Social Welfare Benefits
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
============================================================

Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

Absolutely. It is crucial and a priority for the Department. Within budget 2026, we included a €10 increase in the weekly rate of payment. That goes to €254. There was a €20 increase in the monthly rate of domiciliary care allowance increasing to €380 a month from 1 January. There were the highest ever increases in the child support payment - a €16 increase for children aged 12 or over, bringing it to €78, and an €8 increase for children under 12 years old, bringing it to €58. There was a €5 increase in the fuel allowance.
We are very focused. I will be doing detailed consultation with people with disabilities, their advocates and the public generally about a permanent of cost-of-disability payment. This is not a payment that depends on the year-to-year budgetary situation. This will be a permanent payment to reflect the cost pressures - the very real pressures - people are under. I am determined to progress that in terms of budget 2027.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15