Explanatory note

These Regulations provide for the payment of an additional £10 in the case of a widow in receipt of an allowance or pension under the Royal Irish Constabulary (Widows' Pensions) Regulations 1971 equivalent to the Christmas bonus for pensioners payable under Schedule 6 to the Social Security Act 1986 if she is not entitled to a payment by virtue of that Schedule.

The Regulations of 1971 provide that there may be paid to certain widows of former members of the Royal Irish Constabulary a pension or an allowance supplementary to an existing pension. A pension or allowance is not payable under the 1971 Regulations unless the rate of any state insurance benefit received by the widow is less than the weekly rate of a widows' pension under the Social Security Act 1975 (c. 14). Subject to a minimum rate of £0.25 a week in the case of a pension, such an award is at such rate as will secure that the combined rate of the Royal Irish Constabulary awards and the widow’s state insurance benefit, if any, is equal to the standard weekly rate; for this purpose state insurance benefit means any benefit or pension under the Social Security Act 1975 or similar benefit or pension paid out of public funds in Northern Ireland, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland.