Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 129

Certain claims

Section 129 preserves the right of widows and surviving civil partners to have pension entitlements calculated under historical social welfare rules where this produces a more favourable outcome.

• Pension entitlements linked to contributors who reached specified ages before certain cut-off dates may be calculated under older legislative provisions if advantageous to the surviving spouse or civil partner.
• Three separate transitional cohorts exist: those reaching 69 before 5 January 1976, those reaching 68 before 3 January 1977, and those reaching 67 before 1 January 1979.
• Where a pension was originally awarded under the historical rules based on either the claimant's own or their spouse's insurance record, the right to that pension continues at current rates.
• The yearly average contribution figure used remains the one calculated under the older provisions, even though the actual payment rate updates over time.