The time has come for the speculation to end and the reality to be revealed. Budget 2025 will be delivered on Tuesday at 1pm: so what is set to be announced? There remains some fine details to be agreed - and there is always room for surprises - but here is what we know so far.
Cost-of-living
A €2 billion cost-of-living package is being finalised by the Government ahead of the budget announcement at 1pm on Tuesday.
Two double payments of child benefit, possibly before the end of the year, are on the cards for Budget 2025, as well as an increase in welfare rates, including the state pension.
Fees for the Leaving and Junior Certificates are also due to be cancelled for another year, while an energy credit of €250 is set to be announced.
Pension payments are set to increase by €12-per-week, according to Tánaiste Micheál Martin.
Mr Martin has dismissed reports that Fine Gael has been seeking a €15 increase for pensioners, with a lower increase for jobseekers, as "spinning" and "completely overplayed".
Minister for Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, said: “I won’t be losing sight of what one of the key issues is, which is the impact that higher prices are having on our standard of living and the concern that so many have about their ability to afford a good and decent future.
Fine Gael is putting more money back in your pocket in #Budget2025.
Minister @Paschald is working to ensure that we help people struggling in the here and now, while ensuring we protect the economy and plan for the future. pic.twitter.com/bBFxgzL2yi
— Fine Gael (@FineGael) September 29, 2024
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"Our public finances are healthy. They’re healthy because we’ve been sensible in recent years.
"Myself, the Taoiseach, Fine Gael, are so aware of the need to put money back in your pocket, particularly as we approach the winter.”
Tax reduction
There will be tax cuts, with Minister for Finance Jack Chambers pledging the average worker will be €1,000 better off.
Budget 2025 will contain a "significant" income tax and USC reduction package, confirmed by the Taoiseach.
The measures will be part of a €1.4 billion tax package, Harris said.
The Taoiseach said no person earning the average wage should pay the higher rate of income tax.
Chambers said that reductions to the USC would be “central” to the income tax part of Budget 2025.
Senior economist at the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, Niall Conroy, has concerns over the tax cuts and spending increases that are set to be announced.
Mr Conroy told Newstalk: "When the economy is performing really well, as it is at the moment, with really high employment and really low unemployment, this isn't the time when the economy really needs support from the government."
Child benefit and childcare
Two double child benefit payments will potentially be distributed before Christmas.
The core rate of child benefit looks likely to stay at €140, despite suggestions that it could increase by €10.
Meanwhile, there is set to be a 24 per cent increase in funding for childcare, although fees will not come down for parents, with extra allocations from the €1.34 billion agreed given to account for the growing number of children in the system and to provide more income for crèches that have been subject to a fee freeze.
The Department of Children received a total of €120 million in funding for new measures, twice what was originally offered.
The Budget will contain €1.2 billion worth of investment in childcare, according to Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman.
O’Gorman said he had “done most of the heavy lifting” in increasing investment for early years childcare and education, saying it will have doubled over his time as Minister for Children.
The Irish Times reports that schoolbooks will be extended to the Leaving Certificate cycle and there will be money for special pouches for phones to help post-primary schools enforce a ban on the devices.
The Irish Examiner reports that targeted measures for disadvantaged families are expected to include an expansion of family resource centres, enhancements to Equal Start - a programme to support babies and young children - and a pilot programme to tackle holiday hunger for children.
Education
According to the Irish Times, Fine Gael Minister for Higher Education Patrick O'Donovan wants to continue the "momentum" of third-level student fee reductions brought in by his predecessor in the role, Taoiseach Simon Harris.
Mr O'Donovan is set to look for a further €500 cut to third-level fees to build on the €1,000 reduction already in place, which would halve the fee to €1,500 from its former level of €3,000.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has said there is a "significant opportunity" in Budget 2025 for the Government to finally address the serious challenges facing third-level students.
The USI is calling on the Government to reduce fees by €1,500 now and to introduce a plan to abolish fees entirely over the next few years.
Apple tax funds
The ruling ordering Ireland to collect €13 billion in back taxes from Apple will not impact on the upcoming budget, bot Jack Chambers and Paschal Donohoe have said.
Chambers said it would take months, not weeks, to draw down the funds from the escrow account as it analyses a ruling from the European Court of Justice and considers “adjustments” from other countries.
Coverage from the Irish Examiner cited the Taoiseach rejecting Sinn Féin's suggestion that €1 billion of the Apple tax funds be spent on disadvantaged communities.
At the National Ploughing Championships earlier in September, Mr Harris said he believes it should be spent on housing, water, and infrastructure but emphasised the funds can “only be spent once”.
