From January 2027, the maximum rate of most weekly social welfare payments and pensions will increase by €10. There will be proportional increases for qualified adults and people on reduced rates of payment.
Child Support Payment
The Child Support Payment weekly rate will increase by:
- €6, from €58 to €64, for children under 12
- €6, from €78 to €84, for children aged 12 and over
Christmas bonus
- A Christmas bonus of 100% will be paid to people getting a qualifying social welfare payment the week starting 7 December 2026.
Working Family Payment
- Working Family Payment income limits will increase by €30 a week for all family sizes.
Fuel Allowance
- Fuel Allowance will increase by €5 from €38 to €43 per week. The income limit for a single person aged 66 or over will increase from €534 to €640.80.
Carers
From July 2027, the weekly Carer’s Allowance income disregard will increase to:
- €1,150 for a single person from €1,000
- €2,300 for a couple from €2,000
Living Alone Increase
- The Living Alone Increase will increase by €3 from €22 to €25 per week.
Living on a Specified Island Allowance
- The Living on a Specified Island Allowance will increase by €5 from €20 to €25 per week.
Employment schemes
- The top-up payment for people on Community Employment (CE), Tús and the Rural Social Scheme will increase by €2.50 to €35 per week. This is in addition to an increase of €10 for most weekly social welfare payments.
- The requalifying period for Tús will decrease from 3 years to 2 years.
- The weekly rate for people on Job Initiative will increase by €5.
Wage Subsidy Scheme
- The minimum hours required to qualify for the Wage Subsidy Scheme will reduce from 15 hours to 8 hours per week from April 2027.
- The Wage Subsidy Scheme will be extended to people moving to Partial Capacity Benefit from Illness Benefit.
Pay-Related Social Insurance (PRSI)
- Employer PRSI threshold will increase from €552 to €600 for 2027.
New cost of disability payment
- A cost of disability payment of €500 will be paid to people getting a long-term disability payment (Blind Pension, Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Partial Capacity Benefit). The lump sum will be paid in 2027.
Income disregards (means test)
From July 2027, the earnings disregard from employment will increase by €10 to €175 per week for the following payments:
From July 2027, the Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA) upper income threshold for the State Pension (Contributory) and other social insurance payments will increase by €30 from €310 to €340.
From July 2027, the following disregards will apply to the means test for Farm Assist and State Pension (Non-Contributory):
- Agri-environmental schemes disregard will increase from €5,000 to €7,500. The number of agri-environmental schemes included in the disregard will also increase.
- The maximum income from seaweed harvesting that can be disregarded will increase from €1,270 per year to €2,500
