9.— (1) Section 2(3)(b) of the Principal Act is amended in sub-paragraph (i) by substituting “174(1), 178(4), 178(6), 178A(3),” for “174(1),”.

(2) Section 172(1) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in the definition of “qualified parent” (amended by section 20 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010), by substituting “relevant child” for “qualified child”, and

(b) by inserting the following definitions:

“ ‘relevant child’ means a person who—

(a) is ordinarily resident in the State,

(b) is not detained in a children detention school, and

(c) has—

(i) not attained the age of 14 years, or

(ii) attained the age of 14 years but has not attained the age of 16 years and is a child in respect of whom a payment under Chapter 8A of Part 3 is in payment;

‘relevant date’ means the date of death of—

(a) the spouse of the surviving spouse,

(b) the cohabitant of the surviving cohabitant, or

(c) the civil partner of the surviving civil partner;”.

(3) Section 172A (inserted by section 25 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010) of the Principal Act is repealed.

(4) Section 173 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (1) (amended by section 22 of the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006):

“(1) Subject to this Act and to regulations made under this Act, a payment (in this Act referred to as ‘one-parent family payment’) shall be payable to any of the following persons who has not attained pensionable age:

(a) a qualified parent;

(b) a person to whom section 173A or 173B applies;

(c) a person to whom section 178A(6), 178A(7) or 178A(8) applies.”,

(b) in subsection (2) (amended by section 20 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010), by substituting “person” for “qualified parent” in each place in which it occurs,

(c) in subsection (3) (amended by section 25 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010), by substituting “person” for “qualified parent”,

(d) in subsection (5) (amended by section 25 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010), by substituting “person” for “qualified parent” in each place in which it occurs, and

(e) in subsection (6) by substituting “person” for “qualified parent” in each place in which it occurs.

(5) The Principal Act is amended by substituting the following sections for sections 173A and 173B (amended by section 20 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010):

“Entitlement to one-parent family payment when relevant child attains age of 14 years.

173A.— (1) This section applies to—

(a) a surviving spouse where both spouses of a married couple are, on the relevant date, living together and one of them dies,

(b) a surviving cohabitant where both cohabitants are, on the relevant date, cohabiting and one of them dies, and

(c) a surviving civil partner where both civil partners of a civil partnership are, on the relevant date, living together and one of them dies,

and where the surviving spouse, surviving cohabitant or surviving civil partner is the parent, step-parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian of at least one child who normally resides with that surviving spouse, surviving cohabitant or surviving civil partner and the youngest child has, on the relevant date, attained the age of 14 years.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the reference to 14 years in subsection (1) shall be read as a reference to 16 years where the youngest child is a child in respect of whom a payment under Chapter 8A of Part 3 is in payment.

(3) Subject to subsections (6) to (8) of section 178A, one-parent family payment shall be payable to a surviving spouse, surviving cohabitant or surviving civil partner to whom this section applies for the shorter of—

(a) the period commencing on the relevant date and ending on the day that is 2 years after that date, or

(b) the period commencing on the relevant date and ending on the date that the youngest child attains the age of 18 years.

Entitlement to one-parent family payment in certain circumstances.

173B.— (1) This section applies to—

(a) a surviving spouse where both spouses of a married couple are, on the relevant date, living together and one of them dies,

(b) a surviving cohabitant where both cohabitants are, on the relevant date, cohabiting and one of them dies, and

(c) a surviving civil partner where both civil partners are, on the relevant date, living together and one of them dies,

and where the surviving spouse, surviving cohabitant or surviving civil partner is the parent, step-parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian of at least one child who normally resides with that surviving spouse, surviving cohabitant or surviving civil partner and the youngest child has, on the relevant date, attained the age of 12 years but has not attained the age of 14 years.

(2) For the purposes of this section the reference to 12 years and to 14 years in subsection (1) shall be read as references to 14 years and to 16 years, respectively, where the youngest child is a child in respect of whom a payment under Chapter 8A of Part 3 is in payment.

(3) Subject to subsections (6) to (8) of section 178A, where one-parent family payment is payable to a qualified parent who is a surviving spouse, surviving cohabitant or surviving civil partner referred to in subsection (1), that payment shall, notwithstanding section 172(1), continue to be payable for a period of 2 years commencing on the relevant date.”.

(6) The Principal Act is amended by substituting the following sections for sections 175 to 177:

“ Disqualification.

175.— A person referred to in section 173(1) shall not, if and so long as that person is a cohabitant, be entitled to and shall be disqualified for receiving payment of one-parent family payment.

Continuation of payment.

176.— In the case of—

(a) a person whose spouse or civil partner has been committed in custody to a prison or place of detention for not less than 6 months, or

(b) a person to whom section 178A(6), 178A(7) or 178A(8) applies who is a person whose spouse or civil partner has been committed in custody to a prison or place of detention for not less than 6 months,

one-parent family payment shall continue to be paid for 4 weeks after the release of that person’s spouse or civil partner from a prison or place of detention.

Regulations.

177.— The Minister shall make regulations in relation to one-parent family payment and the regulations may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, specify the circumstances in which, for the purposes of this Chapter—

(a) a person is to be regarded as being a separated spouse,

(b) a civil partner is to be regarded as a civil partner who is not living with the other civil partner of the civil partnership,

(c) a person is to be regarded as being an unmarried person,

(d) a person is to be regarded as being a prisoner’s spouse or civil partner.”.

(7) Section 178A (amended by section 25 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following subsections for subsections (6) to (8):

“(6) Where a person is in receipt of a one-parent family payment immediately before 27 April 2011 and would, but for the fact that the youngest child has attained the age of 14 years on or before 27 April 2011 continue to receive that payment immediately after 27 April 2011, that person shall continue to be eligible for payment as follows:

(a) in 2011, until the youngest child attains the age of 18 years;

(b) in 2012, until the youngest child attains the age of 18 years;

(c) in 2013, until the youngest child attains the age of 17 years;

(d) in 2014, until the youngest child attains the age of 16 years;

(e) in 2015, until the youngest child attains the age of 15 years;

(f) in 2016, until the youngest child attains the age of 14 years.

(6A) For the purposes of subsection (6) where the youngest child has attained the age of 16 years on or before 27 April 2011 and is a child in respect of whom a payment under Chapter 8A of Part 3 is in payment—

(a) subsection (6)(e) shall be read as if ‘16 years’ was substituted for ‘15 years’, and

(b) subsection (6)(f) shall be read as if ‘16 years’ was substituted for ‘14 years’.

(7) Where a person is in receipt of a one-parent family payment immediately before 27 April 2011 and would, but for the fact that the youngest child has—

(a) attained the age of 14 years on or before 27 April 2011, or

(b) attained the age of 14 years but has not attained the age of 16 years on or before 27 April 2011 and is a child in respect of whom a payment under Chapter 8A of Part 3 is in payment,

continue to receive that payment immediately after 27 April 2011, one-parent family payment shall continue to be payable to that person up to the end of an academic year which commences in 2012, where the youngest child who, having attained the age of 18 years, is under the age of 22 years, and is receiving full-time education, in such circumstances as may be prescribed.

(8) Where a person has—

(a) been in receipt of one-parent family payment for a period of 52 consecutive weeks and is disqualified for receipt of that payment on or after 27 April 2011 by virtue of—

(i) having gross weekly earnings in excess of the amount specified in section 173(3), or

(ii) participation in a scheme commonly known as the Back to Education Allowance,

and

(b) but for that disqualification the person would be entitled to that one-parent family payment,

the person shall again become entitled to that payment, subject to, and in accordance with, subsection (6), at the expiration of the disqualification.”,

(b) in subsection (9), by substituting “27 April 2011” for “the commencement of section 172A”, and

(c) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (10):

“(10) Subsections (6), (6A) and (8) shall cease to have effect on 31 December 2016.”.