Social Welfare

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by the Department for Communities (DfC) in a challenge against the legislation which provides that certain people with a terminal illness can receive welfare benefits without undergoing a full assessment. Handing down the judgment yesterday on behalf of a th

A finding that the so-called "six-month rule" for terminally ill people accessing certain benefits is unlawful has been overturned by the Court of Appeal. The High Court ruled last summer that the requirement for terminally ill claimants to demonstrate that their death can reasonably be expected wit

Professor Grainne McKeever, professor of law and social justice at the University of Ulster, has been appointed to chair an independent review of the discretionary support scheme. Professor McKeever will be joined on the panel by Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick, also of University of Ulster; Gerry McConville o

The new Commission on Taxation and Welfare, chaired by Professor Niamh Moloney, head of the law department at LSE, will hold its first meeting today. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe yesterday announced the appointment of 13 tax and welfare experts joining Professor Moloney on the commission.

The UK Supreme Court has refused to accept an application from the Attorney General for Northern Ireland to refer what he said was a “devolution issue” under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Attorney General submitted that, by providing postcode lists to the Secretary of State, Norther

Dr Michael Wardlow, chief commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, considers the future of welfare in Northern Ireland. The election is now over and, once again, there’s an attempt this week to restore a working government at Stormont. It is also now two years since the Eq

Criminals drawing social welfare payments have been stripped of more than €11 million by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) over two decades, the Sunday Independent reports. A doctoral thesis on the CAB has also revealed it recovered €178.5m in taxes and €26m in seized assets over the s