(1) The Health Contributions Act, 1979, is hereby amended by -

(a) the substitution for paragraph (b) of section 5 (1) of the following paragraph:

"(b) if the individual has, by virtue of section 45 of the Act of 1970, full eligibility for services under Part IV of that Act, the health contribution payable under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not be payable.", and

(b) the insertion after section 7 of the following section:

"Exemption from and refund of health contributions.

7A.

(1) An individual referred to in section 4 shall not be liable to pay health contributions -

(a) in respect of any payment on account of emoluments made in any contribution year if his reckonable income consists of emoluments only in that year and the amount of the payment does not exceed an amount equal to £173 where the period in respect of which the payment is made is a week or a corresponding amount where the period in respect of which the payment is made is greater or less than a week, or

(b) in respect of his reckonable income for a contribution year if such income does not consist of emoluments only and the amount of that income does not exceed £9,000 in that year.

(2) Where an individual's reckonable income for a contribution year did not exceed £9,000, any health contributions deducted from emoluments forming part of that reckonable income shall be repaid to that individual.".