Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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467. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his intentions to enact the Bereaved Partner’s Pension Bill; and if, in light of the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the O’Meara family, eligibility and payments will be backdated from the date of the ruling. [9362/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Under the law as currently enacted, entitlement to a Widows, Widowers or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory pension is only available to a surviving partner who was party to a marriage or civil partnership.

As the Deputy is aware, on 22nd January 2024, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the entitlement of an unmarried cohabitant to a Widower's Contributory Pension. The Supreme Court judgment overruled a previous High Court decision and found in favour of the claimant and his children.

In simple terms, the Court found that section 124 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (as amended) is inconsistent with the Constitution insofar as it excluded the claimant from the category of persons entitled to benefit from it. The Court reached that conclusion on the basis of the equality guarantee contained in Article 40.1 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court judgment notes that to resolve the issue raised by the judgment, a legislative amendment is required.

In June 2024, the then Government approved the priority drafting of the legislative changes required to respond to the Supreme Court decision. The General Scheme of a Bill was referred to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for priority drafting and to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny. The Committee issued its report and recommendations on the 26th of July 2024.

The draft legislation raised a number of complex issues that required the advices of the Office of the Attorney General and ongoing engagement between officials in the Department of Social Protection and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. I am pleased to say that I obtained Government approval today to publish the Bill and for its presentation to the Dail. This will happen in the coming days.

As with the General Scheme, the Bill proposes that pension payments will be back-dated to the date of the judgment in January 2024 or the date of death if later.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.