Christmas Bonus

The Christmas Bonus is a once-off double week payment for people getting a long-term social welfare payment.

You do not need to apply for the Bonus. If you qualify, you’ll automatically get it.

When is the Christmas Bonus paid?

The Christmas Bonus will be paid the first week of December 2025 to people getting a qualifying social welfare payment (see below).

The Bonus is normally paid with your social welfare payment. This means you will get the Christmas Bonus on the same day as your social welfare payment.

A Christmas Bonus is paid to people getting long-term social welfare payments.

You are paid a Christmas Bonus if you are getting:

• Back to Education Allowance - people coming from jobseeker's payments need to be getting the Allowance for at least 12 months (312 days), but you may be able to use your time on your jobseeker’s payment to help you qualify.
• Back to Work Enterprise Allowance - people coming from jobseeker's payments need to be getting the Allowance for at least 12 months (312 days), but you may be able to use time on jobseeker’s payment to help you qualify
• Back to Work Family Dividend
• Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds
• Beneficiary of Temporary Protection Weekly Payment
• Bereaved Partner's Pension (Contributory) and (Non-Contributory)
• Blind Pension
• Carer's Allowance and Carer's Benefit (including half-rate Carer's Allowance)
• Community Employment
• Deserted Wife's Allowance and Deserted Wife's Benefit
• Daily Expenses Allowance for 12 months or more
• Disability Allowance
• Disablement Benefit
• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• Farm Assist
• Guardian's Payment (Contributory) and (Non-Contributory)
• Illness Benefit for 12 months or more
• Invalidity Pension
• Job Initiative Scheme
• Jobseeker's Allowance for 12 months (312 days or more)
• Jobseeker's Transitional payment
• Magdalene Commission Scheme
• Death Benefit Scheme (under the Occupational Injuries Scheme)
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Partial Capacity Benefit
• Rural Social Scheme
• State Pension (Contributory) and State Pension (Non-Contributory)
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance for 12 months (364 days or more)
• Tús
• Work Placement Experience Programme (if your primary payment is a qualifying social welfare payment)

You will get a Christmas Bonus if you are getting a VTOS or Youthreach training allowance for at least 12 months subject to having an underlying DSP entitlement/qualifying payment (see list above). If you were getting a qualifying payment (see list above) immediately before your training allowance, you can combine this time to reach 12 months.

Fuel Allowance is not a qualifying payment for the Christmas Bonus.

If you live in a nursing home under the Fair Deal Scheme, your Christmas Bonus will not be counted as income or assessed under the Nursing Home Support Scheme.

In 2025, the Christmas Bonus is 100% of your normal weekly payment. The minimum Bonus amount that is paid is €20.

If an Increase for a Qualified Adult is paid directly to your dependent spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, the Christmas Bonus is also paid directly to them.

If you are getting 2 eligible social welfare payments (for example, a One-Parent Family Payment and the Domiciliary Care Allowance or a half-rate Carer’s Allowance as well as your primary payment) you will get the Christmas Bonus for both payments.

For Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA), which is paid monthly, the bonus is 100% of the weekly DCA rate. The DCA portion of the bonus is calculated independently of other payments.