Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has previously promised tomorrow’s budget will be about “putting more money in people’s pockets”.
Energy credits worth €600 for all Irish households and free schoolbooks for primary school children are amongst the headline measures set to be announced in the budget tomorrow (27 September).
Multiple news reports have suggested such measures are amongst multiple on the table as the government continues to finalise the details on what will be one of the most anticipated budgets in years.
In an effort to combat rising energy costs and the Cost of Living crisis, all Irish households are set to benefit from €600 worth of energy credits, following on from a €200 credit paid out between April and June of this year.
Also, in what will be a landmark move, the State is set to announce that it will provide free schoolbooks for all primary schoolchildren, effective as of the next school year starting in September 2023.
A pilot scheme that provides free schoolbooks to children in DEIS schools has been in place since January 2020, but that will be extended to all primary school children from next year at an estimated cost of €47 million.
Elsewhere, reductions in the cost of childcare and college fees are expected to be announced, as well as an increase in social welfare payments and, as had been proposed in
Sinn Féin’s alternative budget, a double child benefit payment in November.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has previously suggested the budget will be “comprehensive” in addressing the current Cost of Living crisis, while Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said it will be about “putting more money in people’s pockets”.
The full details of Budget 2023 will be announced in Dáil Éireann on Tuesday.
