Social Welfare Act, 1999

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Entitlement to grant.

114. (1) Subject to this Act, a bereavement grant shall be payable, to such person or persons as may be prescribed, on the death of—

(a)     (i)  a pensioner,

(ii)  a qualified adult,

(iii)  a spouse of a pensioner,

(iv)  a qualified child in respect of whom an increase of pension specified in paragraphs (a) to (f) in the definition of ‘pensioner’ was being paid at the time of death,

(v)  an orphan, or

(vi)  a person to whom an orphan's (contributory) allowance is payable under section 109,

or

(b)     (i)  an insured person,

(ii)  the spouse of an insured person,

(iii)  the widow or widower of a deceased insured person, or

(iv)  a qualified child other than a qualified child referred to in paragraph (a)(iv),

if the contribution conditions in section 115 are satisfied:

Provided that only one bereavement grant shall be paid by virtue of this section on any one death.

(2) In this Chapter—

‘orphan’ means a person in respect of whom an orphan's (contributory) allowance is payable under Chapter 17;

‘pensioner’ means a person who, at the time of his or her death, was in receipt of one of the following payments:

(a) old age (contributory) pension,

(b) retirement pension,

(c) invalidity pension,

(d) widow's (contributory) pension,

(e) widower's (contributory) pension, or

(f) deserted wife's benefit, or

would have been in receipt of one of the said payments but for receipt by the person of an old age (non-contributory) pension, a blind pension, a widow's or widower's (non-contributory) pension or a carer's allowance at a higher rate;

‘qualified adult’ means a person in respect of whom an increase of benefit specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) in the definition of ‘pensioner’ was being paid at the time of death, or in respect of whom such an increase would have been payable but for the receipt by the qualified adult of an old age (non-contributory) pension, a blind pension or a carer's allowance in his or her own right;

‘qualified child’, in section 114(1)(b), means a person—

(a) who, at the date of death, is under the age of 18 years or over the age of 18 years and under the age of 22 years, and is receiving full-time education, the circumstances of which will be specified in regulations,

(b) who is ordinarily resident in the State on that date, and

(c) in respect of whose death the relevant contribution conditions for bereavement grant are not satisfied by such person's insurance or the insurance of such person's spouse;

‘relevant date’ means the date of death of the deceased person or the date of death of the relevant insured person or the date of attainment of pensionable age of the relevant insured person, whichever occurs first, whether the deceased is the relevant insured person or not;

‘relevant insured person’ means—

(a) in case the deceased person was a qualified child—

(i) the father or mother of such deceased person,

(ii) the person with whom such deceased person at the date of death is determined, in accordance with regulations made under section 3(5), to have been normally residing or with whom he or she would have been normally so residing if he or she had not been committed to a reformatory or an industrial school, or

(iii) the spouse of the person referred to in subparagraph (ii),

or

(b) in any other case, the deceased person or the spouse of the deceased person;

‘yearly average’ means the average per contribution year of contribution weeks in respect of which the relevant insured person has qualifying contributions, voluntary contributions or credited contributions in the appropriate period specified in section 115(1)(b)(ii).

Conditions for receipt.

115. (1) The contribution conditions for a bereavement grant are that before the relevant date the relevant insured person has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than—

(a) 156 contribution weeks since his or her entry into insurance, or

(b) 26 contribution weeks since his or her entry into insurance, and

(i) has qualifying contributions, voluntary contributions or credited contributions in respect of not less than 39 contribution weeks in the last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year in which the relevant date occurs, or

(ii) has a yearly average of 39 qualifying contributions, voluntary contributions or credited contributions for the last 3 or 5 complete contribution years before the beginning of the benefit year in which the relevant date occurs, or

(iii) has a yearly average of 26 qualifying contributions, voluntary contributions or credited contributions since his or her entry into insurance or the beginning of the contribution year commencing on the 6th day of April, 1979, (whichever is the later) and ending at the end of the last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year in which the relevant date occurs, or

(iv) has a yearly average of 26 qualifying contributions, voluntary contributions or credited contributions since his or her entry into insurance or the beginning of the contribution year next following the 1st day of October, 1970, (whichever is the later) and ending at the end of the last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year in which the relevant date occurs.

(2) Regulations may provide for modifications of the contribution conditions for receipt of bereavement grant.

(3) Regulations may provide for modifications of the contribution conditions for bereavement grant in the case of a person who was an insured person on the 1st day of October, 1970, and who, during the year subsequent to that date, was absent from the State for any period or was credited with contributions in respect of any period of unemployment, incapacity for work or retirement or is or becomes a voluntary contributor paying contributions at the rate specified in section 22(1)(b)(ii).

Amount of grant.

116. Subject to this Act, the amount of bereavement grant shall be as set out in column (2) of Part V of the Second Schedule.”