Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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429. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there is any discretion in relation to the provision of the Christmas bonus to persons on illness benefit (details supplied); if it is a full year to qualify for the bonus or if it is 312 days as per other payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62277/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I was pleased to announce on Budget Day that a 100% Christmas Bonus will be paid this year benefitting 1.3 million people in receipt of long-term social welfare payments.

The Bonus includes payments to pensioners, people with disabilities, carers, lone parents and long-term unemployed people in recognition of their long-term financial dependence on their social welfare payment for all, or most, of their income.

I am particularly pleased that, for the first time, the Christmas Bonus is being extended to long-term recipients of Illness Benefit.

This payment is an additional help to people as we enter the Christmas period and much of this is spent locally, supporting local economies throughout the country. Given the ongoing cost of living pressures, this will be a particularly important support for low-income households this year.

Illness Benefit recipients are required to be on the scheme for an aggregate of 312 payment days on or before the 12th of December 2022 in order to be eligible for the Bonus in 2022. The 312 days referenced by the Deputy relates to payment days (Sundays are not counted for payment purposes) and equates to 12 months on the scheme.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.