Welfare distributed by the government, mostly in the form of pensions and the children's allowance, rose by 9.2 per cent last year when compared to the previous year.

National Statistics Office figures show that €624.8 million were handed out, a €52.5 million rise over the previous year.

Retirement pensions paid rose by €31.8 million to €294 million and widowhood pensions rose by €3.8 million, although invalidity pensions fell by €2.3 million.

Benefits paid for industrial injuries rose by a marginal €57,000.

Children's allowance rose by €11.1 million, old age pensions by €400,000, disability allowance by €900,000, social assistance by €1.1 million and medical assistance by €300,000.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.