Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I did not answer the question that Deputy Byrne asked about jobseeker's allowance and the Christmas bonus. The Christmas bonus is paid under the same terms and conditions under which it has always been paid. It is paid to long-term recipients of social welfare payments. This means it covers the full range of social welfare payments. Obviously, people associate it most with pensioners and retired people, but it is also paid to carers, lone parents, people on disability and people who are long-term unemployed. There is no restriction on the age at which people can receive the bonus, but they have to be in receipt of a social welfare payment for more than 15 months. For example, a young person who transfers from the domiciliary care allowance, which is paid to his or her parents, to a disability payment at the age of 16 immediately qualifies for the bonus because he or she is deemed to have been on a long-term social welfare payment.