Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 February 2026
715. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports available to parents who do not qualify for the bereaved parent grant due to the fact their wife/husband/civil partner/cohabitant passed away before 21 July 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7460/26]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2025 was enacted on 21 July 2025.
The provisions of the Act were as a result of a Supreme Court judgment, on 22nd January 2024, 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) was inconsistent with the Constitution insofar as it excluded the claimant from the category of persons entitled to a Widower's Contributory Pension benefit from it.
As a result of the Supreme Court decision the Department reviewed its schemes and decided that further schemes would be amended along the same lines as Widow, Widowers Widow’s, Widower’s and Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension to include qualified cohabitants, including the Bereaved Parent Grant.
The Bereaved Parent Grant is paid where there are dependent children at the date of death to meet the expenses in the immediate aftermath of the death. As this scheme was not at issue in the O’Meara case, its provisions had not been found to be inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore there was no basis to make the payment available to qualified cohabitants other than from enactment.
There was no impact on the entitlement to the Bereaved Parent Grant for bereaved spouses or civil partners who had an entitlement to the Grant on or before the enactment of the 2025 Act on 21 July 2025.
Where a parent/guardian may not be eligible for the Bereaved Parent Grant, they may be entitled to a range of other payments made by my Department to parents such as Child Benefit, Carer's Benefit or Carer's Allowance, and the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance. While each of these payments have their own qualifying criteria, the civil status of each applicant is not a factor. In addition, for those parents who are parenting alone, they may be eligible for the means tested One Parent Family payment or Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment, depending on the age of their youngest child.
Under the Supplementary Allowance scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income, which may include help with funeral and burial expenses. This is a more targeted and efficient manner of assisting people with bereavement expenses in addition to the range of supports already set out.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
