From agri-climate to the zeitgeist of the political moment, this is our A to Z of Budget 2023
A is for the Additional 686 Special Educational Needs teachers and 1,194 Special Needs Assistants.
B is for Business which will get up to €10,000 a month to help with their gas and electricity bills and B is also for Brexit, which hasn’t gone away you know.
C is for Childcare fees which are to be cut by 25 per cent for those using the National Childcare Scheme and C is also for Carers who are to get a payment of €500 under the carer’s support grand in November.
D is for Donohoe. Paschal delivered his latest financial state of the nation which is arguably the biggest giveaway budget ever. D is also for the Defence Forces whose budget is increased to €1.16 billion to address previous shortfall.
E is for Energy and Electricity and every household is to get €600 to counteract huge rise in energy prices.
F is for families and fuel allowances which are extended to 80,000 more people.
H is for High Performance in the athletic world who are getting €8 million injected into new training fund.
I is for the dreaded inflation word which is running at 8.5 per cent this year and due to go down to 7 per cent in 2023.
J is for January when students grants will increase between 10 and 14 per cent as part of an overall €148 million package.
K is for Kudos which Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and The Green Party are all looking for after the giveaway budget. In terms of business-related tax credits, the ‘Knowledge Development Box’ for intellectual property has been extended for four years.
L is for Labour Market which the Finance Minister said has undergone a remarkable recovery with 2.5 million people in our population working and unemployment down to 4.3 per cent.
M is for money in our pockets, which most of us think is the best reason for an annual budget and M is also Michael McGrath, the other fiscal minister.
N is for Newspapers which is a tough industry to be in currently but the zero VAT rating on the industry’s products will be warmly welcomed.
O is for the Old Reliable and the Minister couldn’t resist putting 50c on the pack of 20 cigarettes.
P is for Pensioners who get a once-off payment of €1,100 and a double weekly payment next month and in December.
Q is for all the Questions the Opposition, led by Sinn Fein, are asking about what has and hasn’t been done by the government.
R is for rent which has rocketed over the years and renters will now get a €500 tax credit
S is for service providers who are getting a €110 million package in this budget
T is for transport of the public kind for which the reduced fares period is being extended to the end of next year.
U is for Ukraine and the knock-on effect on our economy due to the war carried out there by the Russians. U is also for ‘Unprecedented resources’ which Mr McGrath said the government is making available to the population.
V is for the new Vacant homes tax to apply to residential properties which are not occupied for more than 30 days in a year.
W is for the Whirlwind rate of returns which allows the Minister to put aside €2 billion to be directed into the National Reserve Fund this year, and €4 billion in 2023.
X is for the X-Factor from tax returns which are expected to exceed a whopping €20 billion this year.
Y is for You, me and everyone else in the country who owe €225 billion in our national debt.
Z is for Zeitgeist or the mood we now feel after this momentous budgetary moment.
- Guinness Storehouse No 1 tourist attraction in Europe – ahead of Buckingham Palace and Eiffel Tower!
- Minister launches the Substation at Dublin Port
- Freestyle fun as world record tumbles at Ballymun United
- Shane Filan leads ‘Relay for Life’ in the Aviva Stadium
- Women in Dublin urged to register for free heart health webinar
