·       Additional payments totalling €316 million to be paid this week

·       First of 8 lump-sum payments to help with Cost of Living

·       Over 1.4 million people will benefit, including pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and lone parents

Monday, 17th October 2022 

The Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced that the Autumn Double Payment will be paid to over 1.4 million people this week.

The Autumn Double Payment is the first of 8 lump-sum payments totalling €1.2 billion to help with the Cost of Living.

The lump sum payments were announced as part of last month’s record Social Protection Budget.

The Social Protection budget – the largest in the history of the State – will assist pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and families with the Cost of Living through a mix of lump sum supports and increases to weekly payments.

Announcing the Autumn Double Payment, Minister Humphreys said:

The cost of living pressures are affecting the lives of people right across this country.

As Minister for Social Protection, my priority is to support the people most seriously impacted by the cost of living.

That’s exactly why today I am announcing the first of eight lump sum payments between now and Christmas.

and she continued:

These will be so important in terms of supporting the likes of our pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and working families.

 This week’s double payment will support 1.4 million people across the State.

and she concluded:

And it will be followed by further supports next month, including a €400 lump sum payment for those in receipt of the Fuel Allowance and a €200 lump sum payment for those in receipt of the Living Alone Allowance.

There will also be a double payment of Child Benefit in November, as well as a €500 payment for those in receipt of the Carer’s Support Grant, and a €500 payment for people in receipt of Disability Allowance.

In addition to the series of lump-sum payments, I was delighted to also secure a major expansion of the Fuel Allowance Scheme – which will see up to 81,000 new households supported with their fuel cost for the first time, as well as across-the-board welfare increases of €12 per week. These measures will take effect from January 2023.