Many changes to Ireland’s social welfare system will come into effect in January, and will benefit thousands of people across Ireland.
Aside from payment boosts, several schemes have been extended to allow for thousands more applicants to benefit from them.
Some of the changes announced in the Budget for social welfare recipients, workers, carers, and more, come into effect from the beginning of January 2023 or later in 2023.
So here is everything you need to know ahead of the New Year.
Social Welfare payments
There are many changes coming for social welfare across the boars, for example, those under 25 that are receiving a decreased payment of Jobseeker's Allowance will receive a total €12 increase in January 2023.
The weekly rate for a qualified child will increase by €2 from €40 to €42 for children under 12 years of age.
It will increase by €2 from €48 to €50 for children aged 12 years and over (January 2023).
Fuel Allowance
The Fuel Allowance threshold is also set to increase from €120 to €200 above the applicable State Pension (Contributory) rate for people under 70.
Anyone aged 70 and over can qualify for Fuel Allowance as long as their weekly means (including State Pension) is not above €500 per week for a single person and €1,000 per week for a couple.
Disablement Benefit and half-rate Carer’s Allowance will be disregarded in the means test for Fuel Allowance in January 2023.
Payments to families
The Working Family Payment income limits will increase by €40 across all family sizes in January 2023.
Disability and Illness benefits
People getting Disability Allowance and Blind Pension will be able to earn up to €165 from work without affecting their payment.
This is an increase of €25 on the previous threshold of €140 and will be seen by January 2023.
Carers
Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) will increase by €20.50 from €309.50 to €330 in January.
DCA will be available for babies who remain in an acute hospital after birth for a period of 6 months. This change comes into effect in January 2023.
Employment programmes
People on The Community Employment (CE), Tús, and Rural Social Scheme top-up payment will get an increase of €5 from €22.50 to €27.50.
Workers
The weekly income threshold for the higher rate of employer’s PRSI will increase from €410 to €441 to ensure that there is no incentive to reduce the working hours for a full-time employee on the increased minimum wage.
Energy costs
All domestic electricity customers are to get a €600 credit to help reduce electricity bills.
The credit will be paid in 3 installments of €200. The first payment was made in November 2022.
The second electricity credit will be made in January 2023 and a third will be made in March 2023.
The 9% VAT rate for gas and electricity is also extended to 28 February 2023.
The reduction of 21 cents per litre tax for petrol, 16 cents per litre for diesel, and 5.4 cents per litre for Marked Gas Oil are also extended to 28 February 2023.
Rent Tax Credit
If you are paying for private rented accommodation, you can claim a new Rent Tax Credit of €500 a year for 2022 and subsequent years.
This tax credit applies to each tenant rather than each tenancy.
Childcare
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth budget allocation is €2.4 billion.
The National Childcare Scheme subsidy will be increased from €0.50 per hour to €1.40 per hour from January 2023. This means up to an additional €40.50 reduction in weekly childcare fees for parents.
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