MEASURES IN THE Budget for 2012 will be revealed over two days instead of during the traditional one-day announcement, the Tánaiste has said.
Speaking in the Dáil this week Eamon Gilmore said changes to public expenditure will be unveiled on Monday, 5 December while the taxation measures will be outlined on Tuesday, 6 December.
A spokesperson for the Department of Finance confirmed these plans to TheJournal.ie this morning.
Some of the main items that the public are interested in, namely tax measures, will be outlined by the Finance Minister on the planned Budget Day of 6 December.
Noonan will unveil any changes to income tax, VAT and excise duties. However, some measures have already been leaked, including the planned increase in the VAT rate.
In order to meet the terms of the EU/IMF bailout deal, the Government must reduce its spending bill by about €2.2 billion. There has been widespread speculation that child benefits could be among the payments reduced by Minister Howlin on 5 December.
Payments to postgraduate students have also been rumoured to be one of the targets of the Ministers.
The Government has insisted that it will not decrease “basic” welfare rates, but is expected to focus on narrowing eligibility for welfare payments.
According to the Irish Times there will be a Dáil debate after both Howlin and Noonan’s speeches.
The newspaper also reports that An Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s state-of-the-nation address could be held next Thursday.
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