Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 July 2025
235. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Health whether the widow or widower of a person formerly employed by the health service, predating the introduction of PRSI for public servants, has an entitlement to a pension equal to half of said employee's pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36277/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraMost pre-existing public service pension schemes, including those in the Health Service, make provision for survivor’s benefits in the event of the member’s death e.g. payment of a pension to a surviving spouse and/or dependent children. Such benefits are provided by way of a separate Spouses’ and Children’s Pension Scheme that is associated with the main occupational pension scheme that the public servant is a member of. The Single Scheme also makes provision for both personal pension benefits and survivor benefits in one scheme.
A survivor’s pension will be paid where the public servant was a member of the Spouses’ & Children’s Pension Scheme, irrespective of the PRSI class.
Spouses’ and Children’s Pension Schemes were introduced in the public service at different points in time. Membership of such schemes is generally compulsory for any person joining the associated main scheme on or after the date of introduction of the relevant Spouses’ and Children’s Pension Scheme while staff serving at the time such schemes were introduced were generally given a time-limited option to join or opt-out. Membership of the revised Spouses’ & Children’s Pension Scheme for all new employees is compulsory since 01 January 1986. The original Spouses’ & Children’s Scheme (known as the Widow’s & Orphan’s Scheme) was compulsory for male employees from the 1970s and for female employees from September 1984.
A spouse’s pension may be payable following the death of a member, to the member’s surviving legal spouse. The rate of pension payable will depend on the benefits accrued by the deceased member and generally comprises 50% of the deceased member’s pension. The method of calculating the deceased member’s pension will depend on whether the member died in service, in retirement or in retirement where retirement was on health grounds, and on their PRSI classification. For example, assuming retirement at normal retirement age -
• Officers who pay Class D PRSI retire with a non-integrated (or uncoordinated) retirement benefit. On the death of the member the spouse’s pension is 50% of the deceased’s pension.
• Officers who pay Class A PRSI retire with an integrated (or coordinated) retirement benefit. On the death of the member the spouse’s pension is 50% of the deceased’s pension. However, the deceased’s pension is based on a notional figure arrived at by the formula PR – CSP, where:
- PR is the deceased officer's pensionable remuneration; and
- CSP is the annual rate of Contributory State Pension payable - on the last day of the deceased officer's pensionable service - by the Department of Social Protection to a single person without dependants.
There are factors relating to an individual’s membership options and type of retirement which may impact on the entitlement and rate of the pension in certain cases.
