Death and Bereavement
This section contains details of the death and bereavement schemes administered by the Department.
The bereavement grant is a social insurance benefit which is payable, subject to certain Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to alleviate funeral and other post-bereavement expenses by way of a once-off grant on the death of an insured person. The scheme covers both the insured person and their spouse and dependent children under age 18 (or under age 22 if in full time education).
If a person dies because of an accident at work or occupational disease, Death Benefit may be paid to their dependants. It may also be paid to dependants if at the time of their death the person was getting Disablement Pension for loss of at least half of their physical or mental ability, regardless of the cause of death.
If a person dies as a result of an accident at work or an occupational disease or was getting Disablement Pension assessed at 50% or more at the time of his/her death and leaves a dependent parent(s), a pension may be paid to each parent. To qualify, the parent must have been wholly or mainly maintained by the deceased. The amount of pension depends on whether the deceased was single or married.
Under Death Benefit, a grant is paid by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) or by cheque towards the cost of the funeral expenses.
The Widowed Parent Grant is a payment following the death of a spouse to help with the income support needs of widows and widower's with qualified children. The payment applies to those who were widowed on or after 1st December 1999 with at least one qualified child.