ALL WEEKLY SOCIAL welfare payments are set to increase by €5, Finance and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has announced.

The increase will come into effect next March and will impact people in receipt of payments such as the Jobseeker’s Allowance, Disability Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and the State Pension.

The Christmas bonus will also be restored to a double payment for the first time in a decade. 

Social welfare recipients used to receive a Christmas bonus of a full week’s extra payment in December but the bonus was axed in 2009 following the economic crash. 

The Christmas bonus was restored in 2014 and increased to 85% of a welfare recipient’s weekly payment in 2018.

Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, the finance minister announced that a new parental leave scheme will be introduced in November.

The scheme allows for two extra weeks’ leave to every parent of a child in their first year. The minister said that it is planned to increase this to seven extra weeks over time.

A new set of measures outlined today aim to improve living standards, the minister said. 

In addition to these measures, the Fuel Allowance scheme will be extended by one week while the annual home carer credit is being increased by €300, from €1,200 to €1,500.

There will be a €2.20 per week rise of the qualified child allowance for under 12s and a €5.20 increase for over 12s.

There will also be a €25 increase in the back-to-school allowance.