The social welfare system is primarily a contingency-based system, with entitlement based on contingencies such as sickness, unemployment, old age or widowhood.
There are two underpinning principles of the Irish social insurance system; firstly the contributory principle whereby there is a direct link between contributions paid and entitlement to a varying range of benefits and pensions that are payable as a right, if and when particular contingencies arise, and then the solidarity principle whereby contributions paid by insured persons are not actuarially linked to benefits but are instead redistributed to support contributors who are more vulnerable.
Primary social welfare legislation provides that only one social welfare payment is payable at any one time. While it can happen that a person may experience more than one contingency at the same time - for example, an unemployed person may become sick - a general principle applies whereby even if a person experiences more than one of the contingencies at any one time, he or she only can receive one primary social welfare payment at any time.
In relation to those in Budget 2012 introduced changes to a provision whereby those in receipt of widow(er)’s pensions, surviving civil partner's pensions or one parent family payment may have been entitled to half rate jobseeker’s benefit, illness benefit or incapacity supplement if they satisfied the qualifying conditions. With effect from January 2012, these half rate payments ceased for new applicants for jobseeker’s benefit, illness benefit or incapacity supplement.
As I have sought to maintain existing core rates of primary social welfare payments in a very difficult fiscal environment, the continuation of these payments was not possible in an environment where spending has to be significantly curtailed, and if the alternative is to deepen the level of reductions in rates of primary payments to recipients generally.
