Social Welfare schemes that have rates and rules that are provided for in legislation, or by way of Ministerial order, are listed in the table below. The table contains end-year recipient numbers and annual expenditure for 2020 in respect of these schemes.
Scheme
|
Recipients End-2020
|
Expenditure 2020 (€000)
|
State Pension (Non-Contributory)
|
95,465
|
1,048,546
|
State Pension (Contributory)
|
449,442
|
5,834,586
|
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension
|
123,019
|
1,586,563
|
Death Benefit (OIB Widows)
|
741
|
10,214
|
Jobseeker's Allowance
|
157,611
|
1,656,771
|
One Parent Family Payment
|
39,446
|
564,887
|
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Non-Contributory Pension
|
1,301
|
13,425
|
Deserted Wife's Allowance
|
75
|
859
|
Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance Payments
|
11,747
|
115,212
|
Daily Expenses Allowance
|
3,534
|
13,052
|
Farm Assist
|
5,511
|
66,414
|
Jobseeker's Benefit
|
35,843
|
415,713
|
Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment
|
473,136
|
4,978,983
|
Deserted Wife's Benefit
|
5,374
|
68,485
|
Maternity Benefit
|
19,661
|
258,045
|
Adoptive Benefit
|
6
|
96
|
Health and Safety Benefit
|
32
|
358
|
Paternity Benefit
|
587
|
12,355
|
Parents Benefit
|
2,424
|
6,656
|
Partial Capacity Benefit
|
3,227
|
24,658
|
Disability Allowance
|
152,580
|
1,811,854
|
Blind Pension
|
1,075
|
12,641
|
Carer's Allowance
|
88,906
|
926,352
|
Illness Benefit
|
48,157
|
592,634
|
Enhanced Illness Benefit (Covid-19)
|
850
|
56,875
|
Injury Benefit
|
1,026
|
11,448
|
Invalidity Pension
|
59,230
|
760,228
|
Disablement Benefit
|
14,354
|
69,860
|
Carer's Benefit
|
3,698
|
49,365
|
Domiciliary Care Allowance
|
44,091
|
193,104
|
Carer's Support Grant
|
119,504
|
227,543
|
Child Benefit
|
631,412
|
2,102,329
|
Working Family Payment
|
48,213
|
377,312
|
Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory)
|
553
|
7,773
|
Guardian's Payment (Contributory)
|
1,179
|
15,933
|
Back to Work Family Dividend
|
3,553
|
12,978
|
Rent Supplement
|
17,945
|
133,090
|
Treatment Benefits:
|
|
|
Dental Benefit
|
65,911
|
44,309
|
Optical Benefit
|
40,042
|
35,256
|
Medical and Surgical Benefit
|
1,384
|
11,755
|
Household Benefits Package
|
|
|
Electricity
|
415,383
|
172,039
|
Gas
|
50,252
|
21,310
|
The expenditure figures for 2020 are provisional and are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Recipient numbers show the position at a point in time, at the end of the year – they are intended to be illustrative and used for comparison with other years to identify trends and are not intended to be representative figures to be used in calculating average payments.
The figures for Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment in the above table are a total of payments from both Vote 37 and the Social Insurance Fund. A more detailed breakdown of these figures, as set out in the provisional outturn for 2020, is as follows:
Payment
|
€m
|
Vote 37: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment
|
1,322
|
SIF: Pandemic Unemployment Payment (Pre August 2020)
|
1,818
|
SIF: Pandemic Unemployment Payment (Post August 2020)
|
1,839
|