The following groups will get no Christmas bonus, no fuel allowance, no €400 payment and no double payment to help them through the cost-of-living crisis and energy price hikes that people are facing this winter: people on jobseeker's benefit, illness benefit, enhanced illness benefit, occupational injuries benefit, maternity benefit and disablement benefit. How is it fair or just that people on those social welfare payments, who are on reduced incomes, will not get the double payment, fuel allowance or the Christmas bonus? Do they not need help in the face of the winter ahead that is going to crucify them?

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will be able to give precise information on this today if she has not released it already. The rules for the Christmas bonus are very clear. A person must be on a long-term social welfare payment for a period of time before qualifying for the Christmas bonus. That is not going to be the case for the one-off double-payment that people will receive in October. The rules for that will be similar to those that applied to the pandemic unemployment payment. Very many people, and I do not have exact details, including some of those mentioned by Deputy Boyd Barrett who have only been on a payment for a shorter period-----

That is not what they are being told by the Department of Social Protection at the moment.

We will clarify that but the rules are not the same as those for the Christmas bonus. There is a different set of rules that are not as strict.