Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 290B

Limitations on budgeting under sections 290 and 290A

Section 290B limits deductions and withholdings from social welfare benefits to a maximum of 25 per cent of the weekly benefit rate, and sets out how deductions under section 290A (rent payments to housing bodies) and withholdings under section 290 (overpayment recovery) interact when both apply to the same beneficiary in the same week.

• A deduction from benefit under section 290A (direct rent payments to housing bodies) must not exceed 25 per cent of the weekly rate of that benefit.
• A withholding from benefit under section 290 (overpayment recovery) must not exceed 25 per cent of the weekly rate of that benefit.
• Where both sections apply to the same beneficiary in the same week, the section 290A rent deduction takes priority and is applied first.
• The section 290 withholding may then continue only if the 290A deduction is less than 25 per cent of the weekly rate, and only up to the point where the combined total of both deductions does not exceed 25 per cent of the weekly benefit rate.