Thousands of people across Ireland are set to receive a double Christmas bonus, a €10 weekly increase to social welfare payments, and a 65 cent hike in the minimum wage as part of Budget 2026 measures — including a rise to €360 for one key payment, reports The Mirror.
However, families, many of whom do not qualify for these direct cash measures, will gain from other financial supports included in October’s budget plan, reports The Mirror.
It has been confirmed that the income thresholds for the Working Family Payment (WFP) will increase by €60 a week for all family sizes from January 2.
This weekly, tax-free payment, designed to support workers with children, provides extra financial help to eligible families, reports The Mirror.
The rates, which vary according to income and family size, will amount to 60 per cent of the difference between the WFP income limit for a family’s size and their assessable income.
The minimum rate of the payment is €20 per week, reports The Mirror.
The WFP income assessment does not include capital, and certain payments — such as Child Benefit and Fuel Allowance — are excluded from family income calculations.
From January, the income limits will be €705 weekly for a family with one child, €806 for two children, €907 for three children, €998 for four children, and €1,124 for families with five children, reports The Mirror.
Families with eight or more children who earn €1,472 or less each week will also qualify for the WFP.
Those who believe they may be eligible can apply via MyWelfare.ie or by submitting a WFP1 form, reports The Mirror.
For the first time, WFP recipients will also receive Fuel Allowance to help with winter heating costs.
The payment, currently €33 per week, increased by €5 to €38 in the budget, reports The Mirror.
The 28-week allowance now totals €1,064 over the Fuel Allowance season.
However, the estimated 50,000 families set to receive Fuel Allowance will have to wait, as parents have been warned they will not qualify until January 1, with funds expected to reach accounts in March or April 2026 — though the payments will be backdated to January. The total amount is expected to exceed €304, reports The Mirror.
Speaking in the Dáil last week, Sinn Féin Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty criticised the budget for favouring higher earners with tax breaks while “royally screwing” ordinary workers.
He said: “We have constant price hikes and ever increasing bills, and it means that working households, even those with two incomes, are really struggling to keep up now. They’re squeezed from all angles. It’s price hike after price hike. It’s bill after bill, and people can’t catch their breath,” reports The Mirror.
Tánaiste Simon Harris defended the budget during the heated Dáil exchange, saying he was being “shouted down by a bully” and asserting that most of the budget is aimed at improving services.
The ESRI has projected that the removal of one-off supports introduced in previous budgets will reduce disposable income for lower-income households by 4.1 per cent, reports The Mirror.
Families eligible for supports introduced last month have been urged not to miss out on available payments.
Around 50,000 families will receive a lump sum exceeding €300, while many will benefit from the “largest ever increase” to the Child Support Payment, and new parents will see a triple €420 Child Benefit payment deposited into their accounts, reports The Mirror.
Other recipients will experience a €20 increase in social welfare payments.
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