all weekly social welfare payments up by €5 per week

[Brendan Burgess]

Working families and lone parents must be encourage to participate in employment market

€5 in all weekly social welfare payments

and €5 in pension



Christmas bonus of 85%

Earnings disregard increased by €20

 

[Brendan Burgess]

€2.50 per week for phones for some people

 

[mathepac]

All social welfare payments, including the State pension, will increase by €5, with the increased payments kicking at the end of March. The social welfare Christmas bonus will be paid at 85% of its usual rate.

There will be a Telephone Support Allowance of €2.50 per week for those in receipt of both the Living Alone Allowance and the Fuel Allowance [no start date specified for this new payment].

Prescription charges will be reduced for everyone with a medical card under the age of 70 from €2.50 to €2 per item and the monthly cap for prescription charges will be decreased from €25 to €20 [no start date specified for this change].