SOME 500 extra people each year are due to qualify for a weekly social welfare payment worth between €242.90 and €289.30.
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary today confirmed that he has secured Government approval to draft legislation that will allow people who are not married to receive the ‘widow’s pension‘.
It follows a Supreme Court decision last year that ruled widower John O’Meara can avail of the pension payment after his partner of 20 years, who he never married, passed away in 2021.
However, ‘Widow’s Pension’, now renamed the Bereaved Partner’s Contributory Pension, will not open up for newly qualified people until after the new legislation is enacted.
It is currently a weekly payment to the husband, wife or civil partner of a deceased person.
The Bill proposes to extend eligibility to the payment to qualified cohabitants who are in an intimate and committed relationship for two years where there is a child or children of the relationship.
Couples that do not have a child must be in a relationship for at least five years in order to qualify for the payment.
The same rules for eligibility for cohabitants will be applied to the other schemes such as the Non-Contributory version of the Pension, and the Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant.
There will be no time restrictions on when the bereavement of the qualified cohabitant occurred, provided the rules are met.
But it was confirmed this afternoon that the payment will only be backdated for those who have newly qualified until January 2024.
Contributory pension payments will commence on the date of the Supreme Court judgment on January 22 of last year, or later if the death is after this date.
The payment is expected to cost the State around €50 million each year.
WHO QUALIFIES?
In order to qualify, one of the criteria is that a person must be a legal widow, widower, or surviving civil partner.
Entitlement is based on either the claimant or their late spouse’s or civil partner’s social insurance record.
All contributions must have been made before the death of the spouse or civil partner.
The two records cannot be combined when calculating entitlement.
HOW MUCH IS PAYMENT?
Persons aged under 66 will receive €249.50 weekly while those aged 66 or over will be paid €289.30 if they have made 48 or more contributions to PRSI.
People who have made between 36 and 47 contributions will receive €245.70 if they are under 66 while those 66 or over will qualify for a €283.70 weekly payment.
Anyone aged under 66 who has made between 24 and 35 contributions will take in €242.90 each week while people aged 66 and over who made the same number of contributions will receive €277.
There are over 150,000 cohabiting couples in Ireland and it is expected that changes will see around 500 more people become eligible for the pension payment every year.
The pension currently remains payable while you remain widowed or a surviving civil partner.
If you re-marry or start to cohabit, it is no longer payable.
‘IMPORTANT SAFEGUARD’
Minister Calleary today told how he is “delighted” to have secured approval to publish the Bill and described the step forward as an “important financial safeguard” for those who are grieving.
He said: “Once enacted, this legislation will provide surviving qualifying cohabitants with access to the Bereaved Partner’s Contributory Pension.
“This is an important financial safeguard for individuals and families who are grieving.
“The loss of a loved one does not discriminate between those who are married or those that lived together in committed relationships.
“The Supreme Court recognised that such distinction was unequal when it came to the Widower’s Contributory Pension.
“With this legislation, we will ensure that a significant financial support is available to grieving partners equally.
“I would like to acknowledge the O’Meara family whose loss of a mother and partner, lead to the legal challenge that ultimately overturned the law.”
