Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for addressing this. She has certainly outlined a hardship case. It is hard to disagree with her description of it as a gap in the system that needs to be addressed. I will just outline the current situation and then perhaps from there we can bring this back to the Minister for Social Protection to ensure he is aware of anomalies.

I will first provide an overview of the supports available to widows, widowers, surviving civil partners and qualified cohabitants, and the Illness benefit scheme. The widow’s, widower’s, and surviving civil partner’s pension was renamed as the bereaved partner’s pension on 21 July 2025, the date of enactment of the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. This Act extends eligibility to a qualified cohabitant of the deceased person. The bereaved partner’s pension is a weekly payment to those who have lost their spouse, civil partner or qualified cohabitant and are covered by social insurance.

To qualify for this pension, either the person claiming or their late spouse, civil partner or qualified cohabitant must have a certain number of PRSI contributions and they must not be in a cohabiting relationship. As of August 2025, there were approximately 127,400 people on the scheme. The estimated expenditure for 2025 is approximately €1.9 billion.

The bereaved partner’s non-contributory pension is a means-tested payment payable to a person who does not qualify for the contributory version of the scheme. As of August 2025, there were approximately 1,000 people on the scheme. The estimated expenditure for 2025 is approximately €12 million.

The bereaved parent grant is a once-off payment designed to assist with the income support needs of a bereaved partner with dependent children immediately following the death of his or her spouse or partner. The current rate of payment is €8,000.

Illness benefit is the primary short-term income support provided by the Department of Social Protection to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance. Eligibility for illness benefit depends on the person’s PRSI record and class. As of August 2025, approximately 52,600 people were in receipt of illness benefit. The estimated expenditure for 2025 is approximately €700 million.

With regard to persons in receipt of the bereaved partner's pension being also able to access iIIness benefit, there is a general principle of one person, one payment, which applies across the social welfare system. Given the contingency-based nature of this system, it can happen that a person may experience more than one contingency at the same time but, generally, they can receive only one payment. This principle is common to social security systems across the world. Therefore, in general, illness benefit is not payable concurrently with these pensions. However, if a person is getting a reduced rate of the bereaved partner's pension, they may also get a reduced rate of illness benefit so that the combined amount of both payments reaches the maximum rate of illness benefit to which they would otherwise be entitled.

The supplementary welfare allowance is a means-tested payment for persons struggling financially and can be accessed by customers through their local Intreo office. An exceptional needs payment may also be available to help meet essential, once-off expenditure a person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income.

There is also statutory sick leave for persons in employment. Workers have an entitlement to five statutory sick pay days in a year. Under the scheme, sick pay may be paid by an employer at 70% of a person’s normal pay, up to a maximum of €110 a day.

The Department of Social Protection will continue to keep its range of supports under review to ensure that they meet their overall objectives. I guess that is the chink of light Deputy Butterly might take from that. The Department will keep its schemes under review. As the Deputy can see, there is a principle of one payment per person, a principle that has long existed. In fairness, the Deputy has highlighted a situation very few would find themselves in. I would imagine it would not be a significant or massive cost to the Exchequer to expand it for those types of situations, especially considering the hardship someone like the Deputy's constituent has been through. I will certainly bring that feedback to the Minister for Social Protection.

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