Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 272: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Wicklow is entitled to an old age pension or free schemes on foot of contributions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18804/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In order to qualify for a State Pension (Contributory), a minimum of 260 paid reckonable contributions is required, from either employment or self-employment.

The person concerned applied for State Pension (Contributory) in February 2010. His claim was disallowed on 25th February 2010 on the grounds that he does not satisfy the contribution condition as he only has a total of 109 paid contributions.

A completed application for Household Benefits was received in this Department from the person concerned on 18 March, 2010. A means test has been issued to him in respect of his wife. On receipt of the information requested a decision will be made on his application.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 273: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the entitlement to a widow's pension for a person who already has a State contributory pension in their own right; the reason both payments are not awarded even though contributions have been made for both; if this decision has ever been legally tested; if it has been examined by any internal or external group, task force, report and so on; and the recommendations and findings of same. [18806/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The social welfare system is primarily a contingency-based system, with entitlement based on defined contingencies, such as sickness, unemployment, old age or widowhood. Primary social welfare legislation provides that only one social welfare payment is payable at any one time. While it can happen that a person may experience more than one contingency at the same time - for example, an unemployed person may become sick - a general principle applies whereby even if a person experiences more than one of the contingencies at any one time, he or she only receives one of those payments. This principle is common to social security systems across the world.

However, the legislation also provides that regulations may be made to enable more than one of the payments to be paid concurrently and, where applied, it is usually in the context of short-term benefits. For instance, persons in receipt of widows/widowers pension can, at the same time, receive short-term social insurance benefits such as illness benefit or unemployment benefit, at half rate.

In terms of the examination of the current process of single payments by any group or task force the most recent review of these schemes in contained in The report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes (June 2009) which recommends changes to the eligibility conditions of social welfare schemes to eliminate second welfare payments, so that claimants already in receipt of a primary weekly social welfare payment should not qualify for payment under another scheme. The Group also recommends that the Department of Social Protection includes explicitly the role of the Widows'/Widowers' Pension if it undertakes a future review of working-age social transfers in this context. No legal challenge has been undertaken to date in this regard.