Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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327. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the details of any pension schemes, occupational, private or public, which have requirements that potential payees under the widow's benefits element be notified before a certain time, such as under the a gold digger clause, that may allow for same sex couples to be denied succession rights on a pension due to the short timeframe since the Marriage Act 2015, in tabular form. [11796/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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There is no age criteria attached to the widow's, widower's and surviving civil partner’s pension, or criteria requiring such a marriage or civil partnership to have been entered into before a certain age. Provided a person was legally married or in a civil partnership at the time of the bereavement, and provided the other conditions such as PRSI are met, a person may qualify for a payment.

As regards the State pension, a pensioner’s partner may qualify for an Increase for a Qualified Adult if they are wholly or mainly maintained by them. This payment can be made regardless of whether they are married, in a civil partnership, or simply cohabiting. A cohabitant is one of two adults (whether of the same or opposite sex) who live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship and who are not close relatives.

Private pension schemes (such as occupational pension scheme) are matters for pension scheme members, their employers, and the scheme trustees. My Department does not hold records of individual pension schemes and their rules (such as any “gold digger clause” in specific pension schemes). Therefore I cannot provide the information sought in tabular form.

Under the provisions of the Pensions Act, persons in civil partnerships, in same sex marriages or in opposite sex marriages are treated equally. Broadly speaking, pension scheme rules may provide :-

- That spousal pension benefits will be paid where the member is married at the point of retirement;

- That spousal pension benefits will be paid where the member is married at the point of death;

Under 1, where a same sex couple marry subsequent to the member's retirement, no pension would be payable. This also applies to an opposite sex couple, so there is no breach of the principle of equal pensions treatment.

Under 2, where a same sex couple marry subsequent to retirement, but before the member's death, a spousal pension would be payable. This would also be the case for a same sex couple.

Any changes to pension scheme rules would be required to apply equally to persons in civil partnerships, in same sex marriages or in opposite sex marriages.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.