Confirmed Christmas Bonus Date Announced but Some Social Welfare Recipients Left Out
The Christmas Bonus for 2025 is scheduled for disbursement next week, benefiting approximately 1.5 million long-term social welfare recipients. This much-anticipated payment was confirmed in the Budget 2026 announcement in October. However, eligibility for the bonus is limited.
Eligible Social Welfare Recipients
The Christmas Bonus will be equivalent to 100% of a recipient’s weekly payment, costing the state around €370 million. While the Department of Social Protection has not specified an exact payment date, it is anticipated to occur during the week starting December 1, 2025. It is important to note that not all social welfare recipients will receive the bonus.
Who Will Not Qualify
- Recipients of short-term jobseeker’s payments
- New benefit claims
- Recipients of Child Benefit
- Recipients of the Fuel Allowance
Qualifying Payments for the Christmas Bonus
The following 29 social welfare payments will qualify for the 2025 Christmas Bonus:
- Back to Education Allowance
- Back to Work Enterprise Allowance
- Back to Work Family Dividend
- Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds
- Blind Pension
- Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit
- Community Employment
- Deserted Wife’s Allowance and Benefit
- Daily Expenses Allowance
- Disability Allowance
- Disablement Benefit
- Domiciliary Care Allowance
- Farm Assist
- Guardian’s Payment (Contributory and Non-Contributory)
- Illness Benefit
- Invalidity Pension
- Job Initiative Scheme
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (12 months or more)
- Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment
- Magdalene Commission Scheme
- Death Benefit Scheme
- One-Parent Family Payment
- Partial Capacity Benefit
- Rural Social Scheme
- State Pension (Contributory and Non-Contributory)
- Supplementary Welfare Allowance (12 months or more)
- Tús
- Bereaved Partner’s Pension (Contributory and Non-Contributory)
- Work Placement Experience Programme
Additional Measures Announced
Alongside the Christmas Bonus, several other welfare measures were announced:
- A €10 weekly increase in core social welfare payments starting January 2026
- Increased income disregard for Carer’s Allowance
- €20 increase in the Domiciliary Care Allowance, raising it to €380 per month
- Expanded Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance for younger children
- Widening of the Fuel Allowance threshold for Working Family Payment recipients
- Increase in the Fuel Allowance weekly rate from €33 to €38
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary emphasized that this package, valued at over €1.15 billion, aims to significantly impact the lives of beneficiaries and their communities.
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