The Department of Social Protection is the biggest spender of all, with a €28.9 billion budget for next year. Budget 2026 increased its package by €1.15 billion compared to 2025.
Who has done best out of it?
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary will be hoping children in consistent poverty and disabled people will feel the greatest uplift, but let us look at the headline figures first.
Core social welfare rates will increase by €10 from January, which is less than the €12 anticipated and not what Calleary had hoped for.
“I had a very big wish list going into these talks,” he said on Tuesday. “What we decided was to target payments,” he said, referencing a €320 million package specifically targeting child poverty.
READ MORE
“The negotiation to get the €10 was tough but we had a very constructive negotiation at all times. So I was happy to be able to get those targeted payments: child support, working family, fuel allowance, while getting that €10 increase.”
What will it mean for pensioners, the unemployed and others?
Those on the contributory State pension will receive €299.30 a week from January 1st. Recipients aged 80 and over will get €309.30 a week. Those on the non-contributory pension will receive €288 a week and €298 if 80 or over.
The unemployed will see jobseeker’s allowance and benefit payments go up to €254 a week. Other rates can be viewed here.
Will the “Christmas bonus” double payment be made this year?
Yes, at a rate of 100 per cent to be paid in early December.
[ From childcare to welfare: five takeaways from Budget 2026Opens in new window ]
Why the focus now on the situation of children in poverty and disabled people, rather than say pensioners or the long-term unemployed?
The Government has set a target of reducing consistent poverty among children – the most persistent and damaging type of poverty – from a current 8.5 per cent to 3 per cent or less by 2030.
Regarding disabled people, the State has one of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment among the disabled in Europe. Ireland’s 2018 ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities has changed little in this regard. Publication last month of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People is part of a concerted push to make real progress.
It was always imperative Budget 2026 would start to really tackle this.
If I have children and I am on a low income will things improve?
Well, first the bad news. The plethora of one-off payments, such as several double welfare payments and multiple energy credits that helped alleviate so much financial distress last year, are not happening. This could mean rising costs are more challenging for the poorest homes this winter than last.
And the good news?
There are significant permanent increases in key payments for low-income households with children that take effect from January 2026. These include the biggest increases ever in the child support payment, which supports children of adults in receipt of welfare payments. These will now be €78 a week for children 12 and over and €58 for children under 12, making these payments worth significantly more than the €140-a-month universal child benefit.
In addition, the income disregard for the working family payment, which is a support to the lowest-paid households with children, will increase by €60 a week from January. These families will also become eligible for the fuel allowance, which is increasing by €5 to €38 a week, from January.
The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance is to be extended to two- and three-year-olds, from next year.
What about lone parents? Their children are among those at greatest risk of poverty. Is there anything specifically to help them?
There had been suggestions the income disregards for the one-parent family payment would increase so recipients could earn more and keep their full payment. The Irish Times understands Calleary argued hard for this but did not achieve it in this budget. It will surely be on his list for Budget 2027.
In the meantime, his officials argue, children in lone-parent families will benefit from other increases, such as the child support payment, the working family payment, the fuel allowance and the Christmas bonus.
What is being done for the disabled and for carers?
The big-ticket item here is a significant increase in the income disregard for the carer’s allowance. From January a couple will be able to earn up to €2,000 a week and retain the full allowance, while a single person can earn €1,000 a week. This is a step towards the Government’s commitment to abolish the means test for the allowance.
In addition, the domiciliary care allowance, a non-means tested payment to parents or guardians caring for children under 16 and with a significant disability, will increase by €20 to €380 a month.
There was an advert over the summer involving ice-cream cones that had something to do with pensions. What was that about and did the budget say anything about it?
Yes, that ice-cream cone was for the My Future Fund campaign reminding workers auto-enrolment is coming on January 1st. It will see the State invest €144 million next year in a new retirement savings scheme for all workers over 23 earning €20,000 a year or more who do not already have a pension.
More than 700,000 workers will have 1.5 per cent deducted from their wages for the compulsory scheme from January 1st. For every €3 that a worker puts in, their employer will contribute €3 and the State will top this up by €1.
[ Anti-populist budget offers little for middle-income earnersOpens in new window ]
