Statements begin at 1pm. The package is €8.5 billion. Here is where each of the big items stood going into the weekend.
Simon Harris and Jack Chambers will deliver Budget 2027 in the Dáil on Tuesday 6 October, with statements starting at 1pm. The overall shape was fixed in July: €7 billion of extra spending and €1.5 billion of tax measures, a total of €8.5 billion. What that money buys was still being negotiated as late as Friday.
Welfare: €10 looks likely
A €10 rise in core weekly payments is one of the few measures reported as agreed. The State pension currently stands at €299.30 a week.
Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary has said he wants to target older people and those living alone, which points to an expansion of the Fuel Allowance and an increase in the Living Alone Allowance, currently €22 a week.
What will not change
Child Benefit, at €140 a month, is not expected to rise. Calleary has also confirmed the second tier of Child Benefit for lower-income households will not be introduced in this Budget. Instead, families on welfare are likely to see higher Child Support Payments and a possible expansion of the Working Family Payment.
Income tax: modest
The Journal reports the tax changes are unlikely to be worth more than €500 to an individual worker, and describes even that as optimistic. The Government has signalled the standard rate band and credits as the main targets. Tax Strategy Group papers put the cost of a €2,000 band increase at around €460 million, a large share of the €1.5 billion available.
Housing and inheritance
An increase in the Rent Tax Credit, currently €1,000 for a single renter and €2,000 for a couple, is described as pretty much over the line, with €300 the figure mooted. Inheritance tax thresholds are set for what one Government source called a statement of intent: modest rises, in line with previous adjustments.
Already confirmed
RTÉ reported on 29 September that a €2,000 boiler scrappage grant will be available from early 2027 on top of the existing heat pump grant. The vaping tax introduced last November has collected more than €22 million, and a further rise in excise on cigarettes and vapes is expected as usual.
The money behind it
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has said the package is larger than the economy needs and warned that departmental overruns, which have averaged more than €2 billion a year over the past decade, mean the real spend will exceed whatever is announced. Harris has accepted the point about overspending while rejecting the suggestion that the package is too large.
We will update our Budget coverage with the confirmed measures from 1pm on Tuesday.
