With just a week to go before Christmas, welfare recipients are being reminded of changed payment dates as post offices and banks adjust their opening hours.
Many benefits are paid to claimants earlier than usual, and some payments are made within days even if they aren’t due until next week.
According to the Department for Social Protection, those who received a weekly welfare check will receive it as normal the week beginning Monday December 19, plus bail for the following week.
This applies to payments made at post offices, by check or to bank current accounts.
Post offices and banks open on December 24th from 9am to 1pm before closing for Christmas. They will reopen on December 29th and 30th before closing again until January 3rd.
In addition, Intreo centers and branches will remain closed on December 26th, December 27th and January 2nd.
Here are the Christmas date changes for weekly payouts:
December 19, 20, 21 – No change
December 22nd – Payment will be made on December 21st
December 23rd – Payment will be made on December 22nd
January 2nd – Payment is made on December 30th
Weekly payments will be paid on regular dates beginning January 3rd.
Opinions were also given to those who said they were looking for part-time work.
The social welfare office announced: “The change in social welfare payment dates will also affect part-time, casual or short-time workers over the Christmas and New Year period. In order to ensure you receive your payments on time this month, please follow the guidelines on MyWelfare.ie on how to submit your work patterns correctly,” reports The Mirror.
Meanwhile, from January 2023, thousands of welfare recipients are to receive up to 624 euros in benefit increases.
Several changes to Social Security payments were announced in the September budget.
It has been confirmed that those who receive all basic security benefits will benefit from the increase.
The change increases the maximum rate of all weekly welfare payments in January by €12 to €624 for the whole year.
There will also be prorated increases for people on discounted fares and qualifying adults.
For example, under 25-year-olds who receive a reduction in their unemployment benefit will receive the full increase of 12 euros in the new year.
The weekly rate for an eligible child under 12 will also increase by €2 from €40 to €42, while for children over 12 it will increase by €2 from €48 to €50.
The fuel-free limit will also be raised from 120 euros to 200 euros above the applicable (contributory) statutory pension for people under the age of 70.
People aged 70 and over are entitled to the fuel allowance provided their weekly income (including state pension) does not exceed €500 per week for single people and €1,000 per week for couples.
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