News

Budget 2015 Pensioners, the disabled and families with children to benefit from Budget 2015. TAX cuts on income and a new Water Charges Relief. Rise in Health spending with the cost of various fees and schemes frozen. ...

Important updates to the Ombudsman process are now law in Ireland. For widowed people facing issues with social welfare, pensions, mortgage protection, or life insurance claims, these changes promise faster and fairer outcomes.

Comptroller & Auditor General Report Widows’/widowers’/surviving civil partners’ contributory pension is a weekly payment to the husband, wife or civil partner of a deceased person. It is based on the social insurance record (PRSI) of either the...

Managing Alone MABS At a very vulnerable time in life the partner of a deceased person is required to make decisions involving financial matters that s/he may never had to deal with before on their...

New provisions allowing Leaving Certificate students who suffer a close family bereavement during the state examinations in June to sit alternative papers in July.

World’s Largest Medical Study Into What Happens When We Die What happens when we die is an age old question. People who claim of a Near Death Experience get tagged with being called crackpots or peddling...

There are some 259 million widows around the world, and nearly half are living in poverty. Widows are often stigmatized by their families and communities. Many suffer discrimination based on age and gender. Some have lived lives marked by physical and sexual abuse. Older widows often have few economic assets, after a lifetime of hard but unpaid work. Even in developed countries, the value of women’s pensions can be some 40 per cent lower than men’s. Younger widows face other challenges, as heads of households with childcare responsibilities and very limited economic opportunities.

An investigation by the Ombudsman led to over €46,000 in backdated State pension payments being awarded, after a review found that a Department of Social Protection office had provided incomplete advice. The case, included in the recently published 2023 Annual Report, highlights the importance of clear and accurate information when people are making decisions about their entitlements.

The Irish government is introducing the Bereaved Partner’s Pension to extend bereavement benefits to long-term cohabiting partners. The move follows a 2024 Supreme Court ruling and has been broadly welcomed, though advocacy groups are calling for further consultation and key amendments.

The new Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has reminded families that the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be made available again this year, and urged families who are not automatically entitled to make an application before the August deadline. “The support provided through the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance helps parents with the cost of the new school year. The Department of Social Protection has allocated €38.8 million for the payments this year. I want to remind families who do not automatically receive the allowance that they can still make an application before the August deadline,” Minister Varadkar said.