Budget 2026: What You Actually Get

If you're searching for the €250 energy credit or a cost-of-living double payment this year — here's the honest answer: they're gone. Budget 2026 ended the universal once-off payments and put the money into permanent increases instead. Here's exactly what that means for your pocket.

Budget 2027 was announced on 6 October 2026. See exactly what it means for you with our Budget 2027 calculator.

The big change: no more once-off payments

For the last few winters, households got a run of universal once-off supports — electricity credits (€250 last year), double welfare weeks and lump sums that added up to roughly €960 for some families. Budget 2026 scrapped all of that. The Government says the once-off approach isn't sustainable and has switched to permanent, targeted increases.

What you get instead (from January 2026)

• +€10 a week on most weekly social welfare payments — State Pension, Jobseeker's, Disability Allowance, Carer's, One-Parent Family Payment and more.
• Child Support Payment (the increase for a child) rises to €58/week for under-12s (+€8) and €78/week for 12-and-over (+€16) — the largest such increase in the history of the State.
• Fuel Allowance up €5 to €38 a week — and for the first time, Working Family Payment households qualify for it.
• Working Family Payment income limits rise by €60 a week for every family size, so more working families qualify.

The Christmas Bonus (paid December 2025)

A 100% Christmas Bonus — an extra week's payment — goes to almost 1.5 million long-term social welfare recipients in December 2025 (funded with €370m). If you're on a qualifying long-term payment, you don't apply; it's paid automatically.

Am I better or worse off?

It depends. If you're a long-term welfare recipient or pensioner, the permanent €10-a-week rise is worth about €520 over the year — more than a one-off credit, and it keeps coming. If you're a middle-income household who relied on the universal energy credit but doesn't get weekly payments, you've lost that support with nothing one-off to replace it. Check exactly what applies to you below.

Common questions

This guide is general information, not financial advice. Rules, rates and eligibility change and differ by country — always confirm the current details with the relevant official body before you act.

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