Vol. 488 No. 4
21 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will consider the introduction of a pension supplement for recipients of old age pension who due to the death of a spouse or partner receive an income of approximately 50 per cent of that for which they qualified prior to the bereavement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6344/98]
Following the death of a recipient of a social welfare payment or his or her spouse the payment is continued at the same rate for 6 weeks in circumstances where both spouses had a separate entitlement, provided one or both of the entitlements was a non-contributory old age pension, a blind pension or a carer's allowance, or where the payment includes a payment for a qualified adult. The payment does not arise where each spouse had an independent entitlement to an insurance-based contributory pension.
Allowing a surviving spouse to permanently receive a pension supplement after the death of the spouse, as suggested by the Deputy, would have cost implications and would also raise equity issues as a surviving spouse would then be in receipt, on an ongoing basis, of a greater payment than a pensioner on a personal rate only.
