Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 290

Budgeting in relation to social welfare payments

Section 290 enables the Minister to make regulations allowing a portion of a beneficiary's social welfare payment to be withheld, with their consent, and paid directly to a nominated organisation such as a local authority, utility provider, or credit union.

• Where a beneficiary consents, the Minister may arrange for an agreed amount of benefit to be withheld and paid separately to a designated body, subject to the rules in section 290B.
• Designated bodies include local authorities, statutory bodies, licensed electricity and gas suppliers, telecommunications undertakings, credit unions, and any other body the Minister may prescribe.
• Payments to credit unions must relate to a Minister-approved borrowing scheme, with borrowings capped at €5,000, interest limited to the rate specified by the Minister for Finance, a repayment period set by regulation, and any transaction fee (up to €0.50) discharged by the Minister.
• Since the Social Welfare Act 2012, benefit may no longer be withheld for the purpose of paying rent to a local authority, except where the arrangement was already in operation or had been agreed before that Act commenced.