The government's expenditure on social security benefits in the first half of the year was 8.4% higher than that of the same period last year.
According to national data, between January and June of this year, spending on social security benefits totalled €680.6 million.
Higher expenditure was reported for both contributory (€34.9 million) and non-contributory benefits (€17.6 million), the National Statistics Office said on Thursday.
In all, government spending on contributory benefits amounted to €548.5 million - a 6.8 per cent rise from 2022.
Retirement pensions recorded the largest increase (€19.9 million), as a result of 1,134 more people qualifying for the two-thirds pension.
Further increases were registered under contributory bonus (€8.4 million) and widows' pension (€6.7 million).