Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Today, we discuss a significant but overdue change in our social welfare system that seeks to address a long-standing injustice. The social welfare Bill we are discussing is a direct response to the Supreme Court ruling in the O’Meara case delivered in January last year. That ruling exposed the very real inadequacies in the current law. It also reaffirmed the need for a system that is fair, more inclusive and in particular reflective of modern family life. Before I discuss the Bill and some of my concerns, I recognise the remarkable bravery of John O’Meara. In 2021, he lost his partner Michelle to cancer and Covid-19. Even though they had three children together and had been in a long-term committed relationship, Mr. O’Meara was denied the widower’s contributory pension simply because he and Michelle were not legally married. Rather than accepting this unfairness, he took his fight to the courts. It was a fight not just for himself and his children but for thousands of families all over the country who faced that same discrimination. In January last year in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court said section 124 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act was unconstitutional. For years, that provision excluded bereaved cohabiting partners and their children from this essential support. The court’s ruling was clear and was that the law must change to reflect the realities of modern family life.

I wish to welcome key elements of the Bill. The first is the inclusion of cohabiting partners. The Bill extends eligibility to cohabitants who were in an intimate and committed relationship for at least five years or two if they have children. Given there are more than 150,000 cohabiting couples living in Ireland today, this is a necessary and long-overdue correction. It is good to see retrospective implementation. It is up to the date on which the court made its ruling in January last year. There is protection for current recipients that they will not lose any entitlements under the existing legislation.

These are positive changes but while the Bill is a step forward it is far from a complete solution. Some significant issues remain which must be addressed if this Bill is to give the fairness and justice I understand it is designed to give. The first which has already been raised is the loss of entitlement for some bereaved individuals. Under the previous legislation, separated or divorced individuals could qualify for a pension upon their former partner’s death provided they had not remarried or entered into a new cohabiting relationship. This Bill removes that entitlement, leaving those who may have been financially dependent on a former spouse or civil partner without support at an already difficult time. This is a serious and unnecessary omission. I hope in his concluding remarks the Minister can give his thoughts about why that is in there. I do not see the justification. When the joint committee carried out pre-legislative scrutiny in the previous Oireachtas, I understand the committee stated it supported FLAC’s recommendations of retaining the current entitlement of divorced and separated partners to a survivor’s pension and that it should be expanded to surviving qualified cohabitants who were separated, as opposed to taking this levelling-down approach outlined in the general scheme. I welcome the Minster’s comments on that in his summation.

The other issue is proof of cohabitation. While the Bill rightly acknowledges the need to extend pension rights to cohabiting partners, the process for providing proof of cohabitation is quite vague and potentially problematic. It does not clearly define what level of proof will be required to establish a couple was in a committed long-term relationship before the passing of one of the partners. It is important that the legislation should establish clear, transparent and flexible guidelines to reflect the diverse nature of modern relationships. As I said, the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension) Bill is a long-overdue response to a failing in our system identified by the courts. It corrects some injustices and a significant injustice for thousands of people in our country but I am concerned it creates a new injustice for a small group of people. If we do not address that in this Bill as it goes through the Houses, it will lead to an injustice for bereaved partners and their children.

I recognise a lot of work has gone into this Bill. I commend those who have been working on it. I again commend John O’Meara. A number of Deputies rallied behind his campaign over the years. Our responsibility does not end with just remedying the injustice this Bill is designed to. We should not allow it to create new injustices. We have to push for a system and legislation that reflect the real needs of bereaved families irrespective of the format of that family. This Bill is step forward but it is not there yet. I welcome the Minister’s comments later on.

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