Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 December 2022
397. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason that those on illness benefit for less than 12 months were not included in the category of persons who get an additional week's benefit for Christmas. [61777/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn response to the ongoing cost of living pressures, my Department will spend approximately €1.2 billion in social welfare measures this year to help individuals and families through this difficult period.
Traditionally, Illness Benefit was not a qualifying payment for the Christmas Bonus as Illness Benefit is a scheme which, by its nature, is a short-term social welfare scheme. It has a high degree of churn with people coming onto the scheme and moving off every week, often with very short duration claims. The average duration of a claim for Illness Benefit is only 6 days.
However, I appreciate that individual circumstances can vary from case to case so I asked my officials to examine this issue in respect of people who are in receipt of Illness Benefit for longer periods of time and I am pleased to confirm that, for the first time, people who have been on Illness Benefit for 12 months or longer will qualify for this year's Christmas Bonus.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
