What's New
20 November 2023
Site updates
Some once-off cost of living payments announced in Budget 2024 will be paid this week:
- If you get Fuel Allowance, you will get a lump sum of €300 – the exact payment date varies per person
- If you get Working Family Payment, you will get a lump sum of €400 on 23 November 2023
- If you get Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension and Blind Pension, you will get a lump sum of €400 between 22 and 24 November 2023 (you get the once-off payment on the same day you get your primary payment)
To request a late student grant application, you must complete a Late Application Form 2023-2024 and email it to lateapplications@susi.ie. Late applications will only be accepted in certain circumstances.
People who have a submeter are now eligible for the Electricity Account Credit. Previously, households with submeters were not eligible (submeters are linked to a primary meter with an MPRN). A new low usage threshold applies where households that use less than 150kWh a quarter in 4 consecutive quarters will not be eligible for the credit.
People from Ukraine covered by the Temporary Protection Directive can take Christmas leave from their accommodation without needing to request an absence. Christmas absences run from 22 December 2023 to 8 January 2024.
On 13 November 2023, new regulations came into effect on monitoring and treatment of sex offenders in Ireland. The changes:
- Reduce the notification period for sex offenders to inform Gardaí of changes to personal information (such as change of address) from 7 days to 3 days
- Allow Gardaí to take fingerprints, palm-prints or photographs to confirm the identity of an offender
- Allow Gardaí to disclose information about people on the sex offender register where there is a serious risk to the public
- Ensure that the courts can stop an offender from working with children
The Local Authority Home Loan is due to be extended in 2024, so you will be able to use it to buy and renovate derelict and non-habitable homes.
From 1 December 2023, social housing tenants who rent a room in their home to a third-level student qualify for rent-a-room relief.
Scholarship payments under UCD’s Cothrom na Féine Scholarship Programme of up to €7,000 per year are not included in the means test for most social welfare payments.
From 1 January 2024, paid sick leave increases from 3 to 5 days a year.
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