A quick rundown of some of the main points...
Minster for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has delivered his first budget in the Dáil, and here are some of the key points.
- Health spending will be nearly €15.3 billion next year, an increase of 5%, making it the biggest health budget in Irish history.
- As expected, a sugar tax has been introduced in this year's budget meaning fizzy drinks etc will be affected.
- Sugar tax of 30c per litre on drinks of 8 grams of sugar per 100ml and 20c on drinks between 5 and 8 grams per 100ml. Sugar tax will add 7c-10c on a can of fizzy drink, depending on its sugar level.
- Cigarettes will cost €12 from midnight tonight. There will be a pro-rata (in proportion) increase on all other tobacco products.
- Another 1,000 special needs assistants to be recruited for September next year with 1,300 more teaching spots next year altogether. The aim is to bring the ratio of student to teacher down to 26:1.
- There will be 800 more gardaí next year.
- A 50c reduction in all prescription charges will be introduced for all medical card holders under 70.
- VAT on sunbeds will rise from from 13.5% to 23%. A tan tax if you will.
- A loan scheme of 300 million to small and medium enterprises will be created to help with their short term working capital needs in light of Brexit.
- There will be a €5 euro per week increase in social welfare payments as well as a €5 increase to the pension from March next year.
- A Christmas bonus of 85% will also be paid to social welfare recipients.
- The minimum wage is rising to €9.55 per hour.
- Meanwhile the cutoff point for higher tax band is being raised by €750 to €34,550 for single workers. This will be worth an extra €150 each year if you earn that figure.
- There will be marginal tweaks to the USC rates, with the 2.5% rate of USC being cut to 2%, worth in the region of €33 a year, and the 5% rate to 4.75%, worth around €47 to someone earning the average salary.
