The Christmas Bonus will be paid to almost 1.5 million long-term social welfare recipients in the coming days, the Department of Social Protection has confirmed
Many social welfare recipients could be in for a cash boost in Budget 2026(Image: DPA/PA Images)
The much-anticipated Christmas Bonus for social welfare recipients is set to be distributed within days – though not everyone will be eligible for the festive enhancement.
The payment was announced as part of Budget 2026 in October and is anticipated to assist approximately 1.5 million long-term welfare recipients. It will be distributed at the standard rate of 100 per cent of an individual’s weekly payment, costing the exchequer roughly €370 million.
Whilst the Department of Social Protection hasn’t yet revealed the precise date, it did confirm: “The Christmas Bonus will be paid in December 2025 to almost 1.5 million long-term social welfare recipients.”
Drawing from previous years, qualifying recipients can anticipate the additional payment to land during the week commencing Monday, December 1.
Nevertheless, not everyone receiving a social welfare payment will receive the bonus. The one-off December supplement only applies to people on long-term and qualifying schemes, meaning those on short-term jobseeker’s payments or recent benefit claims may be excluded, reports the Irish Mirror.
Child Benefit and the Fuel Allowance also don’t qualify for the Christmas Bonus.
Below is the complete list of 29 social welfare payments that will qualify for the 2025 Christmas Bonus:
- Back to Education Allowance – people coming from jobseeker’s payments need to be getting the Allowance for at least 12 months (312 days), but you may be able to use your time on your jobseeker’s payment to help you qualify.
- Back to Work Enterprise Allowance – people coming from jobseeker’s payments need to be getting the Allowance for at least 12 months (312 days), but you may be able to use time on jobseeker’s payment to help you qualify
- Back to Work Family Dividend
- Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds
- Blind Pension
- Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit (including half-rate Carer’s Allowance)
- Community Employment
- Deserted Wife’s Allowance and Deserted Wife’s Benefit
- Daily Expenses Allowance for 12 months or more
- Disability Allowance
- Disablement Benefit
- Domiciliary Care Allowance
- Farm Assist
- Guardian’s Payment (Contributory) and (Non-Contributory)
- Illness Benefit for 12 months or more
- Invalidity Pension
- Job Initiative Scheme
- Jobseeker’s Allowance for 12 months (312 days or more)
- Jobseeker’s Transitional payment
- Magdalene Commission Scheme
- Death Benefit Scheme (under the Occupational Injuries Scheme)
- One-Parent Family Payment
- Partial Capacity Benefit
- Rural Social Scheme
- State Pension (Contributory) and State Pension (Non-Contributory)
- Supplementary Welfare Allowance for 12 months (364 days or more)
- Tús
- Bereaved Partner’s Pension (Contributory) and (Non-Contributory)
- Work Placement Experience Programme (if your primary payment is a qualifying social welfare payment)
Additional measures revealed alongside the Christmas Bonus include a €10 weekly rise across core social welfare payments from January 2026, an increase in the income disregard for Carer’s Allowance and a boost of €20 in the Domiciliary Care Allowance, bringing it to €380 per month.
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will now be available for two and three year olds, while the Fuel Allowance threshold has been expanded to include Working Family Payment recipients, and the weekly rate has increased from €33 to €38.
Speaking about the package, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary stated: “I believe that the measures I am announcing today – with a total value of over €1.15 billion – will make a huge difference to the lives of the people we serve and, through them to the communities, in which we all live.”
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