Cost-of-living bonus payments worth €325m to be paid this week

Cost-of-living bonus payments amounting to €325 million will be paid to 865,000 older people, people with disabilities and low-income working families this week.

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys will outline details of the four separate welfare payments at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

A €400 fuel allowance lump sum payment will be paid to 370,000 households reliant on welfare, disability payments and State pensions.

There will also be a bonus of €500 for low-income working households in receipt of the Working Family Payment. The bonus will be paid on Wednesday.

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A once-off lump payment of €200 will be paid to people living alone and already in receipt of certain State allowances, pensions or other benefits. In all 234,000 people will benefit from this payment.

Finally, a €500 disability support grant will be made available to 216,000 people who are receiving some form of disability allowance or invalidity pension.

Some people and households will be entitled to more than one of those payments. Some people on disability allowance could be entitled to a bonus payment totalling €1,100 if they are living alone. Everyone receiving disability allowance, invalidity pension or the blind person pension will receive a minimum of €900.

Ms Humphreys is expected to point out to Cabinet colleagues that these payments are in addition to the recent autumn double payments, as well as the double child benefit paid earlier this month.

The annual Christmas bonus to social welfare recipients will be paid in December.

From January the across-the-board welfare increases announced in Budget 2023 will take effect. The budget provided for a weekly increase in welfare of €12.

This week’s payments is the latest tranche arising from the Government’s cost-of-living package announced alongside last month’s budget.

The vast majority of the payments are once-off and were funded by a higher-than expected surge in corporation tax receipts during 2022. The total income from this tax bracket is expected to be close to €20 billion, a record. The overall budget package amounted to €11.1 billion this year with more than €4 billion funding for once-off measures.

The bonus payments for welfare recipients, top-up payments of child benefit and electric credits will be rolled out by Ms Humphreys over the winter months.