SOCIAL welfare recipients are being warned of a major change to their payment date – and it will hit in just weeks.
Thousands of Irish will be impacted by the shake-up and those expecting a €280 once-off payment in August will receive the payment alongside their Child Benefit a bit earlier.
The change comes ahead of the August Bank Holiday, which is just four weeks away.
August 1 is a Friday this year with the Bank Holiday Monday landing on August 4.
Post offices around the country will close on this Monday, meaning social welfare payments will not be available as usual on that day.
Instead it is expected the payments will hit accounts on August 1 or 2.
Payments will then return to normal on Tuesday August 5.
However, the €140 Child Benefit payment that is usually paid out on the first Tuesday of the month, will also be impacted.
Recipients will also receive their Child Benefit early on August 1 or 2.
This in turn will impact the Newborn Baby Grant that is paid out alongside the Child Benefit sum.
Anyone due to receive the €280 on Tuesday August 5 will also receive the payment earlier over the weekend.
The next bank holiday in Ireland will fall on October 27, and will also impact social welfare payments due on that day.
After that the next bank holiday in Ireland is not until Christmas Day.
Christmas Day falls on a Thursday this year and St Stephen’s Day on the Friday is also a bank holiday.
We will then push into the 2026 bank holidays with New Year’s Eve on the Wednesday and New Year’s Day on the Thursday.
The next bank holiday then falls in February, the new addition landing on Monday February 2, 2025.
SCHOOL CASH
And as the children enjoy their endless days off for the summer parents are being reminded of a cash scheme they can apply for to help with back to school costs.
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance opened for applications last month and the first rounds of payments should be landing in accounts next week.
Children must be aged between four and 17 on September 30 to qualify for the scheme.
But alternatively if they’re aged 18 to 22, they must be returning to full-time second-level education in a recognised school or college in the autumn.
This year, the scheme opens for applications from June 20 right up to September 30.
And it sees parents get a one-off €160 or €285 payment to help pay for school uniforms and footwear for their children.
