The payments, which will be issued from today, will be given to long-term social welfare recipients including pensioners, carers, lone parents and people with disabilities.
Other examples of recipients include those receiving back to education allowance, farm assist, illness benefit and jobseeker’s allowance for 12 months.
Payments totalling €370 million will be issued from today, with people receiving their Christmas bonus on the same day that they usually receive their primary payment.
The minimum bonus amount that will be paid is €20.
If you are receiving two eligible social welfare payments (for example, a One-Parent Family Payment and the Domiciliary Care Allowance or a half-rate Carer’s Allowance as well as your primary payment) you will get the Christmas Bonus for both payments.
For Domiciliary Care Allowance, which is paid monthly, the bonus is 100% of the weekly rate.
Minister Calleary said: “I am very conscious of the pressure families are under particularly in the run up to Christmas.
“The Christmas bonus is a vital support, particularly for our senior citizens.
“That’s why I am pleased to announce the details of the Christmas bonus payments today.
“As always, I would encourage people, where possible, to shop locally in the run-up to Christmas this year. By shopping locally, you are supporting your local economy, your local community and your local small businesses.”
The counties that are expected to have highest numbers of recipients include: Dublin as over 348,000 people, Cork at just over 159,100, Galway at nearly 73,000 and Limerick at 64,300.
From January, the maximum rate of most weekly social welfare payments will increase by €10. There will be proportional increases for qualified adults and people on reduced rates of payment.
The Child Support Payment will increase by €8, from €50 to €58, for children under 12 years of age.
And by €16, from €62 to €78, for children aged 12 years and over
Also from January, the fuel allowance will increase by €5 to €38 per week.
Also those who qualify for the working family payment will receive the fuel allowance in March, back dated to January.
To find out more about the Christmas bonuses and to see the full list of qualifying payments see gov.ie
