THE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS BENEVOLENT FUND
The Construction Workers Benevolent Fund was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to workers engaged in the Irish Construction Industry. The Fund is operated jointly along with the Construction Workers Health Trust, which provides health screening to building workers in the workplace.
To qualify you must be a construction worker or an immediate family relative.
Funding comes exclusively from building workers themselves. They donate €1.50c per week, which is deducted by their employers and paid along with their pension contributions. One euro goes to the Health Trust and 0.50c goes to the Benevolent Fund. Neither fund receives any money from the Government or the wider Construction Industry.
The Fund is a registered charity and is managed by a Board of Trustees, made up of serving and retired Trade Union officials. The Board members are volunteers and do not get paid for their work.
Board Members
MR
MRS
MS
DR
The Board meets on the second Tuesday of each month to receive and approve applications for assistance
WHAT KIND OF ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE?
Given that there are approximately 200,000 construction workers in Ireland and only about 13,000 are actually contributing to the Fund, resources are quite limited, and the main areas of benefit are confined to; BEREAVEMENT, SERIOUS ILL HEALTH and FAMILY CRISIS.
In the case of bereavement, the Fund offers a grant towards the funeral cost of a building worker or a member of his/her immediate family.
Serious ill Health is any condition that precludes the applicant from working for an extended period, and family crisis is any circumstance that impacts heavily on the family’s financial resources. The Fund also assists with counselling for workers or their families.
Due to income limits, assistance takes the form of a once-off ex gratia payment, which is paid directly to applicants. The Fund does not have sufficient income to consider regular or on-going assistance and therefore cannot consider applications for top-ups to Job Seeker Allowance, Old age Pension or Disability Allowance.
To apply for assistance, please download an application form here, and be sure to complete all relevant sections. Please also include funeral accounts, doctor’s letters or other documentation.
Trade Union members must return the form to their Union Branch office for verification, and non-Union members must bring photo I.D to any post office, Garda station or GP surgery, before returning the form directly to our office.
If you would like to become a contributor to the Health Trust/Benevolent Fund you can do so in several ways.
1. Ask your employer to make sure that you are contributing through your pension payment (assuming that you are a member of the Construction Workers Pension scheme)
2. Ask your employer to register with the Health Trust/Benevolent Fund which they can do very through CWHT.ie
3. Or you can pay us directly directly by downloading the Bank Standing Order form here, and agreeing to contribute €75 per year, or €19 per quarter.
4. If you use on-lin banking you can setup a Standing Order by phone.
Our bank details are:
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS BENEVOLENT FUND
IBAN: IE23 AIBK 931012 10837039