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Social Welfare Eligibility

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 December 2020

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Questions (394)

Thomas Pringle

Question:

394. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a surviving person who was jointly assessed with their deceased partner by her Department for all other entitlements is excluded from the widowed or surviving civil partner grant; if she will consider amending the legislation governing the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41714/20]

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Written answers

The widowed or surviving civil partner grant is a once-off payment of €6000 and is available to widows, widowers or surviving civil partners who have one or more dependent children living with them at the date of death, or a widow or surviving civil partner whose child is born within 10 months of the date of death of her spouse or civil partner. The applicant must also qualify for certain Social Protection payments.

Because of the varied nature of the many schemes administered by my Department, qualifying criteria and conditions for receipt of a scheme will vary depending on a number of circumstances. These circumstances may include marital status, assessable means or PRSI contributions.  The reason a partner does not receive a widowed or surviving civil partner grant in the circumstances outlined by the Deputy is that the person has not entered into marriage or a civil partnership with the person they were co-habiting with. Entering into a marriage or civil partnership is a legal act, which confers both rights and obligations on both parties that do not exist in law between co-habiting couples. 

The legal context governing relationships such as marriage is regulated by the Minister for Justice.  Aside from the wider legal issues regarding the status of marriage and civil partnerships, which is a much broader policy area than its implications under the remit of my Department, extending the current provisions to people who have not undertaken equivalent legal obligations would carry significant costs and would also raise significant issues about scheme criteria.  

Any decision to extend the qualifying criteria for the widowed or surviving civil partner grant would have to be considered in the context of the legal issues that it would raise both for this scheme and across the social welfare system more generally as well as having regard to the budgetary implications.  

Under the supplementary allowance scheme, my Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income, which may include help with bereavement expenses.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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