Department of Social Protection figures show how €27.4 billion was spent in 2025, who received each main payment and how spending has changed since 2016.
Pensions take more than four euro in every ten
Ireland spent €27.4 billion on social welfare in 2025, and pensions took the biggest share. Pension payments cost €11.5 billion, or 42% of the total. That is more than jobseeker, family and child payments put together.
These figures come from the Department of Social Protection's 2025 Annual Statistics Report, published in July 2026. The 2025 spending figures are provisional.
Illness, disability and carers come second
The second largest area is illness, disability and caring, at €6.2 billion in 2025. It covers Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Illness Benefit, Carer's Allowance and related payments.
Working age income supports, mainly jobseeker payments and the One-Parent Family Payment, cost €4.2 billion. Child payments, mostly Child Benefit, cost €3.0 billion.
Who gets each payment
The number of people on each scheme tells a different story from the spending. Child Benefit has the most recipients, usually a parent, followed by the State Pension (Contributory). The counts are at 31 December 2025.
Some 3.56 million different people benefited from at least one payment in 2025, counting adults and children who depend on them. The department counts 2.47 million recipients of its main weekly payments, though some people get more than one.
Women make up most beneficiaries: 2.07 million, against 1.50 million men. Household support payments also reach large numbers. At the end of 2025, 420,646 people got Fuel Allowance and 479,915 got the Electricity Allowance.
What the biggest schemes cost
The State Pension (Contributory) is the single largest payment. It cost €8.2 billion in 2025 and was paid to 558,414 people at the end of the year. Jobseeker's Allowance cost €1.75 billion.
| Scheme | Spending 2025 | Recipients, end 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| State Pension (Contributory) | €8,174m | 558,414 |
| State Pension (Non-Contributory) | €1,336m | 100,926 |
| Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension | €1,986m | 127,983 |
| Jobseeker's Allowance | €1,752m | 107,131 |
| One-Parent Family Payment | €756m | 43,195 |
| Jobseeker's Benefit | €402m | 17,247 |
| Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit | €297m | Not shown |
Most welfare money goes to people out of work.
Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit and Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit cost €2.45 billion in 2025, about 9% of the total. Pensions cost €11.5 billion (Irish Wire calculation from department figures).
The means-tested pension is most common in Donegal
There are two main State Pensions. The contributory pension depends on a person's social insurance (PRSI) record. The non-contributory pension is means-tested, for people who do not qualify on their record.
In Donegal, 32.2% of State Pension recipients were on the non-contributory pension at the end of 2025. Mayo (24.7%) and Longford (23.2%) came next. The lowest shares were in Kildare (11.0%) and Dublin (11.4%).
Across the 26 counties the share was 16.6%. The figures leave out 50,370 contributory and 25 non-contributory pensions paid to people living abroad or with no county recorded.
Spending rose by €7.6 billion since 2016
Social welfare spending rose from €19.8 billion in 2016 to €27.4 billion in 2025. It jumped above €30 billion in 2020 and 2021, the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, when spending on working age supports more than doubled. It fell back in 2022.
Pension spending rose by 62% between 2016 and 2025, from €7.1 billion to €11.5 billion. Illness, disability and caring rose by 68%, from €3.7 billion to €6.2 billion. Child payments rose by 16%.
A smaller share of the economy
Welfare spending has grown more slowly than the economy and the rest of Government spending. It made up 20.5% of all Government spending in 2025, down from 26.1% in 2016. Measured against GNI* (modified national income, a measure of the Irish economy), it fell from 11.4% to 8.2%.
Social welfare as a share of all Government spending in 2025, down from 26.1% in 2016
Source: assets.gov.ieAfter allowing for price rises, spending grew by about 11% between 2016 and 2025 (Irish Wire calculation). Weekly rates rose roughly in line with prices: the State Pension (Contributory) went from €233.30 to €289.30, up 24%, while the CPI rose by 24.2%. The top personal rate of Jobseeker's Allowance for people aged 26 and over rose faster, from €188 to €244, up 29.8%.
Over €30 billion planned for 2027
The Government plans to spend €28.9 billion on social protection in 2026 and €31.0 billion in 2027. Budget 2027 added a package of €1.15 billion for new measures, including a €10 rise in core weekly rates from January 2027.
The State Pension (Contributory) will rise to €309.30 a week. The Child Support Payment, paid for children of people on many schemes, rises by €6 a week to €64 for under-12s and €84 for those aged 12 and over.
How to read these figures
- Spending is for the full year. Recipient numbers are a snapshot at 31 December 2025.
- A recipient is the person who gets the payment. Beneficiaries also include adults and children who depend on them.
- Some people get more than one payment, so recipients across schemes cannot simply be added up.
- The 2025 spending figures are provisional and may be revised in the 2026 report.
- Planned figures for 2026 and 2027 are Government estimates, not final spending.
Christmas Bonus paid to long-term social welfare recipients
Budget 2027 weekly rate increases take effect
Department of Social Protection: 2026 Annual Statistics Report (expected, based on the 2025 report's July publication)
- Department of Social Protection: 2025 Annual Statistics Report
- Department of Social Protection: Annual Report 2025
- Department of Social Protection: Budget 2027 press release, 6 October 2026
- Department of Public Expenditure: Budget 2027 Expenditure Report, Part III
- Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Options, Tax Strategy Group 26/02
- Government of Ireland: Where Your Money Goes, Social Protection 2027
