There are significant permanent increases in key payments for low-income households with children that take effect from January 2026. Photograph: Ian West/PA Wire
The Department of Social Protection is the biggest spender of all, with a Budget 2026 package of €28.9 billion. Who has done best out of it?
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary will be hoping children in consistent poverty and disabled people will feel the greatest uplift, but let us look at the headline figures first.
Core social welfare rates will increase by €10 from January, which is less than the €12 anticipated and not what Calleary had hoped for.
“I had a very big wish list going into these talks,” he said on Tuesday. “What we decided was to target payments,” he said, referencing a €320 million package specifically targeting child poverty.
“The negotiation to get the
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