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A full Christmas bonus will be paid to all welfare recipients, including most, but not all, of those receiving pandemic unemployment pay.
The move means that thousands of retirees, people with disability payments and those who became unemployed before and after the pandemic will see their weekly payments increase before Christmas.
However, not all recipients of the pandemic unemployment payment will receive the supplement.
It is understood that about 90 percent of the 227,000 currently receiving the payment will receive the bonus.
Generally, a person must receive welfare for 15 months to qualify for the Christmas bonus.
This would mean that thousands of people who were unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic would lose their bonus payment.
However, the Government has decided to reduce this to four months to allow those receiving pandemic support to receive the recharge this year.
The four-month threshold does not have to be simultaneous and a recipient of the pandemic payment who was unemployed at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak but returned to work before losing it again may qualify.
However, people who were recently made unemployed due to increased government coronavirus restrictions will miss out on payment.
Anyone who becomes unemployed between now and Christmas will lose it too.
It is understood that the Minister of Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, and the Minister of Reform and Public Expenditure, Michael McGrath, have reached the agreement tonight.
The total cost of the budget measure exceeds 650 million euros.
Online editors
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