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The Dáil chamber has almost cleared out with just about a dozen TDs left.
This is the norm after the Ministers and main opposition party spokesperson speaks, writes Marie O’Halloran.
But the debate continues. Labour finance spokesman Ged Nash said the Government has surpluses the envy of Europe but public services and creaking infrastructure “that should shame us”.
For the first time in a decade “money isn’t the problem. It’s a lack of imagination and a lack of vision that’s holding our country and its people back”.
There are “record corporation tax receipts, but record numbers of our citizens without a home”.
He described Taoiseach Simon Harris as “the man who manages to be both Government and Opposition at the same time”.
He also took a cut at Sinn Féin. “They’ve rarely met a tax they believed was fair or didn’t want to get rid of – USC, the local property tax, the carbon tax – the list goes on.”
Social Democrats finance spokeswoman Róisín Shortall took a similar line.
She said the Sinn Féin tax package in their alternative budget is worth €2 billion but they had announced plans to scrap property and carbon taxes and cut USC. This was very cynical and “hard to understand from a party that claims to be left-wing”.
Reserving most of her ire for the Government, Ms Shortall said the budget has one overriding purpose “self-preservation of the Government parties”.
Accusing the Government of indulging “in a spending splurge unlike any other” she said “any value for money considerations have been left at the door” and that the budget was filled with quick fixes rather than structural reforms.
Ms Shortall said the Taoiseach recently invited former Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern to Government buildings “for a fireside chat” and this budget “has all of the hallmarks of a Bertie Budget – spray money around, create a distraction, and hope that it’s enough to win an election.”
But she stressed that this budget is a bad deal “for the public and the State finances”.
Working farmers have welcomed a Government intervention on the acquisition of agricultural land.
The subject of wealthy individuals buying up agricultural land has been an emotive subject for farmers, writes Ronan McGreevy, with the price of land rocketing in recent years – especially in counties with particularly good farmland.
High net worth individuals, ie rich people, have been buying agricultural land for tax planning purchases.
The Government introduced a six-year rule last year that means purchasers of agricultural land have to farm it for that period of time to avail of the 90 per cent agricultural relief. But the buyers were able to get around that provision by leasing the land out and getting others to farm it.
Now the Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has gone a step forward by bringing in a measure that the purchasers themselves have to farm the land. This could make it more difficult for those who are buying it solely for tax planning purposes.
This has been welcomed by farmers. Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association president Denis Drennan cautioned, however, that there may be “unintended consequences” to the measure and they would wait for the Finance Bill for further clarification.
An increase on Garda spending to €2.481 billion next year – up from €2.31 billion – will allow for up to 1,000 new Garda recruits to be hired in 2025.
This was the same pledge that the Government made in last year’s budget for this year, though it is set to fall well short, writes Conor Lally.
The Garda overtime budget will also increase by 13 per cent next year to €149 million.
Some 150 Garda civilian staff are set to be hired, including those with specialist ICT skills, and others for administrative posts to free up desk-bound gardaí for frontline duties.
A commitment to invest a portion of the funds from the Apple tax case in housing is “hugely positive”, says Threshold, the national charity providing housing advice.
It says it is keen to see the details of this once they are published “as the statements today do not indicate an increase in social or affordable housing targets”. Such spending must be accompanied by a long-term roadmap to move toward a unitary housing system in which all households have access to affordable housing, it says.
In the meantime, renters will feel the benefit of the increase to the rent tax credit, particularly when combined with the other cost of living measures. The increase in the credit from €500 when it was first introduced in Budget 2023 to €1,000 is welcome.
“It is positive to hear that this increase will be effective from 2024,” Threshold says.
“While welcome, measures to increase access to affordable housing – whether to rent or buy – are what are truly needed to address the affordability crisis in our housing system.”
The budget contains funding for the recruitment of 400 extra international protection personnel to speed up the processing of asylum seeker claims.
This €25 million increase for the Department of Justice will allow it to handle the 25,000 applications for international protection which are expected next year, writes Conor Gallagher.
There will also be funding for a charter plane service to deport failed asylum seekers and new technology to speed up processing times.
Funding for the Department of Integration for international protection services is to increase by 12 per cent to over €2.1 billion in expectation of continued pressure on asylum seeker services.
There will also be an extra €50 million in funding for Local Authority Integration Teams (LAITs) to provide support to asylum seekers and refugees and €8.4 million for the International Protection Child Payment which will benefit about 5,000 children a month.
Tusla will also receive extra funding to aid children seeking international protection who have been separated from their parents.
Dublin Chamber has welcomed the Government’s commitment to invest the Apple cash in “infrastructure essentials”.
“Ringfencing funds for vital capital projects is paramount. Without the clear allocation of funds, all such projects are merely aspirational,” says Mary Rose Burke, Dublin Chamber chief executive.
“We are glad to see that tangible, ringfenced funding for water, wastewater and electricity grid infrastructure has been agreed by Government in a framework and announced today. These projects cannot be slowed down, suspended or cancelled due to the vagaries of the economic cycle,” she said.
The 2025 defence budget will allow the Air Corps to acquire a new Airbus C295W military transport.
This will be capable of transporting up to 70 troops or evacuating the same number of Irish citizens from dangerous situations around the world, writes Conor Gallagher.
“This level of investment is critical in the current geopolitical situation,” the Department of Defence said.
Petrol and diesel prices are set to rise from next Wednesday, October 9th. The changes will mean an additional €1.20 per 60 litre tank for motorists, says Fuels for Ireland.
The rate will increase from €56 to €63.50 next week for petrol and diesel – and from May 1st, 2025, on all other fuels, writes Michael McAleer.
But there was better news for motorists with an end to the Motor Insurers Insolvency Compensation Fund – 1 per cent on insurance premiums – from January 1st, benefiting up to 2.2 million policyholders.
Among the other budget changes to affect motorists, amendments to the Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) regime for electric commercial vehicles will mean they qualify for the €200 rate. At present, due to the heavy battery weight, many electric vans exceed the 3½-tonne limit for the lower rate of tax.
Changing to an emissions-based approach for VRT on these commercial vehicles should mean the price of new electric vans will come into line with their diesel alternatives. The new system will provide for a lower 8 per cent rate for category B vehicles with CO₂ emission of less than 120gms (grams per square metre) per kilometre to encourage the purchase of such vehicles.
The National Women’s Council has welcomed the roll out of free hormonal replacement therapy. It also hailed the increase in maternity, paternity, parent’s benefit and adoptive benefit, the extension of the free schoolbook scheme and the extension of free public transport for under nines.
But it warns that cost-of-living pressures continue to affect women across the country and criticised the Government for what it described as an “ongoing over-reliance on temporary one-off payments” rather than structural reform and permanent solutions.
“This budget is a missed opportunity for the new Taoiseach and new Minister for Finance to lay out a roadmap for real reform and investment in tackling the ongoing childcare crisis,” said NWC director Orla O’Connor.
“While we welcome the increased investment in early years care and education, this will not do enough to address affordability and accessibility for parents.”
Inheritance tax thresholds were raised across the board in Budget 2025. This ensures people will be able to inherit more before they are subject to capital acquisitions tax, writes Dominic Coyle.
As widely flagged, the category A threshold, which applies for inheritances from parents to their children, was increased by €65,000 from its current level to €335,000 to €400,000 per child. It is the first increase in the threshold since 2019.
Minister for Finance Jack Chambers also raised the category B threshold for people receiving large gifts or inheritances from a grandparent, a great-grandparent, a sibling or an aunt or uncle to €40,000 from €32,500.
Category C, which covers all other inheritances and large gifts – those in excess of €3,000 a year – will rise to €20,000 from €16,250.
The changes will come into effect from tomorrow, October 2nd.
Parents will be pleased by the announcement of bigger subsidies for childcare from next September. A 44 per cent increase to the National Childcare Scheme will mean an average reduction in costs of €1,100 per child, Paschal Donohoe told the Dáil.
More children are to benefit from the subsidies next year too, Emmet Malone writes.
Providers are concerned, however, that the expected increased to the Core Funding scheme, which helps them with basic running costs, do not seem to have materialised, although there may be more clarity when Roderic O’Gorman briefs the media on the detail of the changes after 4pm.
In the meantime, Elaine Dunne of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers said the NCS increase is welcome but “we need the sector to be stabilised through additional funding to providers, many of whom are struggling after having been trapped in a fees freeze for several years”.
“It is good to see parents get more help with the cost of childcare but we are hoping that something is going to be done for providers too because if not, there will be small and medium sized services that will be forced to close,” she said.
Separately, Early Childhood Ireland said the NCS increases announced would account for approximately half of the overall funding increase announced in the Budget and they too are waiting to see the extent to which providers are helped with additional core funding.
EirGrid will receive €750 million to enhance the national grid, strengthen electricity supply and help decarbonise the economy.
Other key climate and environment measures, writes environment and science editor Kevin O’Sullivan, include:
Last year’s “one-off” €1,000 cut to the student registration fee is being extended into the new academic year.
This brings the maximum charge for undergraduate students to €2,000, writes Carl O’Brien.
In addition, there is an increase in the post graduate tuition fee contribution by €1,000 for student grant recipients.
There is also a “once-off” reduction of 33 per cent in the contribution fee for apprentices in higher education.
It all forms part of a €4.5 billion budget for the Department of Further and Higher Education, an increase of about €400 million on last year.
In a long-awaited move, the Government will finally tap into a huge surplus in the National Training Fund – paid for via a levy on employers – to create a €1.5 billion funding package between now and 2030.
Capital spending on military projects will increase by 22 per cent next year. Much of this will go on the development of a military radar capable of detecting airborne threats, writes Conor Gallagher.
Additional funds will also be allocated to recruit more permanent staff and to hire civilian specialists to fill vacant technical roles, particularly in the Naval Service which has been hardest by the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis affecting the Defence Forces.
The overall defence budget will be a record €1.3 billion, part of the Government’s commitment to increase spending by 50 per cent by 2028 in response to growing international threats.
Children’s charity Barnardos says the budget doesn’t go far enough. The range of measures will better guarantee that children don’t go without essentials, but it was hoped that the increases in the available supports would be “somewhat higher”.
The lump sum payments will enable parents to make larger once-off payments that will be necessary this winter and help prevent or reduce financial hardships for many, it says.
Targeted measures, such as the increase core social welfare rates and in particular to qualified child increase – now named the child support payment – are “very welcome”, it says. The charity also welcomed the expansion of free schoolbooks to secondary school students up to the end of the senior cycle, the extension of hot school meals programmes to all primary schools next year and a number of other measures that will reduce pressure on families struggling with education-related costs.
“The once off measures and increases to longer terms supports set out today in Budget 2025 with help protect the families across our services in the immediate term. These families will feel more assured that they will be able to meet costs this winter such as getting their children new clothing and meeting heating costs,” said chief executive Suzanne Connolly.
“However, it won’t eliminate longer term financial anxieties or substantially increase supports to address adversities families are facing.”
The Irish Heart Foundation has welcomed the new e-cigarette tax and a €1 increase in the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes. It says these measures are crucial protections for children and young people from nicotine addiction.
Chris Macey, the charity’s director of advocacy, says: “Tax is a vital deterrent for young people to take up vaping and smoking and these measures will have a significant long-term health benefit.
“The new tax specifically targeting e-cigarettes is particularly important given the explosion of youth vaping in Ireland and fears they represent a gateway into smoking for a new generation.”
It is “unfortunate” that the tax is not scheduled to be introduced until mid-2025, but the rate selected can have “a significant impact on youth vaping rates without deterring people using e-cigarettes to quit smoking”, he says.
Mr Macey adds that the €1 increase is the biggest increase in the price of a pack of cigarettes for years and a mark of the role tax policy plays in reducing smoking rates. The hike brings the cost of a packet of the most popular brands to €18.05.
Jennifer Bray: Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty is hitting the Government where it hurts.
He says that when it comes to spending, “the Government has been exposed again and again as wasters” of money, in reference to the controversial Oireachtas bike shed and the never-ending saga of ballooning costs at the National Children’s Hospital.
The oversight of major spending projects is one of the weakest spots for this Coalition and Sinn Féin are doing what the Opposition do, and going for the jugular.
Expect a lot of this in the election: Fine Gael, in particular, declaring itself to be a fiscally prudent party worthy of another shot of Government and Sinn Féin blowing a hole in this image thanks to the security hut, bike shed and children’s hospital.
Paschal Donohoe wraps up his speech with mention of “pursuing the great opportunities that await” and commends the budget to the Dáil. He sits down to some applause, followed by the usual stirrings and murmurs before the Opposition reaction begins courtesy of Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty.
“This Government is incapable of delivering real change, incapable of getting value for money. People see through the spin,” he says.
What else has Paschal Donohoe announced?
A further energy support scheme for businesses, free public transport for children aged five to eight, and €2 billion for the Department of Housing specifically for the delivery of 10,000 new build social homes. As expected, carbon tax is being increased by €7.50 per tonne, bringing the total carbon tax revenue available for investment to €951 million, writes Jennifer Bray.
The Department of Health is to get an additional almost €3 billion euro in Budget 2025, Shauna Bowers writes.
The total health budget will be a record €25.76 billion, an increase of €2.94 billion over the January 2024 allocation of €22.82 billion.
Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said the additional funding “would support better financial planning” within the health service.
There were a number of new measures announced in the areas of women’s health, with €35 million being allocated to this area.
Hormone replacement therapy, which is typically used to help treat symptoms of menopause, will be made freely available from January 2025, resulting in potential savings to women of up to €840 per year.
Access to free IVF will be expanded in two areas next year: to include donor assisted IVF and to assist couples experiencing “secondary infertility”, which is when couples have an existing child but are having fertility issues.
Mr Donohoe also announced there would be the “continued development” of mental health services, including the provision of “additional” services for children and adolescents.
There will also be an exemption to income tax, capital gains tax and capital acquisitions tax on payments for women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy.
There has been some strongly worded reaction from the hospitality sector.
The Government is treating the sector as an “economic afterthought”, the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) has responded.
The LVA said that during its interactions with Ministers and Government, it made clear that small cash grants would not be an effective or appropriate means of addressing the structural problems facing the industry and is “very disappointed” to see these grants being the only solution put forward by the Government to the sector’s current crisis.
The LVA estimates one in three pubs in Dublin will not even qualify for this measure.
“This is a budget which shows how little the Government has been listening to the hospitality sector,” said Donall O’Keeffe, chief executive of the LVA.
“We have been treated like an economic afterthought. They obviously do not view the struggles that are impacting our sector as important. It doesn’t concern them that almost every day we see well known small businesses all around Ireland shutting their doors for good. It also doesn’t seem to bother them that it is the Government themselves who are key contributors to the problems in hospitality.”
Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said the budget offered “no hope” to hospitality businesses.
“This was the most important Budget for the hospitality sector since I first became CEO of the Restaurants Association in 2009.
“A pressurised domestic consumer, lagging tourist numbers and, above all, an out-of-control cost base mean optimism among my members has never been lower.
“The Government has offered no hope to these businesses for the future.”
So how will the €14bn Apple Tax cash be spent?
Jennifer Bray writes: Paschal Donohoe outlines the obvious. He says this is a very significant amount of money, that the Government must recognise that it is one-off in nature, and that it is equal to the money that was already going to be spent on the National Development Plan.
Either way, four pillars have been identified for investment, and they all focus on expanding Irish infrastructure. The four pillars are water, electricity, transport and housing. A “framework” is being developed as to the specifics or where the money goes. There may not be an announcement on this until early next year.
The extension of free schoolbooks to Leaving Cert is a key aspect of this year’s education budget, writes Carl O’Brien.
It means families with students in transition year, fifth year and sixth year will not have to pay for textbooks, copybooks, pens, etc, from September next year.
Another eye-catching announcement is the extension of free hot school meals programme to all 3,000-plus primary schools in 2025.
There will also be a pilot scheme to provide meals during the summer to less well-off students.
In addition, reductions in school transport fees will continue as the waiver of fees for all in the State exams. At third level, some temporary measures introduced in the 20204 Budget remain.
Last year’s “one-off” euro1,000 cut to the student registration fee is being extended into the new academic year, while there will be improvements to some student grants and cuts to apprenticeship fees.
These were the closing words of Jack Chambers a little earlier.
“Micheál O’Muircheartaigh, a legend in our country, always had such a way with words and his knowledge of GAA was unsurpassed. He was so knowledgeable in other ways too. I was reading through some of his memorable quotes which illustrated his superb command of language and his wisdom.
Reflecting on his advice for young people on his 90th birthday, he said: “Always look forward to things. Look forward with hope. Hope is the greatest thing of all.”
As elected representatives I believe it is our responsibility and duty to foster a real sense of hope for the future, to inspire positivity, build a better State and demonstrate confidence about the possibilities ahead. This budget is about the future. It reflects a commitment and resolve to responsible politics, economic resilience and a fairer society ensuring that together we can build a prosperous future imbued with optimism and hope.
Ceann Comhairle, I believe Budget 2025 provides the ways and means for continuing to deliver many more, bright and hopeful days for us all.
All this and more can be achieved because of the decisions we are taking today for our people, our communities and our country.”
As of midnight tonight there will be 6 per cent stamp duty on residential property sales worth over €1.5 million. It is, as my colleague Jack Horgan Jones says, a “mansion tax”.
There will also be a higher rate of stamp duty on bulk acquisitions of houses from 10 per cent to 15 per cent with immediate effect. The existing rate of 1 per cent will continue to apply to values up to €1 million, and 2 per cent on values above €1 million. The minister said that “normal transitional arrangements; will apply for transactions in process.
The Irish screen industry has welcomed confirmation that the Government is to introduce a new fiscal incentive for unscripted television productions.
The measure, first mentioned by Paschal Donohoe in his budget speech two years ago, will “maintain momentum and expand the breadth of the Irish industry”, said Jack Chambers.
“It is a source of great pride for Ireland that we have an international reputation as a centre of excellence for screen production, with a vibrant creative culture,” he said.
The new tax credit, which is subject to European Commission approval, will be available at a rate of 20 per cent on qualifying expenditure of up to €15 million, with projects required to pass a cultural test. The theory here is that the State could become an international production hub for unscripted television.
The Government will also bring in an 8 per cent uplift to the Section 481 film and tax credit for feature film productions with a maximum qualifying expenditure of €20 million. This is to help close the gap between the State’s incentives and a new enhanced credit for low-budget productions in the UK.
We are well used to seeing Paschal Donohoe on budget day, writes Jennifer Bray – this is his ninth budget. Yesterday, he put a picture of Instagram of 2016 vs now, where he noted the extra grey hairs and stress-related wrinkles. In the Dáil chamber, he unsurprisingly defended Fine Gael’s fiscal policies. He said although inflation has come down, prices have been slow to follow. This is how the Government defends the €2.2bn splurge. He announces a €250 energy credit: two payments before the end of the year and one after.
It’s time for Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, to give his speech. He says the budget sets out a positive path for the future while striving to meet the needs of today.
“This positive position is the result of a balanced and planned approach to stewarding our economy and the hard work of the Irish people,” the Minister says.
He wants to reflect on the last four years, which he notes contained “a series of shocks”, “unprecedented challenges” and “risks of economic instability”, all of which he is careful to say were external in origin. Mr Donohoe, sounding like he is in election mode, lists several Government investments in health, housing and the public sector.
“We recognise the many difficulties that clearly exist but here today we make the case that Budget 2025 will make a positive difference to those difficulties just as previous budgets have.”
Everything that has been announced on housing was expected and well flagged, reports Jennifer Bray.
There’s something there for aspiring home owners, mortgage holders, renters and landlords. The Help to Buy scheme will be extended, mortgage interest relief will be extended for one year, the renters tax credit rises to €1,000, landlords letting expenses scheme will also be extended.
The Minimum wage will increase by 80 cent from January 1st bringing it to €13.50 an hour. That is annual increase of €1,424 for full time workers.
Giving an economic outlook, Mr Chambers said three quarters of the Irish working-age population are now in employment. Ireland’s debt ratio is moving in the right direction, he said. Mr Chambers said that overall, the economy is in relatively good shape and that inflationary pressures have eased significantly – with inflation dropping from ten per cent to around 2 per cent. The easing of inflation allows for an improvement in wages, he said. And yet, despite the steep drop in inflation, the Minister has just announced to the Dáil a bumper €2.2bn cost of living package.
The Minister is projecting the economy will grow by 2.75 per cent this year and by close to 3 per cent next year.
Employment levels are set to increase by almost 110,000 over two years to the end of next year with unemployment remaining low at about 4.5 per cent.
He said that by the end of next year more than €16 billion will have been transferred to the two new long-term funds- the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, climate and a nature fund.
There are “real vulnerabilities in our public finances, and these must be kept in mind when constructing a budgetary package,” Chambers has said. “We know that our public finances are heavily reliant on corporation tax, much of which is windfall in nature and not linked to our domestic economy, and much of our income tax receipts are linked with this highly concentrated revenue stream . As I’ve said, many times before, we must not use these potential potentially transient receipts to fund permanent expenditure measures.”
Minister for Finance Jack Chambers says Government will bring forward “framework” in first quarter of 2025 on how to spend the €14 billion-plus windfall from the Apple tax ruling. He said it would focus on addressing “known challenges” in housing, energy, transport and water infrastructure, writes Joe Brennan.
Jack Chambers is on his feet and is delivering his first budget as Minister for Finance with his delivery so far confident and energetic, if a little rushed, writes Jennifer Bray.
If he’s nervous, he’s not really showing it. We can already see the Government is trying present Budget 2025 as one that puts the country on, as they say, “a positive trajectory.”
There was an early mention of prioritising children, and a note that the Government does not plan to use unexpected windfall expenditures on day-to-day expenditure or narrowing the tax base.
Mr Chambers said €1bn would be put towards water infrastructure, with another €1.25bn being put towards the Land Development Agency to deliver more social and affordable homes. Some €750m will also be used to further develop the electricity grid infrastructure.
And we’re off the Minister for FInance Jack Chambers is on his feet and is delivering his first budget.
It’s a ghost town immediately outside Leinster House with the barriers and tight security, reports Marie O’Halloran.
Inside the House TDs are walking around in varying states of happiness.
“Smile,” says a Government backbencher as he approaches. “You’re going to get tax back today.”
Another is concerned about the level of giveaway.
“Have people forgotten – ‘we all partied’” former finance minister Brian Lenihan’s comment about the Celtic Tiger.
In the chamber itself TDs and are gathering and journalists are filling the in-demand seats on the press gallery.
The bell has started to sound – the usual five- minute warning before proceedings commence with Jack Chambers’ first budget speech as Minister for Finance.
Not long to go now.
It is nearly time for Budget Day to start in earnest. And as Marie O’Halloran points out it won’t be long before you hear someone from the opposition use the phrase “this has been a wasted opportunity.”
The Opposition get to have their say from 2.30 pm once Minister for Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe each complete their 45 minute speeches, starting at 1 pm.
Here’s the schedule of action today:
13:00 Speech by Minister for Finance (45 mins)
13.45 Speech by Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery & Reform (45 mins)
14.40- 15.30 Sinn Féin (including both Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform PER)
15.30 – 16.15 Labour (including both Finance and PER)
16.15- 17.00 Social Democrats (including both Finance and PER)
17.00- 17.45 People Before Profit – Solidarity
17.45 – 18.30 Regional Group
18.30- 19.15 Rural Independent Group
19.15 -20.00 Independent Group
30 MINUTE SUSPENSION
20.30 – midnight Financial Resolutions (eg votes on tobacco product increases)
A statement has landed from the Irish Hotels Federation and it is safe to say it is not happy.
It expressed “deep disappointment” with the measures reported in advance of Budget 2025, saying the decision not to reduce the hospitality VAT rate is “short-sighted and extremely concerning given the stark commercial environment that food service businesses are operating under”.
IHF president Michael Magner said the measures reported “would do next to nothing to address the enormous challenges confronting our sector while at the same time imposing further costs on thousands of hospitality businesses.
“These half-baked measures fall far short of what is needed to address the enormous challenges facing hospitality businesses. They demonstrate how out of touch policymakers in Government are with the commercial reality facing hospitality businesses,” he said.
He concluded by saying the “bottom line is that inaction now poses an enormous risk to our wider hospitality and tourism industry which, as one of Ireland’s largest indigenous employers, supports over 280,000 livelihoods, some 70 per cent of which are outside of Dublin”.
We have reached the point in the day where it is acceptable to post a video of a printer printing.
We have some more breaking news on tax credits from Jack Horgan-Jones.
Here are the increases set to be announced by Jack Chambers in the next couple of hours:
Some bad news for the vapers of Ireland coming in.
It is set to cost more next year with the introduction of a new tax. According to Cormac McQuinn, the rate is to be set as 50c per ml of eliquid in the electronic devices.
A typical disposable vape costing €8 would end up costing €9.23, according to a source.
There is an expectation the tax will kick in at some point in 2025 once the technicalities are sorted out.
The Government has previously banned the sale of vapes to under-18s and the Coalition is also working on legislation to ban disposable vapes on environmental and public health grounds.
There are also plans to prohibit flavours that often appeal to children, as well as for a ban on point-of-sale advertising displays in shops other than specialised outlets that only sell vapes.
This is Jack Chambers’s first budget and an important test for him as he seeks to consolidate his position as heir apparent to the leadership of his party, writes Pat Leahy
Not having held a major ministry and command of a big department before, it’s a big step up.
It’s Paschal Donohoe’s ninth budget, equalling the record set by the finance minister in the first Cumann na nGaedheal government, Ernest Blythe (finance mandarins sounded delighted with this query).
With the finances of the new State in parlous state, Blythe (in)famously reduced the old-age pension by a shilling – an act of fiscal rectitude for which he has not yet been forgiven in some quarters.
Donohoe was minister for public expenditure from 2016 to 2017 and occupied that role in conjunction with the job of minister for finance in Leo Varadkar’s first government, 2017-2020. He stayed in the Department of Finance when the current Coalition was formed in 2020 but moved back to public expenditure when the Taoiseach’s position transferred to Fine Gael at the end of 2022.
He is also president of the Eurogroup, the group of EU finance ministers whose countries use the single currency. But with nine budgets under his belt (will he get a tenth?) Donohoe surely qualifies as one of the architects of the Ireland of 2024.
There is to be some €1 million in funding for more community-engagement workers to be deployed to some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country.
The Empowering Communities Programme (ECP) – spearheaded by Minister of State Joe O’Brien -targets areas of deprivation with community workers helping to develop responses to local concerns and raising issues at local and national level.
The ECP has been in operation in some 15 areas around the country, and earlier this year it was expanded to Tallaght-Jobstown and Roscommon-Castlereagh.
The budget at a glance.
The budget is set to include funding for 1,600 extra special needs assistants (SNAs), Cormac McQuinn reports.
It is understood there will also be provision for more than 750 special education teachers as part of measures sought by Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton.
There will be a extra special needs classes for the 2025/2026 school year on top of the 3,300 already in place with the additional SNAs working in these as well as mainstream classrooms.
A previous estimate suggested that 350 more special education classes will be required.
Breaking news on the cost-of-living package. It seems when it is all added up it now amounts to more than €2.2 billion, which is in line with last year’s, writes Cliff Taylor. We will have to see how this breaks down between households and business but talk of scaling back the once-offs has clearly got lost in a last-minute push for more.
There is expected to be a support fund for regional airports as part of efforts to support balanced growth and relieve pressure on Dublin Airport due to the passenger cap there, reports Cormac McQuinn.
The 32 million annual passenger cap was a condition of planning permission for the second terminal in 2007.
Airport operator DAA has warned it is likely to breach that cap by at least a million passengers this year. It is looking to extend the limit to 40 million.
Minister of State James Lawless – whose remit covers international transport – has previously spoken of the need for airlines to move away from their dependency on Dublin Airport.
It is understood he sought the support fund in the budget for Shannon and Cork and other smaller regional airports, with the aim of encouraging balanced growth.
There is also to be investment in ports to help them prepare for the development of the offshore renewable energy industry and increase shipping capacity.
The final cost-of-living package will now come in at just shy of €2bn, well in excess of the €1.5bn that had been expected, writes Jennifer Bray.
Most of this will be made up of lump sum payments to be given out over the autumn and winter. There are ten lump sum payments due to be announced and they are:
An October bonus double payment for welfare recipients, another welfare Christmas bonus payment, a €400 disability support grant, €400 carer’s support grant, €300 fuel allowance payment, a November double child benefit payment, a December double child benefit, a €200 living alone allowance, a €400 working family payment and a €100 child support grant for those in receipt of the qualified child increase payment.
We have more from Taoiseach Simon Harris explaining why this is not the biggest giveaway budget in the history of the State.
He said the Government has taken a “sensible approach” to Budget 2025 – which includes a cost-of-living package that will “help people in the here and now”, reports Sarah Burns.
Mr Harris has also denied that it looks like a “if-you-have-it-spend-it” budget with “billions and billions of a surplus” set aside for the future.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, the Fine Gael leader said there were three elements to Budget 2025 – a cost-of-living package between now and Christmas, a spending package for next year as well as a package to “substantially increase” the scale of investment in infrastructure. He said the Government had taken a “balanced approach” and insisted it had listened to the public.
The Taoiseach said although the country was at full employment and inflation was falling, cost-of-living challenges were still “real” for people across the country.
“People in this country are saying: ‘yes Simon, the economy is going well but I’m still worried about the electricity bill, I’m still worried about the energy bill’,” he told reporters.
Mr Harris also said suggestions there was “nothing” in the budget for the hospitality sector were “completely untrue”, adding there would be “an exciting package of support” for businesses.
However, he said there did need to be “an honest conversation” about the cost base being faced by smaller businesses in particular.
The Taoiseach also acknowledged there would be an election in “due course” and said the latest budget was to show people the Government was “listening”.
“I’m a bit old fashioned for a young politician,” he said. “I think that if you come to work and do a good job people might actually vote for you and therefore I think it’s fair to say that the focus of all three parties in Government on this budget has been to deliver a good budget to show people that we get it, that we’re listening.”
Mr Harris added that it would have been “absolutely galling” for the Government to stand up in the Dáil later today and say “the economy is going well but there is nothing we can do to help you until January despite having a large surplus this year.
“It wouldn’t have been acceptable to the people of Ireland and Government.”
He said although the details of the budget would be debated, he believed that many families, older people, carers and people with a disability would by the end of today “feel seen by this Government and I think that’s important in politics”.
When is a giveaway not a giveaway?
Today’s budget will not be a giveaway one, according to the Taoiseach, Simon Harris. He said this morning the Government had taken a balanced approach, “a sensible approach … it’s about giving people a little bit of their own money back”.
“I make no apology for giving people a little bit of their own money back between now and Christmas, because that’s the buffer we need to provide people with, to allow the timeline between inflation falling and bills falling.”
‘’We’ve chosen to not spend billions of euro that we have to protect our future. We’ve chosen to put that into a fund for climate emergency,” Mr Harris said.
“We’ve also got to listen to people and if there is anyone in Ireland or in Dáil Éireann who thinks that the cost-of-living crisis isn’t real, who thinks that people don’t need a bit more support in raising their kids in terms of financial assistance, I’d like to meet those people, because it’s not where people in this country are at.”
What will the “size” of the budget be? Normally there is a headline figure but calculating what it is this year is something of an “ecumenical matter”, according to Cliff Taylor
First up is the package of once-off payments going to households, likely to total close to €2 billion. The signs are that the vast bulk or perhaps all of these will be paid this year. Nerds like myself would point out that technically these are adjustments to Budget 2024 rather than matters for Budget 2025. But this small matter is unlikely to worry the politicians or headline-writers.
Second are the tax and spending measures that are the normal fare of budget day. These have long been signalled at around €8.3 billion. Add this to the €2 billion in once-offs and you go over €10 billion.
This is probably the fairest estimate of the size of the package. But the Government will also allocate another €3 billion from the sale of its shares in AIB to investment projects over the next few years. If you want to add that in you get over €13 billion. And then there is the €14.1 billion coming from Apple.
Here the Government is going to give indications of where the money might be spent, but not allocate it in detail. And so we head over €27 billion.
You can choose your own preference – I will stick to €10.3 billion for now and see what exactly happens today.
Bleary eyed officials are making their way back into the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure after a late night. One sleepy mandarin says printing of the documents didn’t get under way until about 4.30am, after being checked and rechecked.
Political meetings ended after midnight, but officials then had to make sure that the sums added up and the figures were correct.
Political tensions were greater than previously in the final days – a function both of the proximity of a general election when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will compete for votes, but also of the fact that Fianna Fáil basically thinks Simon Harris is trying to hog the credit for everything. The lads would never do anything like that, of course.
That comes from Political Editor Pat Leahy. It should be pointed out that The Irish Times political team are pretty bleary eyed themselves after what must seem like an endless sequence of late nights and leaks. They’re not done yet and have a fair few miles to go before they sleep.
The Government will approve a once-off €1,000 reduction in student fees – less than the €1,500 sought by Minister for Higher Education Patrick O’Donovan – and it will not be permanent as had been sought, writes Jack Horgan-Jones. The move will bring the cost down to €2,000
There will be a once-off reduction of apprentice contribution of €1,000 (a third). For Post Grad Supports the fee contribution will increase from €4,000 to €5,000. The total once-off package will amount to €100m in supports for third -evel students.
The traditional winners-and-losers narrative is out the window with giveaways across the board, reports Eoin Burke-Kennedy. Opposition parties will struggle to land a blow and perhaps, on the eve of an election, that’s the point.
Economists will, however, criticise the size of the package (it’s almost the same size as last year’s) when inflation has subsided but most of all they will criticise the untargeted nature of many of the one-off payments.
Many of them, including the double child benefit, will go to families who don’t need them or to households who are no longer in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis with real wages rising again. The same goes for the €250 energy credit. Last year an estimated €100 million of these energy credits went to families who own more than one home.
Far be it from us to put words in Paschal Donohoe’s mouth but it appears that when saying “you can’t deliver everything that is expected” he was ruling out any reduction of the VAT rate for the hospitality sector – or even part of it.
Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has been speaking on his way into Leinster House. “You can’t deliver everything that is expected of us. But there are many other measures contained within the budget that I believe can make a very positive difference to small businesses across the country.
“Measures from a spending point of view will be outlined today to help businesses at a particularly costly time and changes will be made that will be important for small businesses. From the point of view of the taxes they pay, so many other changes are happening.
“The most important thing, of course, we can do to support small businesses and indeed employers of all sizes within our country is have a healthy economy that is capable of continuing to grow in the future. And this budget will deliver that.”
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will announce an expansion of the publicly funded IVF scheme as part of Budget 2025, reports Jack Horgan-Jones.
Introduced just a year ago, more than 1,200 couples have availed of it so far and the first babies have been born.
Donnelly plans to expand the scheme in two areas during 2025.
First, to include donor assisted IVF. Currently couples who require a donor egg/sperm are unable to access publicly funded IVF because donor materials are not regulated.
However, with the passing of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act this year and work on the establishment of the Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority under way, it will be possible for couples requiring donor assistance to access the scheme during 2025.
Donnelly is also planning to amend the access criteria to include couples experiencing what is known as ‘secondary infertility’ – these are couples who have an existing child but then have fertility issues. One element of the current criteria sets out that a couple accessing publicly funded IVF must have no living children together.
Why is it called a budget anyway? We are very glad you asked.
The word budget as we use it today was most likely coined in a satirical cartoon of the-then British prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer Robert Walpole in 1733. After he published details of Britain’s finances, a cartoon in a satirical magazine featured him opening a bag of snake oils under the not entirely hilarious caption: “The Budget Opened”.
And what was a budget? Well, in middle English and old French a budge was a small suitcase – it is part of the reason ministers still carry a briefcase into the Dáil on budget day.
And now you know.
A new universal companion pass for people aged over 70 will also be introduced with everyone over that age allowed to bring family member or friend on public transport free of charge, reports Political Correspondent Jennifer Bray.
As it stands people over 70 can apply for a companion pass provided they satisfy a medical assessment but as part of Budget 2025, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has secured agreement to make the pass universal for all over-70s in a move designed to tackle issues such as isolation and loneliness.
The start dates for two significant social welfare reforms will also be announced as part of Budget 2025.
Pay Related Benefit, which ensures those with stronger working histories receive higher welfare payments if they lose their jobs, will start on March 31st, 2025, while the long-promised pension enrolment scheme will start on September 30th, 2025.
By way of a public service announcement, if you are planning to be in Dublin city centre today you can expect significant traffic restrictions around Leinster House with a significant Garda presence and barriers installed on all the approach roads to the Dáil.
The following locations are impacted
• Across Molesworth Street
• Across School House Lane
• Across Kildare Street in the vicinity of Setanta Place
• Across Kildare Street in the vicinity of the Shelbourne Hotel
• Across Merrion Square West in the vicinity of Clare Street
• Across Merrion Square South opposite Leinster Lawn
• Across Merrion Street Upper in the vicinity of Reilly’ Bar
• Across Merrion Street Upper opposite Government Buildings (Fitzwilliam Lane) beside Merrion Hotel.
So, how do we know so much about what is going to be in the budget this year?
And was it always like this? The answer to the second part of your question – actually, it’s not your question, it’s our question but anyways – is a resolute no.
The annual budget used to be one of the most closely guarded secrets in Irish – and indeed in world – politics.
Going all the way back to the late 1940s, the then British chancellor of the exchequer Hugh Dalton was forced to resign after making a casual remark about his budget plans to a journalist that then found its way into the evening papers minutes before he delivered his speech to the House of Commons.
Can you imagine if the same rules applied today? There’d not be a Minister left in Dáil Éireann today.
In an Irish context, for donkey’s years, the budget plans of the minister for finance was as tightly guarded a secret as the Third Secret of Fatima.
Leaks were a sackable offence. Then Fianna Fáil started releasing – slightly secretly – the top lines of the budget to the evening newspapers on the day of publication. It slowly became a free-for-all and these days almost every line in the budget is flagged well in advance.
So, what do we know now? Thanks to our hard-working political reporters who’ve been assiduously mining various sources for weeks and a fairly newly found propensity amongst politicians to give all their secrets away early in the day we know almost everything.
Here are just some of the things you can expect to be announced later today.
Many families will gain thousands of euros over the next 12 months, as the Government seeks an electoral launch pad from today’s budget.
Tax changes are expected to increase average wages by about €1,000 and a series of one-off payments in the coming months, including €250 in energy credits and two double payments of child benefit, will be among the measures announced in Budget 2025. The Budget will be unveiled in the Dáil at 1pm. The Green Party was happy last night to secure a triple payment of child benefit as a “baby boost”.
A range of other spending commitments will amount to the biggest budget giveaway to households ever, with an election due by March of next year and expected by many to take place in November.
The Government will project a large surplus, again driven by bumper corporation tax receipts, while also setting money aside into its savings funds. The Government is also expected to announce that some of the proceeds of the Apple tax case will be committed to investment in four areas – water, electricity, transport and housing.
The Irish Times understands that welfare increases will include a €15 increase for maternity and paternity payments; a package for carers will include an increase in the Carer’s Allowance means test limits to €625 per week for a single person and €1,250 per week for a couple; an increase in the Carer’s Support Grant to €2,000 from €1,850; and the Carer’s Benefit will be extended to self-employed workers.
Overall there will be a €12 increase to weekly welfare payments, and a €20 increase in the Domiciliary Care Allowance. Student grants will also increase by 15 per cent. The Qualified Child Payment will be renamed as the Child Support Payment – and weekly payments for under 12s will be increased by €4 to €50 and for over 12s increased by €8 to €62.
Read our Budget Main Points here.
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