Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The dependent parent's pension scheme is payable to the parent of a person who dies as a result of an occupational accident, provided that the parent has been wholly or mainly maintained by the deceased person. There are only a small number of cases of this payment. After a long and exhaustive search by the Department, the total number of such payments being made came to five. There is no record of an application for this pension being made since 1987. Since then other schemes have emerged which are available to people in such circumstances.

Given the development of the various supports available under the social welfare system over the years, it is unlikely that a parent who may have qualified as being a dependant under the scheme when it was originally introduced in 1967 would not be eligible in their own right for some other form of social welfare support. In the circumstances, the scheme is considered no longer relevant in the current social welfare package of schemes. Taking into account the very small number of people claiming the pension and the alternative income support schemes provided by the Department, it is considered reasonable to discontinue the scheme. The dependent parent's pension will continue to be paid to existing recipients for the duration of their claim.

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