1. Subject to paragraph 2, the amount of a weekly payment shall be equivalent to 50 per cent. of the employee’s normal weekly remuneration.

F108[2. (1) (a) In this subparagraph "the total amount being paid in respect of a week to a person" means—

(i) in the case of a person normally resident in the State, the total amount being paid to him in respect of the following in a period of interruption of employment commencing on or after the 21st day of June, 1976—

a weekly payment,

unemployment benefit under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976,

unemployment assistance under the Unemployment Assistance Acts, 1933 to 1976,

pay-related benefit under the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973 (No. 2 of 1973)

together with the weekly equivalent (as determined by the Revenue Commissioners) of any refund of income tax which was paid as a result of that interruption of employment

(ii) in the case of a person normally resident in Northern Ireland, the total amount being paid to him in respect of the following in a period of interruption of employment commencing on or after the 21st day of June, 1976—

a weekly payment,

unemployment benefit under the National Insurance Measures (Northern Ireland) 1966 to 1976,

supplementary benefit under the Supplementary Benefits Acts (Northern Ireland) 1966 to 1969,

together with the weekly equivalent (as determined by the appropriate authority for income tax in Northern Ireland) of any refund of income tax which was paid as a result of that interruption of employment.

(b) (i) Subject to subclause (ii) of this subparagraph, the total amount being paid in respect of a week to a person shall not exceed 85 per cent of his average net weekly earnings or £50, whichever is the lesser, but he shall not receive in respect of unemployment benefit, unemployment assistance, pay-related benefit or supplementary benefit less than that to which he would, but for this Act, have been entitled.

(b) (ii) Subclause (i) of this subparagraph shall not apply to a person, who, for the time being, is employed on short-time whereby he works on a lesser number of days in a working week than is normal to the working week in that employment and whose basic earnings are reduced as a result.

(2)(a) In this subparagraph the total amount being paid in respect of a week to a person means—

(i) In the case of a person normally resident in the State, the total amount being paid to him in respect of the following in a period of interruption of employment commencing on or after the 21st day of June, 1976,—

a weekly payment,

disability benefit under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976,

maternity allowance under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976,

pay-related benefit under the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973,

(ii) in the case of a person normally resident in Northern Ireland, the total amount being paid to him in respect of a week in respect of the following in a period of interruption of employment commencing on or after the 21st day of June, 1976,

a weekly payment,

sickness benefit under the National Insurance Acts (Northern Ireland) 1966 to 1976,

maternity allowance under the National Insurance Measures (Northern Ireland) 1966 to 1976,

supplementary benefit under the Supplementary Benefits Acts (Northern Ireland) 1966 to 1969.

(b) The total amount being paid to a person in respect of a week shall not exceed 100 per cent of his normal weekly remuneration or £50, whichever is the lesser, but he shall not receive in respect of disability benefit, sickness benefit, maternity allowance, pay-related benefit or supplementary benefit less than that to which he would, but for this Act, have been entitled.

(3) For the purpose of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, a person’s average net weekly earnings shall be calculated by—

(i) ascertaining his reckonable earnings (within the meaning of the Social Welfare Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973) for his relevant employment period,

(ii) subtracting from those reckonable earnings the amount of income tax deducted from those reckonable earnings and the employee’s portion (if any) of the amount of pay-related contributions payable by him in respect of those earnings,

(iii) dividing the remainder under clause (ii) by the number of complete weeks in his relevant employment period, and

(iv) deducting from the quotient under clause (iii) the employee’s portion (if any) of the employment contribution which was payable by an employee in the employment in which that person was employed in the last week of his relevant employment period.

(v) In the case of a person whose entry into insurance under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976, occurs after the 6th day of April in the relevant employment period, the following shall be substituted for clause (iii) of this subparagraph:

"(iii) dividing the remainder under clause (ii) by the number of complete weeks from his entry into insurance under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976, to the termination of his relevant employment period, and"

(vi) In the case of a person who was employed outside the State during his relevant employment period (other than a person who continued to be insured under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976, while so employed), the following shall be substituted for clause (iii) of this subparagraph:

"(iii) dividing the remainder under clause (ii) by the number of complete weeks during which he was insurably employed under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976, during his relevant employment period, and,"

(vii) In the case of a person who did not receive reckonable earnings (within the meaning of the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973) on or after the last day of the first week of his relevant employment period the following shall be substituted for clauses (i) and (iii) respectively of this subparagraph,

"(i) ascertaining his reckonable earnings (within the meaning of the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973) in the income tax year preceding that in which his relevant employment period falls,

(iii) dividing the remainder under clause (ii) by 52, and"

(viii) In the case of a person (other than a person referred to in clause (vi) of this subparagraph) who proved unemployment or incapacity for work for at least six days since the commencement of his relevant employment period, or in the case of a person referred to in clause (vii) of this subparagraph, in the preceding income tax year, the amount of benefit or unemployment assistance (or of both benefit and such assistance) paid to him under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1976, and the Unemployment Assistance Acts, 1933 to 1976, in respect of such unemployment or incapacity (or in respect of both such unemployment and such incapacity) shall be added to the amount ascertained under clause (i) of this subparagraph, but the amount of any benefit paid to him in respect of incapacity for work for any period in respect of which he also received from his employer reckonable earnings (within the meaning of the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973) shall not be so added.

(ix) For the purposes of this subparagraph, a person’s relevant employment period shall be that period commencing on the 6th day of April of the appropriate income tax year and ending on the date in that year in which he becomes unemployed.

(x) For the purposes of subclause (iv) of this subparagraph, “employment contribution” has the meaning assigned to it by the Social Welfare Act, fli="-5" 1952 (No. 11 of 1952), and includes, where appropriate, a redundancy contribution and also a health contribution within the meaning of section 2 of the Health Contributions Act, 1971 (No. 21) of 1971), at the rate specified in section 3 (1) (a) of that Act.

(4) For the purpose of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, where an initial payment of a refund of income tax paid as a result of a period of interruption of employment has been made to a person, it shall be presumed that he will continue to receive the weekly equivalent of that refund (as determined by the appropriate authority for income tax) until his entitlement to such refunds is exhausted or he resumes employment, whichever first occurs.]

3. Subject to paragraph 2, weekly payment shall, in the case of a person entitled to unemployment benefit, disability benefit, maternity allowance or F109[unemployment assistance or pay-related supplement under the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973 (No. 2 of 1973),] be paid to that person in addition to such benefit.

F110[4. A weekly payment shall not be paid to a person otherwise entitled thereto for any period during which that person is, by virtue of section 15 (2) of the Act of 1952, disentitled to disability benefit or unemployment benefit.]

F110[5. (a) A weekly payment shall not be paid to a person in respect of any period unless during that period the person was not gainfully employed and the fact that he was not so employed could not reasonably be attributed to the person’s own failure or refusal to seek or accept or continue in suitable gainful employment.

(b) A person who is entitled to and in receipt of unemployment benefit or disability benefit under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1970, may be deemed to be not gainfully employed for the purposes of this paragraph.]

6. A person entitled to a weekly payment shall, subject to paragraph 7, be paid one weekly payment in respect of each year of continuous employment after he has attained the age of sixteen years (as calculated in accordance with Schedule 3) with the employer who dismissed him by reason of redundancy F111[or by whom he was employed when he gave notice of intention to claim under section 12; provided that he shall, subject to paragraph 5, in every case be entitled to receive not less than four weekly payments].

F110[7. In calculating years of continuous employment for the purposes of paragraph 6 in relation to a person whose employment is terminated after the commencement of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1971, each period of one year during the whole of which the person entitled to the weekly payment was 41 years of age or older shall be reckoned as two completed years of continuous employment.]

F112[7A. A person entitled to a weekly payment whose employment is terminated after the commencement of the Redundancy Payments (Weekly Payments and Lump Sum) Order, 1974 shall, in addition to his entitlement under paragraphs 6 and 7 be paid one weekly payment in respect of each year of continuous employment during the whole of which that person was 51 years of age or older.]

F113[8. Whenever a person who has received a weekly payment obtains employment or for any reason ceases to receive weekly payments he shall not receive any further weekly payments.]

F113[9. Whenever a person entitled to a weekly payment obtains employment before the expiration of any period mentioned in paragraph 4 (inserted by the Redundancy Payments Act, 1971) he shall not receive a weekly payment.]

10. Nothing in this Schedule shall be construed as conferring on an employee a right to more than one weekly payment in respect of any one week or part of a week.

11. Normal weekly remuneration shall for the purposes of this Schedule be calculated in accordance with paragraphs 13 to 23 of Schedule 3.

12. Where a person’s entitlement to a weekly payment is applicable to part of a week only, the payment in respect of that part of a week shall be calculated by reference to one-sixth of the full weekly payment for each day, excluding Sunday, in that part of the week.

13. Notwithstanding anything in paragraph 5, 8 or 9, a person who is undergoing a course of training arranged or approved by An Chomhairle Oiliúna shall not be disentitled to receive a weekly payment for the period of such training on the ground only that he is ineligible to receive unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance for that period.

14. A person shall not be entitled to a weekly payment unless he is normally resident within the State F111[or Northern Ireland].

F111[15. (1) A person who has lost employment by reason of a stoppage of work which was due to a trade dispute at the factory, workshop, farm or other premises or place at which he was employed shall not be entitled to a weekly payment so long as the stoppage of work continues, except, subject to paragraph 5, in a case where he has, during the stoppage of work, become bona fide employed elsewhere in the occupation which he usually follows or has become regularly engaged in some other occupation.

(2) Where separate branches of work which are commonly carried on as separate businesses in separate premises or at separate places are in any case carried on in separate departments on the same premises or at the same place, each of those departments shall, for the purposes of subparagraph (1), be deemed to be a separate factory, workshop or farm or separate premises or a separate place, as the case may be.

(3) Subparagraph (1) shall not apply to a person who—

(a) is not participating in or financing or directly interested in the trade dispute which caused the stoppage of work, and

(b) does not belong to a grade or class of workers of which, immediately before the commencement of the stoppage, there were members employed at his place of employment any of whom are participating in or financing or directly interested in the dispute.

(4) In this paragraph "trade dispute" means any dispute between employers and employees, or between employees and employees, which is connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or the conditions of employment of any persons, whether employees in the employment of the employer with whom the dispute arises or not.]