Mr. Christopher Bowes:

I will deal the question of arrears first. For the sake of clarity, it is important to say that the general scheme does not deal at all with the period prior to 22 January 2024. It just deals with the date of the Supreme Court onward, so anything else the Senator mentioned, like an ex gratia scheme, is not covered under or does not arise under this general scheme. As we stated in our submission, there are questions even around the approach that would be taken, and maybe this is more a matter of the Department's own approach as a matter of policy in how it deals with arrears for respective periods from 22 January 2024 until the date of enactment.

I will move on to the definition of "cohabitation" that is used. The definition of "qualified cohabitant" from the 2010 legislation that deals with civil partnership and cohabitation is used. As we said in our submission, we are happy with that definition just because it is an existing legal definition that performs as a good basis. The particular benefit of that approach is that the courts have experience of making decisions on the basis of who satisfies that definition, and that could inform the approach the Department of Social Protection and its deciding officers take. There are specific provisions in the general scheme around the introduction of legislation to support decision-making in respect of that definition. I refer here to regulations that would specify the kind of documentation that needs to be provided by someone who has suffered a bereavement to establish they were a qualified cohabitant with their deceased partner. From that perspective, we would be happy with the definition being used in the general scheme.