LIVE: Budget 2025 Announcements

We will be updating as announcements continue

The Government is currently announcing Budget 2025.

The budget will be 8.3bn of new money, a 6.9% growth on last year.

The current announcements are as follows:

€3b will fund infrastructure.

€1b will go to Irish Water.

€1.25b will go to the Land Development Agency.

€750m will go to Eirgrid.

Government has agreed the Apple money should be used across water, electricity, transport and housing as four key pillars, and an investment framework is being developed.

Some of the highlights in the announcements:

• Carbon tax will increase on 9th October from 56 to 63.50 for petrol and diesel

• Minimum wage to rise by 80c to €13.50 an hour from January 1st

• Pack of 20 cigarettes going up by €1

• A tax on e-cigarettes will be introduced at a rate of 50c per ml of e-liquid

• USC will see the 4% rate reduced to 3% - entry rate to 3% rate of USC will rise to 27k
• €3.9bn for the Department of Transport

The Help to Buy scheme is being extended until the end of the decade.

The bank levy will be extended for another year with estimated yield of 200m.

€336m increase in money for disability services for extra residential care beds, respite, home support hours.

TAX:

• Main tax credits will increase by €125 on personal, employee and earned income.
• Higher rate of tax rises 2k to 44k
• USC will see the 4% rate reduced to 3% - entry rate to 3% rate of USC will rise to 27k
• Inheritance tax increasing from 335 to 400k from a parent - 32,500 to 40k for Group B, 16,250 to 20k for Group C

WAGES:

• Minimum wage to rise by 80c to €13.50 an hour from January 1st
• A full time worker on the minimum wage will see their net income rise by 1,424 annually
• The exception to allow employers to give employees vouchers or other non-cash rewards is increasing from 1,000 to 1,500 a year

EMPLOYMENT INVESTMENT INCENTIVE:

• Doubling the Employment Investment Incentive from 500k to 1m
• Increasing reliefs on start ups for entrepreneurs
• Increase the lifetime limit on gains for angel investors in innovative start ups from 3m to 10m

ENERGY:

• The 9% rate of VAT on gas and electricity is being extended six months to 30th April 2025
• A €250 electricity credit will be delivered in two parts - Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe says households will receive the first half before the end of the year
• The VAT rate on heat pumps is to be reduced from 23 to 9 per cent
• A new Energy Subsidy Scheme for businesses worth €170m for 39k firms has been agreed

CARERS:

• Increase in the Carer Tax Credit by 150
• Single person child carer by 150, incapacitated child credit by 300, dependent relative credit by 60

SOCIAL WELFARE:

• €300 to those on fuel allowance in November
• €200 extra on the living alone allowance
• €400 to those on carers support grant, disability allowance, blind pension, invalidity pension and domiciliary care allowance
• €300 increase in blind tax credit

SCHOOL/HIGHER EDUCATION:

• €1,000 reduction on student contribution fee
• One off 33% in the contribution fee for higher education
• Increase in the Post Grad Tuition fee by 1 thousand for student grant recipients
• Free schoolbooks extended to all secondary schools
• Hot school meals programme increases to all primary schools in 2025
• School transport fee reduction and state exam fee waiver continue
• Money to keep schools smartphone free and allow them to buy tech to do that
• A 1.5bn package out to 2030 for funding research and higher education skills decarbonisation - this includes 150m increase in core higher education funding

CHILD BENEFIT/PARENTS:

• Two double payments of child benefit will happen in November and December
• €400 lump sum on the working family payment this year
• Maternity, paternity, adoptive and parents leave rise by €15 
• National Childcare Scheme budget to increase 44% leading to full time childcare costs reducing by an average of 1,100 a year
• The number of children availing of the scheme will increase to 216 thousand

HOUSING/RENT:

• €3.2 billion in capital funding for the housing sector
• 10,000 new build social homes at a cost of 2bn in 2025
• 680m for key affordable housing schemes
• 10,000 new households under the HAP and RAS schemes in 2025
• The renters tax credit will increase to €1,000 per year for each renter - an increase from €750
• 90m euro to retrofit 2,500 social homes in 2025
• Pre letting expenses relief for landlords being extended to the end of 2027
• Vacant homes tax to rise from 5 to 7 times the local property tax rate from November

HEALTH:

• Payments to women under the Cervical Check payment scheme will be exempt from tax
• 495 new beds to the health service
• 600,000 home support hours extra
• Increased free IVF and new free HRT

CARBON TAX:

• Carbon tax will increase on 9th October from 56 to 63.50 for petrol and diesel

TOBACCO/VAPES:

• Pack of 20 cigarettes going up by €1
• Pro-rata increase on other tobacco products
• This brings most popular pack price to €18.05 from midnight
• A tax on e-cigarettes will be introduced at a rate of 50c per ml of e-liquid
• Typical vape has 2ml so average price will go from €8 to €9.23 from middle of next year

COMMUNITY:

• 186m new funding to regenerate towns and urban areas

AGRICULTURE:

• €2bn for agriculture
• €30m for a new tillage scheme to support field crops
• €10m for animal health measures
• €22m for the national sheep welfare scheme
• €8m to enhance payment rates on the beef welfare scheme
• There will be an option for farmers and others who might be impacted by the residential zoned land tax to apply for a 2025 exemption if they want the land re-zoned to reflect work carried out
• Extension to 2027 of the general stock relief, stock relief for young trained farmers, stock relief for registered farm partnerships
• Flat rate scheme for farmers being raised from 4.8 to 5.1 per cent

TRANSPORT:

• €3.9bn for the Department of Transport, comprising €1bn in current funding and €2.9bn in capital funding

• Further investment in cycling and walking infrastructure and the continuation of temporary fair initiatives including the Young Adult Card for 19 to 25 year olds and the 90-minute fare

• Free public transport will be extended to children aged 5 to 8

• The Port of Cork's quay-side berth at Ringaskiddy will also be extended

STAMP DUTY:

• Stamp duty on bulk purchases of homes by investment funds rises from 10 to 15 per cent
• Increased stamp duty on high value residences
• From tonight there will be a 6% rate of stamp duty on properties worth more than 1.5m
• Rates 1% up to 1m, 2% of up to 1.5m, 6% over 1.5m

JUSTICE:

• 350 extra staff for the Prisons Services
• 1,000 gardai and 50 civilian gardai
• 400 additional staff for the International protection processing system
• €7m for organisations tackling gender and domestic violence

DEFENCE:

• 22% increase in the capital money for defence to invest in military radar and subsea surveillance projects
• 400 extra defence force members in 2025

MEDIA:

• €328m to media funding - including €6m for the independent broadcasting sector
• Tax credit on unscripted production at a rate of 20% on expenses of up to 15m for the audiovisual sector
• €20m for film productions under the 481 tax credit

ARTS:

• €380m to arts and culture
• €107m to the gaeltacht
• €226m to tourism

CLIMATE:

• €3bn for the climate transition funds - reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, water quality or biodiversity will be looked at
• Warmer homes grants will reach ten times the funding from 2020 and will meet up to half the cost of energy efficiency upgrades

UKRAINE:

• €2.1bn for accommodation for Ukrainian refugees
• €25m for the community recognition fund for those integrating Ukrainian arrivals