Vol. 398 No. 6
26 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Finance if the pensions anomaly in respect of widowers has been removed for spouses of Deputies and Senators by an amendment to the Houses of the Oireachtas pensions scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
As the Deputy is aware, the Houses of the Oireachtas (members) pension scheme was extensively revised in 1986. The amending scheme provided, inter alia, that the definition of “widow” for pension purposes should be extended to cover widowers. Accordingly the surviving spouses of deceased female members of the Oireachtas now have the same pension entitlements as the spouses of male members.
