My Department provides a diverse range of services and income supports including contributory and non-contributory pensions, payments to carers and people with disabilities, payments to jobseekers, as well as the universal Child Benefit payment which is paid to some 675,000 families.
Currently, the largest area of expenditure is pensions, which accounts for 42% of my Department's overall budget allocation in 2026. The number of pensioners has been increasing year-on-year for some time, and is expected to continue to increase for the foreseeable future due to Ireland's ageing population.
Overall total Social Protection expenditure last year was €27.4 billion (Provisional Outturn), compared to €20.7 billion in 2012, an increase of some €6.7 billion.
At a high level, the broad factors behind this increase in expenditure include:
• Increases in weekly social protection rates. For example, the rate of State Pension (Contributory) has increased by €59 per week between 2012 and 2025 (with a further €10 increase provided this year as part of Budget 2026).
• An increase in the number of pensioners. In 2025, there was an additional quarter of a million people in receipt of a state pension payment compared to 2012.
• An increase in the range of schemes and services delivered by my Department. For example, over the period in question my Department has introduced new schemes such as Parent's and Paternity Benefit, School Meals, and Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit.
The costs associated with the factors above have significantly exceeded the offsetting savings realised as a result of a lower rate of unemployment.
In terms of future projections, the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 requires that I undertake an Actuarial Review of the position of the Social Insurance Fund at 5-year intervals. The most recent review, published in March 2023, was the fifth review of the Fund, reflecting the position of the Fund as at 31 December 2020. The purpose of the Actuarial Review is to inform policy developments in relation to the social insurance system. The Review projects the income and expenditure of the Fund over a 55-year period, taking into account policy, economic and demographic changes since the previous review was undertaken.
My Department also feeds into central Government economic projections prepared by the Department of Finance, when required.
