Social Welfare Payments
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-23
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

Tax exemptions are a matter for the Minister for Finance, but I assure the Senator that we want to ensure our payments, which are a lifeline to so many, do not lead to a build-up of tax liability. I absolutely want to avoid a situation of surprise or anxiety. I am totally with the Senator on that. That is why we share the data in relation to taxable social welfare payments. We share it on a weekly basis to allow the tax to be deducted throughout the year rather than at the end. I have gone through the method. I assure the Senator that the decision letters that are issued to customers state clearly whether they need to notify Revenue or whether we include the data in the taxable payments report.
There are about 18,000 customers on six schemes that are not included in the weekly taxable payments report. We are working towards including them. I assure the Senator, and I want to emphasise, that I do not want a situation where customers of the Department of Social Protection end up with a build-up of tax liabilities. We are working towards addressing this.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-23