A children's charity says social welfare lump sum payments will only help families in the short-term.
Cost-of-living payments, announced as part of the budget, will be paid this week.
Those on the Fuel Allowance will get an additional €400, while an extra €500 euro will be given to households on the Working Family Payment.
National Policy Manager at Barnardos, Stephen Moffat, says families may need more help to pay bills in the new year:
"The fuel allowance additions and extensions are definitely really welcomed and they're gonna make a difference to families so gonna relieve some pressure over the next couple of months to pay bills to under reduce some stresses allow parents to focus maybe a bit more on their children and not just focusing a lot of time on financial stresses but it is important to remember that this is for a very limited period of time so it's going to be very important to keep an eye on what happens over the next couple of months."
