Stewart Dickson MLA said: “The old rules regarding widows who remarried were just plain wrong. Thankfully, the Assembly agreed to change the legislation around RUC pensions earlier this year, but there was a lot of uncertainty about whether the change would extend to all widows across the various pension schemes. I welcome the work that the Justice Minister has done to make sure that the Assembly’s decision can be made to work for all but a very few of the women affected by the old rules. His careful approach means that uncertainty has been removed, and payments can now be made.
“The Assembly made the right decision on this issue, and the Minister has made sure that the Assembly’s decision can be put into action. The Assembly, and the Justice Minister, have undone a wrong.”
ENDS