Budget 2025 Updates

Mothers

If you are Pregnant and not working:

• Make direct contact with your Social Welfare Office and check what you may be entitled to, for example, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Jobseeker’s Benefit.
• Bring your birth certificate with you.

Apply to your local health centre as you may be entitled to:

• Supplementary Welfare Allowance
• Medical Card / G.P. Visit Card
• Rent  Supplement
• Help towards the cost of necessary items (buggy, cot etc)

• Maternity Leave is 26 weeks (employer does not have to pay)
• Maternity Benefit is €274 per week (paid by the state)

You may qualify for Maternity Benefit if you have paid enough Social Insurance Contributions.

You should apply for Maternity Benefit at least 6 weeks before you intend to go on Maternity Leave.

You may also be entitled to Health and Safety Benefit/Leave if there is a risk for you in your work while you are pregnant or breastfeeding and your employer cannot remove the risk or assign you alternative risk-free duties.

Some employers will continue to pay an employee in full while on Maternity Leave so make sure to check with your employer.

Maternity Benefit will be taxed.  However, you will not pay PRSI or Universal Social Charge.

If you are already receiving One-Parent Family Payment you may still be entitled to half rate Maternity Benefit if you satisfy the contribution conditions.

Medical care
Ante-natal (before birth) care and post-natal (after birth) care in the public health services are generally free to all women ordinarily resident in Ireland. Non medical card holders may have to pay some charges.

Maternity Leave and Recent Employment
You are entitled to 26 weeks Maternity Leave no matter how recently you have started work or how many hours you work per week.

Fathers

Paternity leave/benefit
Fathers are entitled to;

• Paternity Leave is 2 weeks (employer does not have to pay)
• Paternity Benefit is €274 per week (paid by the state)

Fathers may start the combined package of paternity leave and paternity benefit at any time within the first 6 months following birth or adoption of a child. 

The PRSI contribution conditions and the rate of benefit paid will be the same as those for Maternity Benefit (€274 per week). See here for further information.

Adoptive Parents

Relevant Parents

A relevant parent is also entitled to Paternity Leave and Paternity Benefit. 

A ‘relevant parent’ is:

• The father of the child;
• The spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the mother of the child;
• The parent of a child who is donor conceived;
• The spouse chosen by a married couple of the same sex to act as relevant parent;
• The spouse civil partner or cohabitant of the adopting mother; or
• The spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the sole male adopter of the child.

The purpose of paternity leave is to allow the relevant parent to provide care to the child, or to provide assistance to the mother of the child, or the relevant adopting parent of the child.

All Parents

Parent’s Leave/Benefit

• Parent’s leave entitles each parent to 9 weeks leave during the first 2 years of a child’s life, or in the case of adoption, within 2 years of the placement of the child with the family.
• Employers do not have to pay employees on Parent’s Leave, but parents can get the state Parent’s Benefit.
• The rate of Benefit is €274 per week. 
• PRSI contribution conditions will be the same as those for Maternity and Paternity Benefit . See here for further information.
• You can take Parent’s leave separately to Paternity/Maternity Leave. 

Parental leave

• Parental leave entitles each parent to 26 weeks unpaid parental leave for each child.
• The leave must be taken before the child is 12 years old, or 16 years old if your child has a disability or a long-term illness.

• If you work part-time, your entitlement to parental leave is reduced on a ‘pro-rata basis’. This means that, if you work 50% of a normal working week, you can take 13 full working weeks’ worth of parental leave.

Table of types of leave for parent’s

One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)

This is a social welfare payment for people who are parenting alone and whose youngest child is under the age of 7.

You are entitled to One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) if you:

• Have at least one child below the age of 7
• Have the main care of your child
• Are not cohabiting
• Satisfy the means test
• Satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition 

If your child’s birthday is after July in the relevant year in which your claim ends, the OFP will continue to be paid until your child’s birthday in the same year.

Your entitlement to OFP is not affected:

• By having the father’s name on the birth certificate
• If you are living at home with your family
• If you are still at school or college
• If you are recieving child maintenance from the other parent

The current maximum personal rate of OFP is €232. 

Your OFP will also include a Child Support Payment (previously called an Increase for a Qualified Child or IQC) for any other children in the family until they reach 18 (or 22 if in full-time education) as long as you are getting OFP

• Child under 12: €46
• Child aged 12 and over: €54

Parents who are no longer eligible for One-Parent Family Payment  (OFP) because of the age of their youngest child can benefit from new transition  arrangements for Jobseekers Allowance (JA)  (See Jobseekers’s Transition Arrangement for OFP below)

Parents who are no longer eligible for One-Parent Family Payment  (OFP) because of the age of their youngest child can apply for the Jobseeker Transitional Payment (JST)

JST is a payment for people who are parenting alone, whose youngest child is aged between 7 and 14.

The current maximum personal rate of OFP is €232. 

Your OFP will also include a Child Support Payment (previously called an Increase for a Qualified Child or IQC) for any other children in the family until they reach 18 (or 22 if in full-time education) as long as you are getting OFP

• Child under 12: €46
• Child aged 12 and over: €54

You don’t need to have been getting One Parent Family Payment to qualify for JST.

The rules for getting JST are similar to One Parent Family Payment. Although it is a jobseeker’s payment, many of the usual rules for Jobseeker’s Allowance do not apply. However, you must engage with your local Intreo office when asked to do so.

To qualify for JST, you must:

1. Be the main carer of a child that is at least 7 and under 14 (the payment ends when the youngest child reaches 14)
2. Not live with a spouse, partner or civil partner
3. Satisfy a means test (see below)
4. Engage with your local Intreo office and sign a quarterly declaration
5. Be habitually resident in Ireland

The means test:

The first €165 of your gross earnings is disregarded, and 50% of the remaining amount is counted as means, which is subtracted from the payment.

For example:

If you have one child aged 10 and you work part time earning €350 a week, here is how you would calculate your JST;

(this is a simple version not taking other income like cash or capital into consideration)

Maximum JST Payment:

• Personal rate: €232 per week.
• Child increase for the 10-year-old: €46 per week.

Total potential payment:
€232 (personal rate) + €46 (child increase) = €278.

Income disregard:

• • The first €165 of your gross weekly earnings is disregarded.
  • Remaining earnings: €350 – €165 = €185.

Means assessment:

• • 50% of the remaining €185 is considered as means.

  • Assessed means: 50% of €185 = €92.50.

JST Payment:

• • Subtract the assessed means (€92.50) from the total possible payment (€278):
  • €278 – €92.50 = €185.50.

Final Weekly Payment:

With earnings of €350 per week, you would receive €185.50 per week from the JST.

You should check if you would be better off claiming Working Family Payment if you work at least 38 hours per fortnight.

Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly tax-free payment for employees with children. It supports people who are on low pay.

To qualify for WFP, your net average weekly family income must be below a certain amount for your family size.

You can get a weekly tax-free WFP payment if you are an employee and:

• Work 38 or more hours per fortnight (in any combination of hours). You can combine your weekly hours with your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant’s hours to meet this condition. You cannot use time spent in self-employment (or on Community Employment, Tús, JobBridge or the Rural Social Scheme) to meet this condition.
• Your job is likely to last at least 3 months
• You have at least one child who normally lives with you
• You earn less than the WFP income limit set for your family size

WFP pays 60% of the difference between your total family income and the income limit which applies to your family.

To calculate your WFP, check out this worksheet.

If you are not working
You may qualify for Rent Supplement if you’re receiving a Social Welfare payment and living in private rented accommodation. You will have to make a minimum contribution of €30 per week towards the rent.  The minimum contribution payable by cohabitants is €40 per week.

If you are working
If you take up part-time work (up to 30 hours a week) any ‘additional household income’ (AHI) – that is any income you receive over and above the full rate of Supplementary Welfare (€215.80 for an adult with one dependant child) – will be assessed as follows:

• The first €75 of AHI is ignored and
• 25% of anything over €75 of AHI is ignored

In general if you are working full-time (30 hours or over a week) you are not entitled to Rent Supplement.  However, if you get full-time work and you have been accepted as being in need of accommodation under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) by your local authority, you may be able to keep your Rent Supplement (provided you have been unemployed or not in full-time employment for at least 12 months before you start work).  The above assessment will apply.

For details of your Local Authority contact:

Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government
LoCall 0818 20 20 21 
www.environ.ie/en

All payments are subject to the habitual residence condition. For further information see here

Useful contacts:

One Parent Family Payment
Contact your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Local Office see here

Family Income Supplement Section
Locall 0818 927 770

Employment Support Services 
Locall 0818 927 999

Facilitator at your Social Welfare Office
LoCall 0818 66 22 44 
www.welfare.ie

Local Employment Services (Obair) 
www.localemploymentservices.ie

Income tax on earnings:

Single Person (including if you are a cohabitant)

• Taxed 20% up to €42,000
• Taxed 40% for the balance

Lone Parent

• Taxed 20% up to €46,000
• Taxed 40% for the balance

Tax Credits:

• Your own Single Person Tax Credit of €1,875
• Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit of €1750*
• Employee Tax Credit (formerly known as the PAYE tax credit) of €1875

*This tax credit is only available if you are not cohabiting or living with a civil partner/spouse.  The tax credit is payable only to the main carer of the child.  If the main carer is not working it may be possible to give this credit to the other carer/parent.  See www.revenue.ie

It is possible to have tax credits back-dated (four years maximum) if they have not been claimed.

Maternity Benefit and OFP is taxable. Family Income Supplement is not taxable.

Universal Social Charge (USC)

If you earn less than €13,000 per year you do not have to pay the Universal Social Charge.

If your income exceeds this limit you will pay the relevant rate of Universal Social Charge on all your income.

The following rates and thresholds apply:

        
Social Welfare payments are exempt from the Universal Social Charge.

Medical Card and USC

If you hold a medical card and your income is €60,000 or less, you need to contact Revenue to receive the reduced rate.

The reduced rates will apply for the whole year when you:

• reach the age of 70 and your income is €60,000 or less
• or
• hold a full medical card at any time during the year.

The reduced rates for 2024 are:

• 0.5% on the first €12,012
• 2% on the balance.

Revenue Commissioners’ LoCall numbers:

Border, Midlands, West Region
Locall 0818 777 425

Dublin Region
Locall 0818 333 425

Southwest Region
Locall 0818 222 425

East and Southeast Region
Locall 0818 444 525

www.revenue.ie

If you are staying in school

You can still get One-Parent Family Payment (OFP). You must satisfy the conditions for OFP. Check with your school early in your pregnancy to see if you could benefit from the Home Tuition Scheme while you are pregnant.  See www.education.ie

If you have already left school

If you have already left school and want to go back to finish secondary school, VEC or college then you can switch from OFP to the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) if you have been on OFP for 3 months or more. In the case of third level courses, you may only transfer to the BTEA if you have been in receipt of OFP for at least 9 months. BTEA will allow you to keep your Medical Card / G.P. Visit Card and Rent Supplement.

To qualify for BTEA you must be either over 18 and two years out of education or over 21.

If you are over 21 and getting OFP for 6 months then you could apply for a Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS).
There are no fees. Books are free and there is a small travel allowance. Some childcare money is also available. There are many courses on offer and you could do your Junior or Leaving Certificate.  See www.qualifax.ie

There might be a Youthreach near you. You can get basic and specific skills training, practical work experience and some general education. See www.youthreach.ie.

See www.solas.ie (formally FÁS) for details of training courses.

Childcare

The biggest obstacle to going back to school or college is organising and paying for childcare for your child. Some colleges have childcare attached and others can give you an allowance for childcare. Check locally to see what is available or contact your local childcare committee. See www.dcya.ie and search ‘childcare’ to see what is available and for contact details of your local Childcare Committee.

For further information see:

• Young Parent Survival Guide Issue No. 1
• Young Parent Survival Guide Issue No. 2
• www.studentfinance.ie
• Department of Education and Science

Habitual residence is a condition you must satisfy in order to qualify for certain social welfare payments.

These payments include:

• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Child Benefit
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance (other than once-off Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments)

Habitual residence means you have proven close links to Ireland or other parts of the Common Travel Area: Ireland, Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The most important factors for providing this link are:

• Length and continuity of residence in Ireland or elsewhere
• The length and purpose of any absence from Ireland
• Nature and pattern of employment
• Main centre of interest
• Future intentions

EU Regulations and Habitual Residence

EU/EEA citizens and Swiss nationals who are employed or self- employed in Ireland and subject to the Irish Social Insurance system, do not have to satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition to qualify for Family Benefits. The following Irish social welfare payments are classified as Family Benefits under EU Regulations:

• One-Parent Family Payment
• Guardian’s Payment (Non-Contributory)
• Family Income Supplement
• Child Benefit
• Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE)

For further information search ‘habitual residence condition’ on www.welfare.ie

Back to work Family Dividend

The Back to Work Family Dividend is a weekly payment to support people with children move from social welfare into Work.

You may qualify if you have a qualified child (up to 18 years), living with you, and in full time education, and if you are claiming one of the following payments:

1. Jobseekers allowance/ Jobseekers’ benefit.
2. One parent family payment
3. Job seekers Transitional payment.

To qualify for BTWFD, you and all members of your family (including your adult dependant) must sign off all primary social welfare payments.

The BTWFD can however be paid with the Working Family Payment and some other non-primary social welfare payments. If you have been on any of these payments for 12 months or more, you may be entitled to apply for this payment.

The Back to Work Family Dividend is paid weekly for up to two years.

Weekly Back to Work Family Dividend rate from January 2024

To apply fill out the application form and leave it in to your local intreo office along with the supporting documentation or visit your local intreo office and pick up an application form.

https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/26969/13db397a3d7d47f1b541c9fa02fdcfd9.pdf#page=null

Medical Card

A medical card allows you to get certain health services free of charge. Usually, your dependent spouse or partner and your children can also get the same range of health services for free.

To be eligible for a medical card you must;

• be ‘ordinarily resident’ in Ireland 
• have a weekly income below a certain limit for your family size (means test).

If you do not qualify for a medical card on income grounds, you may qualify for a GP visit card.

How to apply for a medical card?

You can apply online for a medical card and GP visit card on mymedicalcard.ie.

Useful websites

www.gov.ie/welfare

Social Welfare Appeals Office

www.jobsireland.ie

www.revenue.ie

www.inou.ie  (Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed)

www.citizensinformation.ie

Local Intreo Office

Find your local social welfare office

Useful Phone Numbers

Citizens Information Line:  0818 07 4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm)

INOU: Tel: +353 1 2678760

Department of Social Protection: 01 704 3000

Jobs Ireland:  0818 111 112 or +353-1-2481389 (if outside the Republic of Ireland) 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday

Contact Details by Benefit Section: