Service
Enhanced Illness Benefit for COVID-19
From Department of Social Protection
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Last updated on
When a worker is told to self-isolate / restrict movements by a doctor or the HSE due to being a probable source of infection or has been diagnosed with COVID-19 (Coronavirus) by a doctor, they can apply for an enhanced Illness Benefit payment of €350 per week.
All employees (other than some public sector employees who pay a modified rate of social insurance) and self-employed, including non-nationals and people living in Direct Provision, are entitled to claim and receive the enhanced COVID-19 Illness Benefit payment where conditions are met.
To be eligible for this payment a person must be confined to their home or a medical facility.
Phone your GP. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. The GP will assess you over the phone.
From January 2022:
Enhanced Illness Benefit for COVID-19 Absences Personal Rate will stay the same, €350.
The Increase for a Qualified Adult will increase to €138.00 .
The Increase for a Qualified Child under 12 will increase to €40 and over 12 to €48 per week.
To receive the enhanced payment, you must be:
- self-isolating/restricting movements on the instruction of a doctor or the HSE due to being a probable source of infection or diagnosed with COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
and
- absent from work and confined to your home or a medical facility
An Illness Benefit claim form must be submitted (online or by post) and a Certificate of Incapacity for Work must be provided by your GP or relevant HSE documentation provided.
To receive the enhanced payment, you must also be:
- under pensionable age on the day for which the benefit is claimed and
if employed
- have at least one paid qualifying social insurance contribution in the four weeks immediately before claiming the payment and
- have a contract of employment (if an employee)
if self-employed
- worked immediately before applying for the enhanced payment and will have reckonable income in the current contribution year
If you are ill for another reason and you can’t work, you should apply for standard Illness Benefit. This requires a Certificate of Incapacity for Work and the submission of an application form (IB1).
If you are cocooning on health grounds:
If you are cocooning on health grounds, you are not eligible for the enhanced rate. You may qualify for standard Illness Benefit with all normal rules.
Relatives of people cocooning do not qualify for any illness payment.
The personal rate for this payment is €350 per week, as compared with the normal Illness Benefit rate of €203.
It will be paid for a maximum of 2 weeks where a person is self-isolating due to being a probable source of infection, and for a maximum of 10 weeks if a person has been diagnosed with COVID-19 (Coronavirus). If a person has been certified for less than 10 weeks, they will be paid for the duration of their certificate.
Step 1
- If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, or advised to self-isolate/restrict movements due to being a probable source of infection by a doctor, the doctor will then complete a Certificate of Incapacity for Work (or eCert equivalent) on your behalf and send this directly to the department. To complete the Certificate of Incapacity for Work, your doctor will ask you for your name, PPSN and Date of Birth.
- Alternatively, if you have been advised by the HSE that you must self-isolate/restrict movements due to being a probable source of infection (for example: contact tracing), you will have received a text or a letter from the HSE that you have been identified as being a contact of someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. You will need to submit a copy of this notification with your Illness Benefit application form.
- If you require a second period of self-isolation due to contact tracing in relation to a second person with COVID-19, separate claims must be submitted for both periods, with a Certificate of Incapacity for Work provided. You must return to work and make a PRSI contribution before you can be eligible for another period of self-isolation.
Step 2
You can apply for the emergency COVID-19 payment online at mywelfare.ie.
All you need to apply for the service is a basic MyGovID account.
Once you've got the basic MyGovID account (or if you already have an existing MyGovID account), just click the button below to apply for this payment.
It is very important to fill in your bank details correctly, include IBAN and BIC to avoid delays to your payments.
A Certificate of Incapacity for Work from your GP or a letter or text from the HSE must be provided. Please ensure that your GP has submitted the certification electronically or by post to the department. Where you have a text or letter from the HSE please submit it as an attachment with your application for Enhanced Illness Benefit for COVID-19.
Call the Illness Benefit Section between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday to get an application form by post
or
Request a form to be posted to you by sending an email with your name and address and form required to [email protected] . Forms can only be posted to addresses in Ireland. You should only apply by post if you cannot apply online.
It is very important to fill in your bank details correctly, include IBAN and BIC to avoid delays to your payments.
Once both the application form and the Certificate of Incapacity for Work are received the claim will be processed.
You should continue to liaise with your GP in relation to your diagnosis and the length of time you are medically certified unfit to work because of COVID-19.
Illness Benefit Section
Address:
Department of Social Protection, Dublin 1, PO Box 1650
Website:
Email:
Phone number:
