John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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1189. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to address the current qualifying criteria for the widowed surviving civil partner parent grant; her further plans to extend this grant to children of long-term cohabiting parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33845/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant is a once-off payment to widows, widowers or surviving civil partners with dependent children.

This grant is available to widows, widowers or surviving civil partners who have one or more dependent children living with them at the time of death; or a widow or surviving civil partner whose child is born within 10 months of the date of death of her spouse or civil partner.

In order to qualify for the grant, a person must satisfy certain social insurance conditions and be a widow, widower or (since 1 January 2011) a surviving civil partner, and not be in a cohabiting relationship. The contributions must have been paid on one of the spouse/civil partners’ social insurance records and all must have been made before the death of the spouse/civil partner.

The legal context governing relationships such as marriage is broader than the social protection system. Where that context changes, the social welfare code is examined for appropriate changes, e.g., the scheme was introduced for widows on 1st January 1936; it was extended to widowers on 28th October 1994 in light of gender equality issues that had not been considered in the 1930s; and extended to surviving civil partners from 1st January 2011 following the introduction of civil partnership.

Entering into a marriage or civil partnership is a legal act, which confers both rights and obligations on both parties, which do not exist in a legal sense between co-habiting couples. Widows, widowers and surviving civil partners, who become bereaved, therefore, in addition to their personal loss, also lose someone who had legal duties towards them. In some cases those legal duties were, in part, financial in nature, and the social welfare code recognises that potential loss by providing a pension to them, subject to certain conditions.

At this time, there are no plans to extend the eligibility for the scheme.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.