Published on 

Minister Humphreys announces payment details for Christmas Bonus

The Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced payment details for the Christmas Bonus which will be paid to approximately 1.3 million people next week.

As part of this year’s Budget discussions, Minister Humphreys secured agreement for a Christmas Bonus Payment at a cost of over €300 million. The payment will be made to pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, widows and lone parents and will be paid next week in addition to a person’s normal weekly payment.

This week Minister Humphreys secured Government approval to extend the Christmas Bonus to long-term recipients of Illness Benefit for the first time. This means people in receipt of Illness Benefit for 12 months or longer will now receive the payment – approximately 17,500 people will benefit from this extension. Long-term Illness Benefit recipients will receive their Christmas Bonus between Tuesday, 6th December 2022 and Friday, 23rd December 2022. 

The Christmas Bonus payments are in addition to the 7 lump sum payments that have already been made to support households with the cost of living over the last six weeks. The combined cost of all 8 Lump Sum Payments is over €1.2 Billion.

Announcing payment details for the Christmas Bonus, Minister Humphreys said:

“Christmas is a very special time of the year, but it can be an expensive period for individuals and families, particularly given the current cost of living.

“I am pleased therefore to announce that a Christmas Bonus Payment will be paid next week. This payment is designed to put more money in the pockets of our pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, widows and lone parents.

“I’m particularly pleased that this year’s Christmas Bonus will be extended to people on long-term Illness Benefit for the first time.

“The vast majority of people are on Illness Benefit for a very short period of time and then return to work however there are a small cohort of people with serious medical conditions who remain on the payment for longer periods of time.

“These are people who have worked all their lives, paid their PRSI and then have to take time out of the workforce due to serious and possibly long-lasting health conditions. A number of people have raised this issue with me and I am pleased to confirm that people in receipt of Illness Benefit for 12 months or longer will now receive the payment. Approximately 17,500 people will benefit from this move.

“This year has also been a challenging one for small business and I would encourage people, where possible, to shop locally in the run-up to Christmas this year.”

 

People will receive their Christmas Bonus on the same date that they usually receive their primary payment.

The following is the full list of payments which will receive the Christmas Bonus:

Scheme

Number of recipients to receive Bonus

 

State Pension Non-Contributory

93,636

Jobseeker's Allowance*

94,080

One Parent Family Payment

39,930

Widow(er)s' Pension (non-con)

1,110

Deserted Wife's Allowance

45

Supplementary Welfare Allowance*

3,120

Daily Expenses Allowance*

2,483

Farm Assist

4,700

Community Employment

19,010

Rural Social Scheme

2,900

Job Initiative

446

TUS

5,268

Back to Work Enterprise Allowance

2,730

Back to Education Allowance*

3,354

Back to Work Family Dividend

2,749

Disability Allowance

155,470

Blind Pension

1,004

Carer's Allowance

90,790

Domiciliary Care Allowance

48,008

Guardian's Payment (non-con)

577

Magdalen Commission Scheme

409

State Pension (Contributory)

494,100

Widow(er)s' Surviving Civil Partners Pension (Con)

123,940

Occupational Injuries Death Benefit

711

Deserted Wife's Benefit

4,750

Partial Capacity Benefit

3,320

Invalidity Pension

56,640

Disablement Benefit

13,777

Carer's Benefit

3,410

Guardian's Payment (Contributory)

1,155

Benefit payment for 65 year olds, Jobseeker’s Benefit* Jobseeker’s Benefit for the Self-Employed*

15,063

 

Illness Benefit**

17,500

Total

1,306,185

 

* 12 months duration on eligible social welfare payment or scheme is required in order to be eligible for the Bonus. Time spent on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is included in jobseeker qualifying period.

** The 17,500 figure is an estimate of the number of Long-term Illness Benefit recipients who will receive a Christmas Bonus. These long-term Illness Benefit recipients will receive the Bonus between Tuesday 6th December 2022 and Friday 23rd December 2022. 

 

ENDS