If you're one of the 1.2 million people receiving social welfare, you'll get your Christmas bonus this week.

The Department of Social Welfare have confirmed the bonus of 25% of the payment will be paid out to all long-term welfare recipients over the coming days.

It's paid to pensioners, people with disabilities, carers, lone parents, and long-term jobseekers.

The partial restoration of the bonus was announced in Budget 2015 in November at a cost of €65m.

Last month, Minister Howlin told Newstalk that he doesn't believe many will begrudge the small sums involved, and it is a modest improvement after “seven years of very difficult retrenchment.” Referring to the harsh Budgets handed down in previous years, Minister Howlin told Pat Kenny: “I don’t think that this government in its four years to date could be accused of populism.”

“We’ve had seven years of very difficult retrenchment and people need a break,” Howlin said.

“This is a modest relief for people under enormous pressure. I think there’s very few people – economists or otherwise – who would begrudge an old age pensioner getting 50 or 55 quid to celebrate Christmas.

“I don’t think they’ll be doing hooplas about it but I think it is a measure of saying that we’re emerging now form an economic collapse, but our economic progress has to be matched with social progress and giving an extra fiver a month to parents of a child, giving a 25 per cent bonus at Christmas time to pensioners or the disabled, I don’t think there’s very many people who will begrudge that,” Minister Howlin told Pat Kenny.