The Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999

Incapacity benefit: restriction to recent contributors

59.—(1) Paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Contributions and Benefits Act (contribution conditions for short-term incapacity benefit) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In sub-paragraph (2) (the first condition), for paragraph (a) there shall be substituted—

“(a) the claimant must have actually paid contributions of a relevant class in respect of one of the last three complete years before the beginning of the relevant benefit year, and those contributions must have been paid before the relevant time; and”.

(3) In sub-paragraph (7) (claim by person who does not satisfy second contribution condition to be disregarded in relation to subsequent claim), after “does not satisfy” there shall be inserted

• “the first contribution condition (specified in sub-paragraph (2) above) or, as the case may be,”.

(4) After sub-paragraph (7) there shall be added—

“(8) Regulations may—

(a) provide for the first contribution condition (specified in sub-paragraph (2) above) to be taken to be satisfied in the case of persons who have been entitled to any prescribed description of benefit during any prescribed period or at any prescribed time;

(b) with a view to securing any relaxation of the requirements of that condition (as so specified) in relation to persons who have been so entitled, provide for that condition to apply in relation to them subject to prescribed modifications.

(9) In sub-paragraph (8)—

• “benefit” includes (in addition to any benefit under Parts II to V of this Act)—

  (a)

  any benefit under Parts VII to XII of this Act, and

  (b)

  credits under regulations under section 22(5) above;

• “modifications” includes additions, omissions and amendments.”.