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This year’s Christmas bonus is the largest in history. It will cost more than ever, mainly because many of those who will be forced to stop working during the pandemic will qualify for it.
What is it?
The voucher is extra money paid by the Department of Social Protection to beneficiaries of social assistance in early December.
How much?
It is a 100 piece bonus. This means that those who are entitled to receive it get a bonus worth paying an additional week. Then they will get double their usual amount that week.
If you have the maximum pandemic payment rate of € 350, you will get € 700.
The minimum payment is € 20.
How many people are receiving it?
More than 1.6 million people will be paid this year.
When is it paid?
It will be paid in the week beginning December 7, which is the next week.
Do I have to request it?
No. If you qualify, it pays automatically.
How much will it cost the state?
A record of 390 million euros.
Will I receive it if I am in pandemic unemployment payment?
You will do so if you have received the payment for at least four months (17 weeks) since March. Normally, you would have to be unemployed for 15 months before receiving it.
It is estimated that 311,270 people who have received the pandemic payment will receive it, at a cost of more than 93 million euros.
This means that about 90 percent of those who receive it now will get it.
What if I go back to work this week?
Don’t panic, you’ll still get it once you meet the 17 week requirement. Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has said that anyone who receives the pandemic payment for any day between Friday, November 27, and Thursday, December 3, “can be sure” they will receive the bonus on Tuesday, December 8.
According to a statement from the department: “For example, that means that people who returned to work this Monday or Tuesday will continue to receive the Christmas bonus since they worked at least one day during that period.”
Does this mean that those who receive regular job search payments have to be out of work longer than those with PUPs to get it?
No, the same criteria are being used for them. In previous years, they would have had to be out of work for at least 15 months to qualify.
What kind of claimants get it?
Long-term social assistance recipients will be paid, including retirees, people with disabilities, caregivers and single-parent families. The list includes those who receive the following:
– State pensions and widowhood / widower / surviving spouse pensions.
– Disability pension, blind pension, disability allowance, caregiver allowance, caregiver allowance, partial capacity allowance, disability allowance, home care allowance and guardian payments.
– Single-parent family allowance, long-term job search allowance, transitional job search allowance, abandoned wife allowance and allowance, and agricultural aid.
– Business allowance back to work, community employment, rural social regime, Tús, footbridge and labor initiative, complementary assistance subsidy, subsidy for daily expenses, Magdalena Commission Regime.
– Pandemic unemployment payments and job search plans.
What does the minister have to say about it?
Minister Humphreys has urged people to spend the bond locally to support businesses that are reopening. “I would highly encourage people to spend their Christmas Bonus locally this year and support our local stores and businesses in our cities and towns across the country,” he said. “This will be a € 390 million injection into the Irish economy at a time when many small businesses will reopen as restrictions are eased.”
Online editors
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