CHAPTER 15

Death Grant

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

(a) an insured person,

(b) the wife or husband of an insured person,

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

(d) a qualified child,

if the contribution conditions in section 108 are satisfied, but only one death grant shall be paid by virtue of this section on any one death.

(2) For the purposes of this section, in item 2 of Part VI of the Second Schedule and section 108 (2) “qualified child” means a person—

(a) who is under the age of 18 years at the date of death,

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

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

108. —(1) The contribution conditions for a death grant are—

(a) that before the relevant date the relevant insured person has qualifying contributions in respect of not less than 26 contribution weeks since his entry into insurance or since 1st October, 1970, (whichever is the later), and

(b) that either—

(i) the relevant insured person has qualifying contributions, voluntary contributions or credited contributions in respect of not less than 48 contribution weeks in the last complete contribution year before the beginning of the benefit year in which the relevant date occurs, or

(ii) the yearly average in respect of the period commencing at the beginning of the contribution year in which his entry into insurance occurred or the beginning of the contribution year next following 1st 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 is not less than 48.

[1974(No, 1), s. 7]

(2) In this Chapter “relevant insured person” means—

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

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

(ii) the person with whom such deceased person at the date of death is determined, in accordance with regulations made under section 2 (6), to have been normally residing or with whom he would have been normally so residing if he had not been committed to a reformatory or an industrial school, or

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

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

“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;

“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 subsection (1) (b)(ii).

[1952, s. 14]

(3) Regulations may provide for modifications of the contribution conditions for receipt of a death grant but, where such regulations are proposed to be made, a draft thereof shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

[1952, s. 28B; 1970, s. 10]

(4) Subject to subsection (5), regulations may provide for entitling to a death grant persons who would be entitled thereto but for the fact that the contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (b) is not satisfied.

(5) Regulations under subsection (4) shall provide that a death grant payable by virtue thereof shall be of an amount less than that specified in Part VI of the Second Schedule , and the amount specified in the regulations may vary with the extent to which the relevant contribution condition set out in subsection (1) (b) is satisfied.

[1952, s. 66B; 1970, s. 16]

(6) Regulations may provide for modifications of the contribution conditions for a death grant in the case of a person who was an insured person on 1st 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 11 (1) (b) (ii).

109. —Subject to this Part, the amount of a death grant shall be as set out in column (2) of Part VI of the Second Schedule .