Double payments of the State pension and child benefit along with other cost-of-living measures are due to be made by December 3rd under plans expected to go to Cabinet today.
The timing of the payments will likely fuel speculation around an early general election. Seven of the 10 payments are due to be made before November 22nd, considered by many in political circles to be a probable date for the country to go to the polls.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys is due to bring a memo to Cabinet outlining the delivery dates for the cost-of-living payments announced in the Budget. The first will be an “October Bonus” – double welfare payments for pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and jobseekers – to be paid in the week starting October 28th.
During the week starting November 4th, there will be payments of €400 to Working Family Payment, Disability Allowance, Blind Pension and Invalidity Pension recipients. There will be a €300 payment to all Fuel Allowance recipients the same week.
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The first of two double child benefit payments before Christmas will happen on November 5th, with the second due to take place on December 3rd.
People who get the Carer’s Support Grant will receive a €400 payment during the week staring November 11th and there is a €200 payment to those in receipt of the Living Alone Allowance the same week.
People getting Child Support Payments, formerly the Qualified Child payment, will receive a payment of €100 per child in the week starting November 25th.
The Christmas Bonus double payment for all welfare recipients happens in the week starting December 2nd.
[ Legislation being fast-tracked in Dáil to enable November general electionOpens in new window ]
Meanwhile, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan is expected to seek Cabinet approval for legislation to allow for the payment of two energy credits totalling €250 for all households. The aim is for the first €125 credit to be ready for November 1st so that people will benefit over the November and December billing cycle. The second €125 credit will be paid from January 1st.
Separately, it is understood that Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will brief Cabinet on a new support scheme for businesses impacted by recent flooding in Bantry, Co Cork. He is also to expected to bring a memo on the €170 million “Power-up” scheme of €4,000 grants designed to support businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors.
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Ministers are also set to consider the heads – or outline – of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill, which is aimed at reform of public service broadcasting in the wake of the controversies that arose surrounding RTÉ last year. The legislation, to be brought to Cabinet by Minister for Media Catherine Martin, would bring RTÉ under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). It will also include measures to strengthen the authority, role and functions of the boards of RTÉ, among other provisions.
Minister for Equality and Disability Roderic O’Gorman is expected to ask Government to approve ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ratification of the Optional Protocol will allow people with disabilities to take a case directly to the United Nations if they feel their rights are being denied.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is set to seek Cabinet approval to draft amending legislation on assisted human reproduction. This is to address a number of issues that arose during the Oireachtas debates on the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which was enacted during the summer though its provisions have not yet commenced.
There will be measures to provide clarity for Irish residents or citizens undertaking donor-assisted human reproduction (DAHR) procedures abroad as part of the planned amending Bill. It is intended that the legislation will set up a process to allow parents to apply for a declaration of parentage in respect of a child born as a result of such a procedure.
The legislation also intends to provide a pathway for Irish citizens living abroad, and who have undergone DAHR or surrogacy in another jurisdiction, to have their parentage recognised in Ireland.
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