Welfare recipients shut out of second payment

A MAJOR shift towards a “one person-one payment” policy is being put in place by the Department of Social Protection, which is scrapping many half-rate payments allowing recipients of one benefit or allowance to avail of part of another.

The move is part of a plan to cut €475 million from welfare expenditure next year and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton signalled it was a trade-off between that and cutting basic welfare rates.

“It is no longer possible to have a social welfare system where some people get more than one primary weekly payment, if we want to avoid reducing the level of weekly payments generally,” she said.