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Budget 2027: €10 welfare rise, €550 childcare cap and €35,000 Help to Buy

Weekly welfare and pension rates rise by €10, childcare fees are capped at €550 a month from September 2027, and Help to Buy rises to €35,000. Child Benefit and first-time buyer stamp duty are unchanged.

DáilDex · Published 6 October 2026

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At a glance

Budget 2027 puts most of its spending increase into weekly payments, childcare and housing. RTÉ reported that the Budget is about €7 billion of new spending plus a €1.65 billion tax package, a total of around €8.65 billion.

State pension, jobseeker and most core payments rise by €10 a week
New €500 cost-of-disability payment in 2027, for about 238,000 people
Fuel allowance rises by €5 to €43 a week
Childcare fees capped at €550 a month, from September 2027
Help to Buy rises by €5,000 to €35,000
Child Benefit stays at €140 a month

Sources:

RTÉ News (2)

TheJournal.ie (2)

The Irish Times

Budget 2027 main points

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Pensions and welfare payments

TheJournal.ie reported that the maximum weekly rate of the contributory State pension rises from €299.30 to €309.30 and the non-contributory pension from €288 to €298. Jobseeker's, disability allowance and one-parent family payments each rise from €254 to €264. The Irish Times said the €10 rise reaches about 1.6 million people.

The child support payment rises by €6 a week, to €64 for children under 12 and €84 for children 12 and over, and the living alone allowance rises by €3 to €25 a week, according to the Department of Social Protection. The Christmas bonus is confirmed again for welfare recipients. The Irish Times reported that the carer's allowance income disregard rises by €150 for a single person and €300 for a couple, and that Working Family Payment income thresholds rise by €30.

Sources:

Government of Ireland (Department of Social Protection)

Budget 2027: social welfare rates and measures
€10 weekly increase across most social welfare payments from January 2027.

TheJournal.ie

State pension and Jobseekers' payments to rise by €10 per week from next year

The Irish Times

Budget 2027 main points

The new cost-of-disability payment

Mr Chambers announced a €500 cost-of-disability payment for almost 240,000 people who receive long-term disability payments. The Government's Budget guide describes it as a lump sum in 2027 for about 238,000 people, to be followed by a co-design process with disabled people to develop a permanent payment from 2028. The Irish Examiner reported before the Budget that the lump sum would be paid in January.

Sources:

Government of Ireland (Department of Public Expenditure)

Your guide to Budget 2027
Maximum childcare fees will fall from €735 to €550 per month, saving families up to €2,220 a year.

RTÉ News

Measures on childcare, energy costs expected in Budget

Irish Examiner

Budget 2027: New cost of disability payment to be delivered in one lump sum

Childcare and college

The Government's Budget guide says maximum monthly fees fall from €735 to €550, saving up to €2,220 a year, and RTÉ reported that this applies to children up to senior infants from September 2027. The Irish Times put the saving at up to €1,000 per child through a bigger subsidy under the National Childcare Scheme, so the gain depends on what a family pays now.

The Irish Times reported a permanent €150 cut to third-level student fees and a 4.5% rise in SUSI maintenance grants from January. The Irish Examiner reported that free contraception is extended to women aged 37, up from 35. Child Benefit does not change, TheJournal.ie reported.

Sources:

Government of Ireland (Department of Public Expenditure)

Your guide to Budget 2027
Maximum childcare fees will fall from €735 to €550 per month, saving families up to €2,220 a year.

RTÉ News

Measures on childcare, energy costs expected in Budget

The Irish Times

Budget 2027 main points

Irish Examiner

Budget 2027: €108m rise in mental health funding to include six more 'solace cafes'

TheJournal.ie

State pension and Jobseekers' payments to rise by €10 per week from next year

Housing: Help to Buy, rent credit and derelict property tax

The Irish Examiner reported that the Help to Buy maximum rises from €30,000 to €35,000, and that Fianna Fáil's push to scrap stamp duty on second-hand homes was dropped, with Mr Harris saying he had not changed his view. The Irish Times reported that the property price ceiling for Help to Buy stays at €500,000.

The rent tax credit rises by €150 to €1,150 for a single renter and €2,300 for a couple, and the rent-a-room relief limit rises to €16,000, extended to some detached units on the property, according to the Irish Times. TheJournal.ie reported that a new Derelict Property Tax of 7% is set for September 2027. The Irish Times said the Budget funds about 11,250 new-build social homes at around €3 billion.

Sources:

Irish Examiner

Budget 2027: €5k boost to new home grant, but first-time buyer stamp duty won't be scrapped

The Irish Times

Budget 2027 main points

TheJournal.ie

Income tax band changes and fuel excise measures confirmed as ministers announce Budget 2027

Reaction

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said the Government was detached from the lives of workers, and called the €5 fuel allowance rise inadequate, according to the Irish Times. The Irish Times reported before the Budget that Labour and the Social Democrats had called for energy credits of about €400 and larger welfare rises, which this Budget does not include.

Sources:

The Irish Times

Budget 2027: tax cuts of €1.3bn; new savings scheme to have €50,000 tax-free threshold

How this story was made: DáilDex drafts news automatically from official records and national reporting, then checks every cited source and quote before publishing. Read our methodology

Sources

11 sources

Official / Primary

Government of Ireland (Department of Social Protection) — Budget 2027: social welfare rates and measures
“€10 weekly increase across most social welfare payments from January 2027.”
Government of Ireland (Department of Public Expenditure) — Your guide to Budget 2027
“Maximum childcare fees will fall from €735 to €550 per month, saving families up to €2,220 a year.”

Reporting

Written on Budget day from the Government's Budget guide and the Department of Social Protection's Budget page, plus Irish Times, RTÉ, TheJournal.ie and Irish Examiner reporting. Savings figures are the outlets' own, and outlets differ on some of them, as noted. The Budget documents had not yet been checked line by line.

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At a glance

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Pensions and welfare payments

The new cost-of-disability payment

Childcare and college

Housing: Help to Buy, rent credit and derelict property tax

Reaction

Sources

Official / Primary

Reporting