Budget 2024: First three lump sums to be paid next month

The first of nine lump sums, worth a total of €1.2 billion, announced in last week’s budget to help meet cost-of-living increases will begin to be paid from mid-November, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys will tell the Cabinet on Tuesday.

Her colleague Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan will also inform the Government that the three universal payments of €150 each to help meet higher electricity costs will be paid on December 1st, on January 1st 2024 and on March 1st 2024.

Ms Humphreys will brief ministerial colleagues on the timetable for the payment of the once-off supplements. The first three payments will be made on the week beginning Monday, November 20th.

The working family payment, worth €400, will be paid that week to the 46,500 households, supporting 98,000 children, who are eligible for this payment.

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The €400 disability support grant will be issued to 214,000 people that week, when, in addition, more than 400,000 households will avail of the €300 fuel allowance lump sum.

The following week, a further three supports will be paid: the €400 carer’s support grant to 130,000 people who care for relatives;a €200 support for people on the living alone allowance, benefiting 237,000 people; and a once-off €100 qualified child benefit, benefiting a total of 370,000 children.

In the week beginning December 4th, the 100 per cent Christmas bonus will be paid to 1.33 million pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and other welfare groups. This will give eligible people an extra payment worth the equivalent of their social welfare payments. The double child benefit of €280 per child will also be made during this week.

The final lump sum, the January bonus, will be paid on the week beginning January 29th, and will benefit over 1.3 million people.*

For his part Mr Ryan will bring a memorandum to Cabinet seeking approval to publish legislation allowing the payment of the electricity credits.

Once passed, the new law will pave the way for the three payments – worth €450 – that will go directly to 2.2 million households during the winter period.

The credits will be applied automatically to the bills of customers of energy providers and will be seen in the next bill they receive after each of the three dates in December, January and March.

The Minister for Children and Integration will inform the meeting on Tuesday that he expects Ireland will receive an initial €50 million in funding from the new EU Asylum Migration and Integration Fund.

The fund provides funds for programme refugees – those who have refugee status and are fleeing conflict zones such as Syria and Afghanistan. The fund also covers paying for transfers of those within the International Protection system between member States.

Roderic O’Gorman will say he expects Ireland to receive €50 million in funding as an initial tranche with future funding also expected.

*This article was amended on Wednesday, October 18th, 2023 to remove a reference to the January bonus being focused on pensioners, carers and people with disabilities.