Household Benefits Package
€1.15 a day towards your electricity or gas, about €420 a year, paid into your bank or post office on the first Tuesday of each month, plus a free TV licence worth €160.
Last checked September 2026
What it is
Help with your electricity or gas bill plus a free TV licence: €1.15 a day towards energy (about €420 a year) and a TV licence worth €160. Turn 70 and it is yours whatever your income, with no means test and no qualifying payment needed. Under 66 you can qualify on Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Blind Pension, Incapacity Supplement paid with Disablement Pension for at least 12 months, or Carer's Allowance while living with the person you care for. Two routes catch people out. A bereaved partner or widow aged 60 to 65 on a Bereaved Partner's Pension or a Garda Widow's Ordinary Pension may qualify before 66. The Department's guidelines add that the late partner must have had the package, so check this with the Department. And you qualify if you live with and care for someone getting Constant Attendance Allowance, even if you do not get Carer's Allowance yourself. Between 66 and 70 there is a MEANS TEST route as well as a pension route, so no pension does not mean no package. Renters can get it too. The electricity or gas allowance is €1.15 a day, paid into your bank account or post office on the first Tuesday of each month. Since 8 September 2025 new applicants are paid that way rather than as a credit on the bill. If you rent, your landlord has to confirm in writing that you are the tenant, give the MPRN or GPRN for the address, and confirm you pay your own energy bills. One package per household, and you must live in Ireland full time all year round. The free TV licence starts from its next renewal date, and you apply for it as part of the same application.
Who can get it
- You are 70 or over and live in Ireland full time. There is no means test and you do not need any social welfare payment
- You are 66 to 69 and either get a qualifying payment such as a State Pension or pass a means test
- You are under 66 and get Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Blind Pension, Carer's Allowance while living with the person you care for, Incapacity Supplement with Disablement Pension for at least 12 months. An equivalent payment from an EU country, the UK or another country Ireland has a social security agreement with also counts
- Under 70, if you live with a partner they must also fit, as a qualified adult on your payment, on their own qualifying payment or through a means test
- Since 8 September 2025 new applicants get the energy allowance paid into their bank or post office and still pay their full bill. Existing customers on a bill credit keep it
- Only one package is paid per household
- If you rent, your landlord must confirm in writing that you are the tenant, give the meter number (MPRN or GPRN) and confirm you pay your own energy bills
- If you move house, tell the Department and re-apply for your new address. Going into a nursing home ends the package, but if you return home and write to the Department within 13 weeks it is restored from the date it stopped. After a death, a surviving partner has to re-apply in their own name
- The payments are free of income tax, PRSI and USC
How to apply
Apply online on MyWelfare with a verified MyGovID. You can also use the paper form HB1 from gov.ie, a post office or your Intreo centre. You need your MPRN or GPRN from your energy bill and your TV licence number. If you are 66 to 69 and applying on the means test, tick that question on HB1 and the Department sends you a means form. It can usually be backdated up to 6 months.
Go to the official page →Checked against the official source on 27 September 2026. Always confirm the details on the official page before applying.
Questions people ask
Do I need a pension to get the Household Benefits Package at 70?
No. At 70 or over it is not means tested and you do not need any social welfare payment. You must live here full time and nobody else in your home can already have it.
I am 67 with no State Pension. Can I still get the Household Benefits Package?
Yes, if you pass a means test. Tick the means test question on form HB1 and the Department sends you a means form.
Is the Household Benefits Package taken off my bill?
Not for anyone applying since 8 September 2025. €1.15 a day is paid into your bank or post office on the first Tuesday of each month and you pay your bill as normal.
Can I get the Household Benefits Package if I rent?
Yes, if you pay your own energy bills and your landlord confirms your tenancy in writing and gives the MPRN or GPRN.
Related guides
- Carer's Allowance
- Carer's Support Grant
- Domiciliary Care Allowance
- Carer's Benefit
- Home Carer Tax Credit
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