Mr. Christopher Bowes:

I will start with the Deputy's question about the rationale for the changes in the 2025 Bill. We touched on a few of them already. I highlight that one rationale which has been raised is that there is an attempt to achieve equality. Because divorced and separated people have the entitlement at the moment, the intention is to add cohabitants. However, the Bill is not adding separated cohabitants. The suggestion is that if separated cohabitants are not added, there is an equality between separated cohabitants and divorced and separated people who are married or in civil partnerships. Our response to that is to put in separated cohabitants. It would not be as complex to adjudicate as one might expect because the threshold is so high to establish that one is a qualified cohabitant and there is a system for assessing it. We think it would be possible to introduce that.

On legislation around widow's and widower's pensions in other European countries, and their approach to cohabitation, we might have to come back to the Senator.