Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis an roghchoiste as ucht an deis seo chun an Bille tábhachtach seo a phlé inniu.

I thank members for attending today and for facilitating Committee Stage of the Bill. As Deputies know, in January of 2024, the Supreme Court overturned my Department's decision not to pay the widower's contributory pension to Mr. Johnny O'Meara. At the outset of this debate, it is important to acknowledge the loss that Johnny O'Meara and his family have suffered. Johnny's long-term partner and the mother of his three children, Michelle Batey, died in January 2021. I met Johnny earlier in the year, along with Deputy Alan Kelly, and was incredibly impressed with his determined desire to see his case through. While no payment from the State can make up for the loss of Michelle, I acknowledge that it was the determination and commitment of Johnny and his family, and all those who supported him, including Deputy Kelly, that have brought about this legislation.

The Supreme Court found that section 124 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 was incompatible with the Constitution, in that it excluded a surviving cohabitant, like Johnny O'Meara, from the payment because he was not a widower or a surviving civil partner.

The Supreme Court judgment recognised that to provide the payment to surviving cohabitants, a legislative amendment would be required. Therefore, the main purpose of the Bill is to extend eligibility for the widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner contributory pension to surviving qualified cohabitations.

In its decision, the Supreme Court noted that the State had already defined cohabitation within the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. Accordingly, the Bill proposes to extend eligibility to the payment to qualified cohabitants who are in an intimate and committed relationship for a period of two years where there is a child or children of the relationship or five years if otherwise. This reflects the definition in the 2010 Act for qualifying cohabitants, as was noted by the Supreme Court in its judgment.

Expanding eligibility for the payment to surviving cohabitants requires several other relevant changes to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. The Bill provides for these changes, as follows. The name of the scheme will change to the bereaved partner’s contributory pension. This is to reflect the more inclusive nature of the payment for all bereaved partners, whether spouses, civil partners or qualifying cohabitants. There will be no time restrictions on when the bereavement of the qualified cohabitant occurred, provided the rules continue to be met.

Payments will commence from 22 January 2024, or later if the death is after this date. The rules on when entitlement to the payment will permanently cease are being amended to remove entitlement where couples are divorced, enter into a new relationship of qualified cohabitation, or two years after the end of the relationship, whether that relationship is based on marriage or cohabitation.

I know this is an issue causing many of the amendments today. We have had discussions with FLAC in this regard. However, these changes are designed to address existing anomalies in the scheme cited by the Supreme Court and to avoid a situation where surviving cohabitants may have greater rights than married or divorced couples or vice versa.

The Bill includes provisions that anyone, including divorcees, currently in receipt of a payment will retain their payment. The same rules for eligibility for cohabitants will be applied to the other schemes, such as the non-contributory version of the pension and the widowed or surviving civil partner grant. Those schemes will be renamed to reflect the more inclusive nature of the payment.

There are a number of other Government amendments, of which I will briefly provide a summary. The first amendment follows a recommendation in the Hamilton review on economic crime. It allows An Garda Síochána to invite a subject matter expert from the Department of Social Protection to participate in an interview of a detained suspect regarding serious social welfare offences. Similar powers exist already for Revenue and for officials of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

The second amendment provides that the invalidity pension must be applied for and obtained before pensionable age. It also provides for the transfer of a small number of people - fewer than 25 - aged over 66 who are currently in receipt of invalidity pension to the contributory State pension.

The third amendment is a technical amendment to correct a typo.

The measures contained in the Bill are a result of the Supreme Court decision in the O’Meara case. They will provide important equality under the scheme to all bereaved partners whether spouses, civil partners or, for the first time, qualifying cohabitants.

Following the review of a number of complex issues and the existing anomalies highlighted by the Supreme Court, this Bill attempts to treat all bereaved couples fairly and equally, both in the context of eligibility for these important financial supports and in the circumstances where entitlement is lost and relationships end.

We all know from our constituencies of people who have lost a partner and have had to deal with the further devastation of not being able to access a widow's or widower's pension. I have met with Treoir, which has highlighted the many people it supports who find themselves in a similar position to Johnny O’Meara. This Bill is about brining certainty and fairness to those people. Once again, I emphasise and acknowledge that this will not compensate people for the loss of their loved one. I know, however, that all Members of the House are keen to see the changes it provides implemented. Gabhaim buíochas arís leis an roghchoiste as a bheith i láthair. Tá mé ag súil leis an díospóireacht.