€11bn Budget announced due to ‘exceptionally challenging times’
Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath said he is making €100 million available in 2022 to ensure schools are supported in dealing with energy cost pressures and transport providers.
He said an additional €10 million will also be provided for further and higher education institutions.
€60 million is being allocated to Local Authorities, and €110 million to a range of Health funded bodies including nursing homes, hospices and Section 39 organisations.
The additional funding for the health sector will provide further once-off support in 2022 for organisations that deliver services across areas such as disabilities, older persons and mental health.
€60 million will be made available in 2022 to not-for-profit and voluntary organisations in the Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and the Community and Voluntary sectors
“In addition to the need to provide cash support for households, I am also acutely aware of the pressure that rising prices – in particular energy costs – are putting on the delivery of vital public services,” Minister McGrath said.
“I am allocating additional funds in 2022 across a number of different areas in order to ensure continuity of service delivery.”
Mr McGrath said the Government has introduced tax and expenditures worth €3bn in the last 12 months “to alleviate pressure on households and exposed sectors of the economy”.
He said a further winter package worth €4.4bn was being announced today.
This is comprised of €1.7 billion to be administered through the tax system and €2.7 billion of spending measures, with €0.3 billion of this amount being funded from the contingency reserve.
“This is in addition to a core Budget 2023 package of €6.9 billion – €5.8 billion in expenditure and €1.1 billion tax,” he said.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform said the response was “threefold”: Immediate assistance for individual households and businesses, support for public services and community organisations, and a comprehensive range of new measures for 2023.
Concluding his speech, Minister Donohoe said that despite the challenges facing the country, he is confident that they will be able to “continue to support individuals, families and businesses”.
He said this is based on the fact that they “approach this test from a position of strength”.
“A record number of people at work, with a budget surplus, reserving money for the needs of the future, inside – not outside – efforts to reform global corporate tax and intervening to help homes and businesses with rising costs,” the minister said.
“But we know we have many risks. Recent years have shown how quickly they can develop.
“And I know we need to do more, build more homes, continue to improve public services, respond with courage and resolution to our defining challenge of climate change. But we can. And we will.”
Mr McGrath said the Budget seeks to respond with “unprecedented resources” but it would not be possible to “meet every need”.
“But this Budget will make a difference, and people will see that difference quickly,” he said.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath has said the Budget is delivered against “an extraordinary backdrop of uncertainty and challenge”.
“We continue to navigate the uncertainties of Brexit, we got through the long, dark days of Covid, and we are responding with compassion and resolve to the dreadful invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
“We are doing this together, both here in Ireland and in co-operation with our international partners,” he added.
Mr Donohoe said €2 billion will be directed into the National Reserve Fund this year, and €4 billion in 2023.”
I will be introducing the necessary Dáil Resolution later this evening in order to give effect to the transfers to the fund for this year and next,” he said.
– Excise on pack of 20 cigarettes increased by 50c
– HRT and nicotine replacement products will become VAT-free
– Vacant homes tax announced, which will be three times the local property tax rate
– 9% VAT on hospitality not extended beyond February, VAT rate will return to 13.5%
– VAT on life-saving defibrillators to be removed from 1 January
The excise duty on a pack of 20 cigarettes has increased by 50c, with a pro-rata increase on other tobacco products.
Minister Donohoe said he is extending the bank levy for a further year.
He said the current annual yield of the levy is approximately €87 million per annum.
“Following the publication of the report of the Retail Banking Review, I will consider the long-term future of this levy.”
Government ‘will bring forward’ measures on windfall energy tax
Mr Donohoe said “much work is underway in the EU” on capturing the windfall gains of energy companies.
“It is not fair for companies to earn excess profits from the current volatility in the market,” he said.
“Ireland aims to be part of this EU-wide response to high energy prices. If this is not possible, this Government will bring forward our own measures,” he added.
Article Source: €11bn Budget announced due to ‘exceptionally challenging times’ – RTE
