Children, families, low-income pensioners and older people are at the heart of the state’s social benefits, with hundreds of millions of euros a year going to support and care for them.
The Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare’s 2027 budget sets aside €364.6 million for allowances and social benefits, and changes have been approved that widen the pool of beneficiaries. The figure is lower than the 2026 budget of €446.7 million. This is mainly because funding for the disability benefits previously paid through the Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) has moved to the Department for Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. The benefits concerned are the disability allowance, the benefit covering the basic needs of persons with disabilities under 28, social cohesion measures and the home care grant. Since 1 August 2026, these benefits have been granted without income or asset criteria.
The benefits
The Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare’s 2027 budget includes the following allocations for social benefits:
1. Guaranteed Minimum Income. The budget allocates €120 million. The benefit aims to ensure decent living and housing conditions for eligible families, and the amount paid depends on each family’s composition and needs. In 2026, GMI beneficiaries numbered 21,116.
2. Child benefit and single-parent family allowance. The two allowances are allocated €140 million for 2027, compared with €138.8 million in 2026. Both include the full Cost of Living Allowance (CoLA), to help families meet higher costs brought about by rising prices and inflation.
Of particular importance is the reform approved by the Council of Ministers last September. It widens the income criteria and overhauls child benefit, and the bill has been submitted to the House for a vote.
Under the proposed provisions, income thresholds and beneficiary categories are widened to reflect the rise in the Consumer Price Index. More families and children are brought into the scheme, and the reform tackles the problem of families suddenly losing their entitlement because of marginal changes in household income. The benefit will also increase for the lowest income categories, while a sliding-scale reduction will apply in the higher income brackets.
Once the reform is in place, an estimated 17,000 additional families and 23,500 children are expected to become potential recipients of child benefit. The reform is due to take effect on 1 January 2027, provided the bill is passed by the House.
3. Low-income pensioners’ allowance. €95 million is earmarked for the Low-Income Pensioners Allowance Scheme, the same amount as in 2026. The budget also includes €3.6 million in one-off grants to cover the Easter allowance for low-income pensioners.
4. Honorary allowance for mothers of large families. €7.2 million is allocated for 2027, covering almost 15,000 mothers of large families. In 2025, there were 14,650 beneficiaries.
5. Childbirth grant and veterans’ grants. The 2027 budget includes €300,000 for the childbirth grant to unmarried mothers. A further €340,000 will be paid as a grant to Second World War veterans and the widows of veterans.
6. Childcare fee and meal subsidy. The Childcare Fee and Meal Subsidy Scheme for children up to the age of four, in place since September 2022, will continue in 2027. It covers 80% of monthly fees at nurseries and kindergartens. In the current school year, the number of participating providers has risen to 365 kindergartens and nurseries.
Following the recent widening of the income criteria, the number of children benefiting has exceeded 11,500, an increase of around 40%. The Deputy Ministry’s budget includes €21 million for the scheme in 2027. It will be co-funded by the European Social Fund until the end of 2027, with total spending from September 2022 to the end of 2027 reaching €93 million.
7. Residential and Care Subsidy Scheme for Homes for Older People. The scheme has been in place since January 2025. It aims to provide quality care, with eligibility based on income criteria. Under the scheme, the subsidy for beneficiaries living in care homes rose from €745, the amount paid under the GMI until 2025, to €1,300. Eligibility has also been extended by raising the savings limit to €10,000. The cost for 2027 will reach €7.7 million. Around 950 beneficiaries in 82 participating care homes are currently subsidised under the scheme, at a monthly cost of €500,000.
