Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 135

Conditions for receipt

Section 135 sets out the PRSI contribution conditions that had to be satisfied for a bereavement grant, a one-off payment that was available on the death of an insured person or their spouse, civil partner, or child, but which was abolished from 1 January 2014.

• The claimant needed either 156 weeks of qualifying contributions since entering insurance, or 26 weeks plus satisfaction of one of four alternative yearly average tests.
• The alternative tests required either 39 contributions in a specific recent year, a yearly average of 39 over 3 or 5 years, or a yearly average of 26 calculated from either 1979 or 1970.
• Regulations could modify these contribution conditions generally.
• Special transitional rules applied for persons who were already insured on 1 October 1970 and had gaps in their record due to absence from the State, unemployment, incapacity, retirement, or voluntary contribution status.