Child benefit is to rise €5 per month from January, according to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and it was planned to increase it again in 2016 by a further €5.
The new figure will be €135 per month for each child.
Brendan Howlin told the Dáil he was allocating €19.4bn to Social Protection for 2015.
He said for the first time since 2009 there would be no new cuts to social welfare schemes.
The minister said the Government would pay a 25% bonus to social welfare recipients this Christmas.
He also said a new back to work family dividend would allow families to retain the full qualified child increase of €29.80 per week per child for 12 months after their return to work and 50% of the payment in the second year.
The living alone allowance will rise to €9 per week, he added.
These were the first rate increases to be applied to social welfare schemes since 2009, the minister said.
