Is my single mother entitled to any assistance? (Owns two houses)

My mother is separated from my father for two years and since then she has been living off her savings which have nearly dried up. She hasn't worked since she had her first child over 30 years ago and is now a couple off years off pension age. I don't think she meets the criteria to qualify for a contributory pension either.

She inherited a second property a few years ago but it sat idle for years. A family member has been living in this house for the past few years and they pay rent that is about 50-60% of the going monthly rate for such a property. The house is probably worth circa €170-210,000 in todays market. For years I've been telling her to sell it and/or increase the rent but she firmly believes that it won't sell in the current market and that it will increase in value in a few years.

Can anyone tell me would she be entitled to some form of social assistance considering she owns a second property? She is currently living off her rapidly decreasing savings and the rent from the second property, which is probably amounts to less than €5,000 a year once she pays fees and maintains it.

Thanks

She is going to be assesed on the value of the property (not the rent) and her savings and it sounds like she will not qualify for non contributory. When her savings are gone she will be assessed on the 2nd property and if that value is too high she will not be entitled to anything. Is there a reason she has not claimed maintenance from her husband?

There are special rules that apply especially for women who worked a long time ago, to try and bring them into the contributory pension or half of it, in recognition of the fact that a lot of women stayed at home to bring up children. You'll have to ask social welfare about it.