Illness Benefit in Ireland
The social welfare payment for people who cannot work because of illness or injury — and the medical certificate that has to support the claim.
Illness Benefit is a weekly payment from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) for people under pensionable age who cannot work because of illness or injury. It is a social insurance payment funded by PRSI, so it is not means-tested. Two things have to reach the Department: your claim, made on the IB1 form or through MyWelfare, and a Certificate of Incapacity for Work from a doctor registered with the Irish Medical Council, which the doctor submits to the Department for you. Not every online service issues that certificate, so it is worth checking before you book. It is a separate payment from the statutory sick leave your employer pays.
Definition
What Illness Benefit actually is
Illness Benefit is a payment from the Department of Social Protection to people who are unable to work because they are sick or injured. It is administered by the Department, not by your employer and not by the HSE.
Because it is funded through PRSI — pay related social insurance — entitlement depends on your social insurance record rather than on your savings or your household income. That is what makes it a social insurance payment rather than a means-tested one.
Whether your particular contributions count depends on the class of PRSI you pay. The classes that qualify, and the contribution conditions attached to them, are listed on the Department's own page. If you are self-employed, or you have recently moved between employment and self-employment, check that list before you assume you are covered — the answer is not the same for every class.
Two different payments
Illness Benefit is not statutory sick pay
These are two separate entitlements that people routinely confuse, and confusing them is the most common reason a claim is delayed.
- Statutory Sick Leave is paid by your employer, under the Sick Leave Act 2022, and is enforced by the Workplace Relations Commission.
- Illness Benefit is paid by the Department of Social Protection, out of the social insurance fund.
- They are governed by different rules, claimed in different ways, and evidenced by different pieces of paper.
- Your employer may also operate its own occupational sick pay scheme on top of both — that is a matter for your contract.
We cover employer-paid statutory sick leave, and what your employer can and cannot ask for, in a separate guide: Sick certificates in Ireland and your rights as an employee.
Statutory sick leave guidance: Workplace Relations Commission.
Medical evidence
The Certificate of Incapacity for Work
This is the medical document the Department requires. It is not the same thing as the note you give your employer, although one consultation can produce both.
A Certificate of Incapacity for Work states that, in the opinion of the doctor who examined you, you are unfit for work, and it states the period that opinion covers. It has to come from a doctor who is registered with the Medical Council — you can check any doctor's registration yourself on the Council's public register.
In practice the certificate does not travel with you. The doctor issues it and sends it to the Department — some practices file electronically, others by post, and either way it is not something you post yourself. Your job is to make sure the doctor has your PPS number and your correct personal details, because a mismatch between the certificate and your claim is what stalls payment.
- The doctor decides the period the certificate covers, based on the clinical picture — not on what you ask for.
- If you remain unfit beyond that period, you need a further certificate; your doctor will tell you when.
- A certificate is a clinical opinion. No doctor and no clinic can guarantee that the Department will accept a claim.
Check a doctor's registration: Irish Medical Council register.
Process
How the claim is made
There are two parallel tracks — yours and your doctor's — and the claim only moves when both have arrived.
- See a doctor. The consultation establishes whether you are unfit for work and for how long. Bring your PPS number.
- The doctor issues the Certificate of Incapacity for Work and submits it to the Department.
- You submit the claim. That is the IB1 form, or the equivalent online application through MyWelfare using your verified MyGovID account.
- Give the Department your bank details in the format the claim asks for, so payment is not held while they are chased.
- Tell your employer separately. Notifying the Department is not notifying your employer, and the Department does not do it for you.
If your circumstances change while a claim is running — you recover, you return to work part-time, you go abroad — the Department has to be told. Those rules are on its page, and they are the rules that most often produce an overpayment that has to be repaid later.
Claim online: MyWelfare — Illness Benefit. Full conditions: Citizens Information.
Telemedicine
Can an online GP issue the certificate?
Sometimes, and the honest answer is that it depends on what is wrong with you.
A doctor working by video consultation is bound by exactly the same professional standards as one working in a room with you. A certificate can only follow an adequate assessment. For many self-limiting illnesses — a respiratory infection, a gastrointestinal upset, a migraine, an episode of acute anxiety — a properly conducted video consultation is an adequate assessment, and a certificate can be issued the same day.
For other presentations it is not. Anything that needs the doctor to look inside an ear, palpate an abdomen, listen to a chest, examine a joint, take a blood pressure or arrange same-day bloods needs an in-person examination, and a responsible online doctor will tell you that and redirect you rather than certify blind.
- The doctor must be registered with the Medical Council to issue a certificate that the Department will act on.
- The consultation has to be long enough and detailed enough to support the opinion being given.
- If the clinical picture does not support incapacity for work, the doctor will say so. That is not a service failure — it is the certificate being worth something.
Safety
When you need to be seen in person — or urgently
A certificate is never the priority when the illness itself is the emergency.
- Chest pain, pressure or tightness, particularly with breathlessness, sweating or pain into the arm or jaw.
- Sudden weakness, facial droop, difficulty speaking or sudden severe headache.
- Difficulty breathing at rest, or lips or face turning blue.
- A rash that does not fade under pressure, especially with fever, neck stiffness or confusion.
- Any thought of harming yourself.
If any of these apply, call 112 or 999, or go to your nearest Emergency Department. Deal with the paperwork afterwards.
Global Health Ireland
Where to go from here
Our Irish GPs consult by video and can assess whether a certificate is clinically appropriate in your case.
- Online sick certificate and GP consultation in Ireland
- Meet the doctors registered with our Irish service
- Contact Global Health Ireland
Speak to an Irish-registered GP today
A video consultation establishes whether you are fit for work and, where it is clinically appropriate, produces the certificate your claim needs.
Official sources
Where the rules actually come from
Rates, waiting days, contribution conditions and claim durations are set by the Department of Social Protection and change. Always read the current figure at source rather than in an article.
Links open on the issuing body's own website. Global Health is not affiliated with the Department of Social Protection and cannot decide, expedite or guarantee any social welfare claim.
FAQ
Common questions
How do I get a medical certificate for Illness Benefit?
You need a consultation with a doctor registered with the Irish Medical Council. If the doctor finds you unfit for work, they issue a Certificate of Incapacity for Work and submit it to the Department of Social Protection. Not every online service issues this certificate, so check before booking. Bring your PPS number to the consultation, because the certificate has to match your claim.
Is Illness Benefit the same as statutory sick pay in Ireland?
No. Statutory Sick Leave is paid by your employer under the Sick Leave Act 2022. Illness Benefit is paid by the Department of Social Protection from the social insurance fund. They are separate entitlements with separate rules, and claiming one does not claim the other.
Can I claim Illness Benefit if I am self-employed?
It depends on the class of PRSI you pay. The qualifying classes and contribution conditions are listed on the Department's Illness Benefit page, and they are not the same for every class. Check that page against your own PRSI record before assuming you are covered.
Do I need a new medical certificate every week?
Your doctor decides the period each certificate covers, based on your condition. If you are still unfit for work when it ends, you need a further certificate, and your doctor will tell you when to come back. There is no fixed interval that applies to everyone.
Can an online doctor issue a Certificate of Incapacity for Work?
Yes, where a video consultation is an adequate assessment for what is wrong with you, and where the doctor is registered with the Medical Council. For conditions that need a physical examination, blood tests or in-person observation, the doctor will refer you to be seen rather than certify remotely.
What happens if the Department refuses my claim?
A refusal comes with a reason and with appeal rights. Read the decision letter, and take it up through the appeal route the Department sets out. Your treating doctor can supply further clinical information if it is relevant, but the decision itself is the Department's, not the doctor's.