Q.  My parents have been getting the free TV licence, electricity allowance and similar benefits for several years. However, my father died recently. Can my mother still claim these benefits? She is in her early sixties and now lives alone.

18.10.09

You are referring to the Household Benefits Package, which also covers a Telephone Allowance worth €26 per month. Since your late father was getting the Household Benefits Package and your mother is aged between 60 and 65, she may now qualify for it in her own right by availing of a special concession for widowed people in this age group. She must be getting one of the following payments: State Pension (Transition); Widow's/Widower's Pension or an equivalent social security pension/benefit from a country covered by EU Regulations or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement; or an ordinary Garda Widow's Pension from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

She may have to produce documentary evidence proving that your late father was getting the Household Benefits Package. If her name is not on the TV licence and the electricity and telephone accounts, she will have to arrange to get them into her own name.
 

Citizens Information: Buncrana 074 9363496; Carndonagh 074 9373741

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