Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 December 2020
150. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection if workers who returned to work on 27 November 2020 after having received the pandemic unemployment payment for the past 17 weeks will be entitled to the Christmas bonus (details supplied). [42392/20]
View answerThis year, the Christmas Bonus will be paid to over 1.6 million eligible customers in the week beginning 7th December 2020 at an estimated cost of €389 million. The respective figures in 2019 were 1.2 million customers and €279 million.
On an exceptional basis this year, the Christmas Bonus will also be paid to recipients of the PUP provided they have been in receipt of the payment - continuously or otherwise - for at least 4 months (17 weeks) since March. Any person in receipt of the PUP for any one day of the period Friday 27th November to Thursday 3rd December will receive the Christmas Bonus payment provided they also meet the 17 week requirement.
It is estimated that approximately 284,000 people or 82% of those receiving payment of the PUP this week will receive the Christmas Bonus, totalling almost €84 million. In addition, the Bonus payment will also be made to recipients of Jobseeker’s Benefit/Allowance who have been in receipt of a jobseeker payment for at least 4 months and are in payment on the day the Christmas Bonus is paid. In previous years, recipients of jobseeker payments for less than 15 months did not qualify for a Christmas Bonus. Nearly 55,000 individuals will benefit from this decision at an estimated cost of almost €12 million.
I was very pleased to obtain the approval of Government for these payments. There are many individuals and families who have lost their job or business as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and have been out of work for several months now. The Bonus will help to ease the financial burden on them at this very difficult time.
For administrative and legal reasons, the Bonus payment has always been paid by reference to a specific week, and this is the standard practice across all social welfare schemes. Any change to that practice would have to be considered in the overall policy, administrative and budgetary context.
I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
