Minister Mary clears welfare bonus in time for big pay-out

I WRITE in response to your editorial of Monday, Oct 7 in reference to the payment of a Christmas bonus of €103.3 million this year to certain social welfare recipients.

Overall, the Christmas bonus will benefit some 792,000 recipients and an estimated 413,000 dependents.

It is mainly paid to people such as social welfare pensioners and long-term unemployed people who rely totally on their social welfare payments for financial support. The people to benefit from the Christmas bonus include those getting an old age, retirement, invalidity, widow’s, widower’s and orphan’s pension, recipients of one- parent family payment, deserted wife’s benefit, carer’s allowance, pre-retirement allowance, disability allowance, farm assist, long-term unemployment assistance, employment support payments (eg., back-to-work allowance) and certain occupational injuries benefits.