What cost of living benefits will be paid and what bills are going up in December

December is nearly upon us, with households around Ireland preparing to be hit financially.

Between the expense of buying Christmas presents to the hundreds of euros spent on putting together a festive dinner, all the costs really add up.

However, there are major savings around this time of the year, between supermarket deals and social welfare boosts - plus there’s good news on the bill front as many companies are not making any changes until next year.

Read more: Cost of living Ireland: Thousands qualify for major bonus worth up to €3,200 under new scheme

Read more: Social welfare Ireland: Five criteria to qualify for newly increased €360 payment that helps parents

Here is everything you need to know for December:

Budget 2025

Child Benefit

There will be a double payment of Child Benefit for each child, to be paid on 3 December 2024.

To get Child Benefit, you must be living in Ireland and meet the Habitual Residence Condition (HRC).

You can also get Child Benefit for children aged 16, 17 and 18 if they:

• Are in full-time education or full-time training, or
• Have a disability and cannot support themselves.

Full-time education includes:

• Primary and post-primary level
• Further education and training courses
• Third-level colleges and institutions (there are some exceptions, which can be found here ).

Newborn Baby Grant

A Newborn Baby Grant of €280, in addition to the first month of Child Benefit of €140, will be paid to children born on or after 1 December 2024.

Christmas Bonus

A Christmas Bonus of 100% will be paid in the week starting 2 December 2024 to people getting a qualifying social welfare payment.

People who are getting the following payments will get the Christmas bonus.

• Back to Education Allowance
• Back to Work Enterprise Allowance
• Back to Work Family Dividend
• Beneficiary of Temporary Protection Weekly Payment
• Blind Pension
• Carer's Allowance
• Carer's Benefit
• Community Employment
• Daily Expenses Allowance (long term)
• Deserted Wife's Allowance
• Deserted Wife's Benefit
• Disability Allowance
• Disablement Benefit
• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• Farm Assist
• Guardian's Payment
• Illness Benefit (long -term)
• Invalidity Pension
• Job Initiative Scheme
• Jobseeker's Allowance (long term)
• Jobseeker's Transitional Payment
• Magdalen Commission Scheme
• Death Benefit Scheme (under the Occupational Injuries Scheme)
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Partial Capacity Benefit
• Rural Social Scheme
• State Pension (Contributory)
• State Pension (Non-contributory)
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance (long-term)
• Tús (community work placement initiative)
• Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension
• Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s (Non-contributory) Pension
• Work Placement Experience Programme

Bills

Dunnes Stores

In the lead up to Christmas, Dunnes has launched a new scheme to give away additional money and prizes.

To take part, shoppers just need to spend €50 or more in-store or online across grocery, fashion, or home departments each week.

By doing so, they will earn a “Christmas star” and the more stars you collect, the bigger the prizes you may receive.

Prizes include cash rewards, shopping vouchers and hampers filled with amazing products.

You can check out your VALUEclub points and vouchers on the Dunnes app, but make sure you register and have all your clubcard information correct.

On the app, it says: “We’re giving away €150,000 worth of prizes! Entry runs Thursday, 14 November - Wednesday, 18 December.

“Spend €50+ and use your VALUEclub each week on grocery, fashion or home across one or multiple transactions.

“Earn a Christmas Star each week. More Stars = Bigger Prizes! Win big in one of our 5 draws taking place at the end of the competition. News stars will appear at the end of the next day.”

The supermarket has also updated their clubcard points policy ahead of Christmas.

In a statement, Dunnes said: “VALUEclub points earned up to 2nd November are being converted into Christmas VALUEclub Reward vouchers.”

If you have earned over 200 points, the total on the app will switch back to zero when the points have been converted.

They added: “New points earned will accrue in the app for purchases made from the 3rd of November onwards.”

Tesco

Tesco have stated that any Clubcard points collected between 22 July and 3 November will be turned into vouchers.

However, there are some criteria to receive the vouchers. Shoppers must have enough points to exchange, with a minimum of 150 points to turn them into vouchers.

They explained that during “the two weeks before your March, August and November statements are due, you won't be able to turn points into vouchers”

People wanting to turn their Clubcard points into vouchers can only do so via the Tesco app.

On their website, Tesco say: “When you start to turn your points into vouchers in seconds, you'll automatically stop receiving your statements by post. Instead, we'll send your statements to your registered email address.

“You must have a minimum of 150 points to request vouchers. Your entire points balance will be turned into vouchers when you request vouchers.

“Any adjustments or refunds to your points balance will be processed. The amount you receive in vouchers may be different to the amount of points requested, to account for any adjustments or refunds.

“There are 3 points collection periods per year (March, August, November, but exact dates may vary). You won't be able to turn points into vouchers during the 2 weeks before your statement arrives.

“By turning your points into vouchers, you agree to the additional terms and conditions, which can be found here ”.