Social Welfare Payments

Budget 2026 main points: Renters’ tax credit extended, minimal personal tax changes

Here is our detailed summary with a list of all the key measures

The days when the budget was a shared national event in Ireland are over

People now receive budget news as a series of personalised bullet points delivered through whatever channel they prefer

Basic income support scheme for artists to be made permanent and opened to new entrants in budget

Negotiations down to the wire, with five big-spending departments yet to agree their budget allocations

Looking out for landmines in a tight budget

Ministers have been taken aback at spending allocations they believe will store up political problems for them

Healthy food shop for low-income families costs up to a third of weekly pay, report finds

Households reliant on social welfare spend a larger percentage of take home income on food, according to Safefood

Calleary pushes for €12 social welfare increase in budget despite Government resistance

Minister argues increase is only way to tackle child poverty and support people with disabilities

Live register claims down 0.5 per cent in August

Dublin saw the highest percentage increase in claims during the month

Heather Humphreys dropped disability plan due to ‘genuine concerns raised’

Fine Gael defends presidential candidate’s record on disability rights following accusation

Pensioners do not need to panic over Revenue letter about owed tax

Letters were not targeting pensioners specifically and offer options if you do have an outstanding tax bill, perhaps because of your state pension

Budget boosts of up to €1,000 per worker dropped as Ministers seek era of restraint

Economic uncertainty pushes Finance Ministers to roll back payments – even at political cost

Rise in pensioners and disability payments swell welfare bill by one third in a decade

Social welfare payments are spiralling - from €19.9 billion in 2015 to €27 billion a decade later

Rising number of neurodivergent children on disability payments prompts welfare dependency fears

Number receiving domiciliary care allowance up by as much as 46% in some areas over five years

Live register claims down 2.8% in May

Dublin and Kildare saw the biggest increases in people claiming jobseeker’s benefit or allowance

Social welfare fraud does not necessarily die with you

Executors have a legal duty to notify Department of Social Protection if they understand there is money owing to it

Social welfare payments for those who lose jobs will be linked to previous earnings from Monday

Three weekly payment rates are available under the scheme for qualifying workers

‘None of this would have happened but for her’: Widower who won law change over pension inequality welcomes reform

John O’Meara challenged refusal to allow him to receive the contributory welfare payment after his partner died

A rent-free January – and other budget benefits set to kick in this month

Changes announced in Budget 2025 on taxes, housing costs, welfare and the minimum wage will take some edge off household bills

Social welfare Christmas payments: Dates, when are the increases and is there a double payment?

Social welfare recipients will receive two payments at the same time this week

Number of jobseeker’s allowance recipients sanctioned this year set to double

Payment reductions imposed on 9,000 people up to end of October compared with 5,200 for entirety of 2023, figures show

I’m a full-time carer for my mother and disabled brother. Am I entitled to any State support?

Family carers are among the most invisible people in society and save the State billions of euro - but you may be entitled to carer’s allowance

Are you eligible for up to €30,000 in Government-funded retrofit works?

The energy upgrade scheme can provide thousands of euro in upgrades leading to a warmer home, lower bills and a more valuable property

Double pension and child benefit payments and cost-of-living lump sums to be paid by December 3rd

Timing of the payments will likely fuel speculation around an early general election

Budget 2025 will only increase rich-poor gap, Social Justice Ireland says

Budget measures fail to match the stated ambition of tackling child poverty, says NGO

Budget 2025: Opposition calls for election as Coalition defends budget ‘bonanza’ in face of fierce criticism

Labour says budget was ‘all glitter and full of shiny gimmicks’; Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said she ‘wants to see a full restoration’ of barristers fees

What wasn’t in Budget 2025 but could have been?

Government criticised for not indexing minimum social welfare payments

Budget 2025 Q&A: inheritance tax and welfare changes the main focus for readers

Record interest among readers in wide-ranging live online post-budget question and answer session

Budget 2025 Q&A: Your PAYE tax breaks, mortgage relief and employee gift limit queries answered

Dominic Coyle of The Irish Times and Beryl Power from PwC answered readers’ questions in our post-budget live blog which has now finished. You can read back on all the questions and answers below

‘I still can’t afford a house’: What the budget means for a teacher, renter, landlord, farmer and others

Budget 2025: Measures aimed at tackling the cost of living are underwhelming for some

Budget will provide six-month sugar rush - but perhaps only incremental change on housing and health

Budget 2025: Will it alter our shaky trajectory on housing? Will it end emergency department overcrowding in hospitals?

Once-off payments will be welcomed but the payback will be modest social welfare increases

Budget 2025: Voters will no doubt feel some warm glow of extra money in their pockets, but it will be short-lived

Budget 2025: Who stands to benefit most from tax changes and cost-of-living measures?

Budget 2025: Double-income households earning above €50,000 each with three children to benefit most in hard cash terms

Double child benefit and increased welfare payments among record social protection budget

Budget 2025: Weekly €12 increase across social welfare payments and double payments of child benefit - of €280 each - among rise in payments to families, pensioners and carers

Budget 2025 main points: Energy credits, bonus welfare payments, higher minimum wage and tax changes

Budget 2025: USC cut to 3%; extra credits for renters; 10,000 new social homes to built and free public transport for under-9s

Budget 2025: Paschal Donohoe’s speech to the Dáil in full

Minister for Public Expenditure spoke immediately after the Minister for Finance

Budget 2025: Jack Chambers’s speech to the Dáil in full

Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure addressed the Dáil on Tuesday

Budget 2025: What we know so far – from tax cuts to pension increases and free schoolbooks

This year’s measures will be framed around tax and spending package of €8.3bn, with cost-of-living bundle worth roughly €1.5bn

It’s all eyes on the election now and children don’t have a vote

Hey, kids – we have a roadmap. Just hang on in there and try not to get too angry and ashamed about being poor in a rich country

Budget one-offs are economically indefensible and politically smart

Everyone - within Government and without - is preparing for a November election

Budget 2025: flagged tax cuts make little sense

Ireland needs an honest conversation about taxes and our vulnerabilities

Simon Harris: ‘I can’t give the whole manifesto away, but should early childhood be part of the education system in a more formal way?’

In his first big interview as Taoiseach, the Fine Gael leader hints at his ‘big ideas’ on childcare, housing and infrastructural projects

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