Social welfare: These are the payments that will be increased this year

Simon Harris’ coalition is organising new supports for those struggling with the cost of living crisis

It is expected that recipients of two social welfare payments will receive cash boosts this year ahead of the Budget 2025 announcement.

Although not expected to be announced until the autumn, the government is already putting in place its plans, and we can report on who can expect to have their payments increased.

Those in receipt of the state pension will get an extra €12 per week, while those qualifying for Child Benefit will get a cash boost of €10 a month.

Tánaiste Mícheál Martin said these updates are necessary steps to provide for younger generations, also flagging large investments planned to combat climate change and manage healthcare costs.

The Fianna Fáil leader dismissed claims that these changes were attempts to “throw money at voters” ahead of the general election.

This comes as a major Child Benefit change is due next month, which will extend the scheme to include children aged up to 18 who are in full-time education or have a disability. Parents will not be able to claim the scheme for the months between their child’s 18th birthday and 1 May 2024.

Here is all you need to know about changes to the state pension and Child Benefit:

State pension

State Pension (Contributory)

You can avail of this from the age of 66 if you have the requisite amount of social insurance (PRSI) contributions.

To qualify for the state pension, you need to be aged 66 and over and have enough Class A, E, F, G, H, N, or S social insurance contributions (PRSI). These are also called full-rate PRSI contributions.

You must meet the following three conditions:

1. Have paid PRSI contributions before a certain age

To get a State Pension (Contributory) at 66, you must have started paying PRSI before the age of 56. If you are deferring your pension, you must have started paying PRSI at least 10 years before you drawdown your pension.

The date you first started paying PRSI is called your date of “entry into insurance”. This date is also important when you calculate your yearly average number of PRSI contributions – see ‘Yearly average or total number of contributions’ below.

Your entry into insurance is the date of the first paid PRSI contribution made when you started your first job. However, this may not be the case if you either:

2. Have mixed PRSI contributions

3. Were self-employed.

The number of paid PRSI contributions you need for the State Pension (Contributory) depends on your retirement date.

If you reach pension age on or after 6 April 2012, you need to have 520 full-rate PRSI contributions (10 years’ contributions).

If you reached pension age between 6 April 2002 and 5 April 2012, you needed to have 260 full-rate contributions (5 years’ contributions).

If you reached pension age before 6 April 2002, you needed 156 qualifying full-rate paid contributions (3 years’ contributions).

The DSP will calculate your PRSI contributions differently, depending on whether you reached pension age before, or after, 1 September 2012.

You can find more information on these criteria here.

State Pension (Non-Contributory)

The State Pension (Non-Contributory) is a payment for people aged 66 and over who do not qualify for a State Pension (Contributory).

To get a State Pension (Non-Contributory), you must:

Be aged 66 or over

Pass a means test – a means test looks at any income that you have

Live in Ireland and meet the habitual residence condition

You can find more information on this scheme here.

Child Benefit

Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age.

However, new rules will come into force next month as people aged 18 will now be able to qualify if they meet the criteria set out.

If your child turns 18 before May 2024, they will get Child Benefit from 1 May 2024 until their 19th birthday if they:

• Are in full-time education, or
• Have a disability

However, you will not get Child Benefit for the months between their 18th birthday and 1 May 2024.

Parents shouldn’t worry as they don’t need to reapply for the payment if:

• Your child is still in full-time education, and
• The DSP still has their valid education certificate

Your Child Benefit payment will start again from May 2024 until your child’s 19th birthday, or their education certificate expires – whichever comes first.

If the child turns 18 in May of this year or anytime after that, parents will automatically get Child Benefit until the child’s 19th birthday, or until their education certificate expires, depending on which happens first.

If their education certificate expires before 19th birthday, the Department of Social Protection will send you a new one.

You must complete this certificate with a stamp from your child’s school or college, and return it to the Department to continue getting Child Benefit.

You can find more information on this scheme here.

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