Vol. 478 No. 7
199 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will review the social insurance scheme for the self-employed in order to allow contributions to be made from the estate of a deceased participant where up to three contributions are needed to qualify for minimum widow's or widower's pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12253/97]
It is a general feature of insurance systems that the appropriate contributions must have been paid before the contingency arises.
In the case of a widow's or widower's contributory pension, it is necessary to satisfy the contribution conditions at the relevant time, that is on the date the person's spouse died or reached pension age. To qualify a widow or widower may use either her-his own or their late spouse's social insurance record.
The qualification criteria in this regard are considered to be reasonable and I have no plans to amend them.
