection, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 1 (4) of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 (No. 37 of 2010), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 (Section 4) (Commencement) Order 2012.

2. The 7th day of June 2012 is appointed as the day on which section 4 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 (No. 37 of 2010) comes into operation.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

6 June 2012.

JOAN BURTON,

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 provides for the commencement of Section 4 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 , with effect from the 7th June 2012.

Section 4 enables declarations of unemployment, which are required to prove unemployment for the purposes of claiming jobseeker"s benefit and jobseeker"s allowance, to be made by electronic means in certain cases.