Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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308. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the rationale for a working person in receipt of a widow's pension being unable to claim illness benefit if they fall ill; if there are any other benefits available to a person in this position; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46901/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Widow’s Pension (contributory) is a weekly social insurance payment to those covered by social insurance whose spouse or civil partner has died.

Illness Benefit is the main income support provided to those who cannot work due to illness of any kind and who are covered by social insurance.

If a customer is getting a reduced rate of Widow’s Pension, they may also get a reduced rate of Illness Benefit, so that the combined amount of both payments is not greater than the rate of Illness Benefit to which they are entitled.

However, 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. As a result, people on Widow’s Pension cannot be in receipt of an overlapping second payment, for example Illness Benefit, at the same time.

This department provides long-term payments to those who cannot work due to an illness or disability in the form of Disability Allowance and Invalidity Pension. These are not payable at the same time as Widow's Pension. However, the person may apply for these payments if they are more appropriate to the person's individual needs and circumstances.

People might be eligible to receive one of the supports below in addition to their Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension:

Working Family Payment is a weekly means-tested tax-free payment available to employees with children. A person can receive Working Family Payment (if they meet the criteria) and get a Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension at the same time. Full details are available and updated regularly on the www.gov.ie website. The Widow's, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension is assessed as means.

A person might also be eligible to receive Living Alone Increase, Fuel Allowance or Household Benefits Package depending on their living circumstances and their age.

My Department operates the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, administered by the Community Welfare Service, which provides a number of supports and services to help people facing financial hardship. Under this scheme, the Department may make an additional needs payment to meet essential expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The payment is available to anyone who needs it and qualifies, whether the person is currently on a social welfare payment or working on a low income.

My Department will continue to keep the range of supports under review. However, changing the underlying one person-one payment principle would involve significant additional expenditure which could prove unsustainable in the long-term, and would have to be considered in the overall policy and budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.