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WIDESPREAD COVID-RELATED restrictions and local lockdowns across the world are continuing to impact the distribution and delivery of international parcels and letters, An Post has warned.
The number of international flights operating continues to be severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, with only limited space available for international letters and parcels, the postal service today.
As a result, many items posted in Ireland during December for delivery across the world are still in transit through airports and seaports.
Local delivery depots across the globe have also been impacted by Covid-19, with some areas also dealing with severe winter weather conditions.
An Post said it expects to be receiving incoming international Christmas parcels and letters for deliver in Ireland throughout January.
“We assure customers that we continue to deliver all international letters and parcels as soon as they are received into Ireland,” An Post said.
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“Social welfare recipients will receive a 25% bump in their holiday week payment in the form of the Christmas Bonus.”
What about people who get up off their ar*e and work, any chance of a 25% tax break at Christmas for us!!
Or the people like myself, fked off it after 6months at 35 having never been unemployed in my life. While people i know are lifers who have never worked a day in their lives
Gerry do not be too jealous it is an extra €47 Euro at Christmas
€47 for free!!!!!!!!!
64 billion of free money taken out of the country, hammers those on social welfare!
Always the working class to suffer!
as a full time carer who has been severely hit over the last 7 years I welcome this! Some of us don’t have a choice, I wish I COULD get of my arse and work instead of running to endless hospital appointments, meetings, sleeping o the floors of hospitals, physio appointments, seating clinics etc! Not always black n white! Wanna swap?
I will pay thousands more to fund social welfare and farmers thanks to new 7% USC. I’m sick to the back teeth of bank rolling everyone else .
No disrespect to you but as you said and I quote “if I could get off my arse I would” I don’t go to work and come home and sit on my arse so practically it wouldn’t be possible to swap our roles. Just because I work doesn’t mean it’s plain sailing I work every hour I can 40/50/60 hours a week and still do everything else I’ve to do. I try juggle appointments but there’s just not enough hours in the day to do everything that has to be done! So yes it is the working class that suffer
Tina I don’t think the comments are meant for people like yourself, it’s just a case of a lot of people in this country won’t work. I myself lost my job three years ago and I had to start another job getting paid half what I was on. But I’m doing it and not getting much more than the dole. I’d love €47 extra at Xmas in fact people collecting social welfare that week will be paid more than me.
I’m a carer too and it’s hard not to take these comments personally. I care for two people but don’t claim any payment for looking after the second person as its my dad and I don’t want him to think he s a burden. So almost every single minute of my life is claimed by someone else. I never get more than four hours sleep and the only down time I get is sitting waiting at appointments .its not a life I choose . I had to give up my job to do this. Work was so much easier and yes I still had all this stuff to come home to but I didn’t have any money worries and my brain was engaged in ways I loved for 8 hours every day. I did nt want to give that up or give up my friends or going out at night or buying clothes or make up or having no one to take my charges so I could to my iwn appointments at the breast clinic . Opting for day surgery because I simply couldn’t stay overnight with no one to look after my loved ones. That’s the life I lead. It’s often lonely it’s pretty broke all the time and worry is my constant companion . 47 euro a week is welcome and needed .
Pensioners worked forty and fifty years full time and paid in. Disabled have paid until accidents or were born with differences and would choose to be whole and able if it was possible, you know this.
So if you earn betwenn €16,016 and €32,800 you get an extra €1.54 per week?
Whoop-dee-fcuking-doo!
Oh, wait. I didn’t see the increase in the bands to 12k and over minimum wage. I’m guessing that won’t make much of a difference though
If you were losing €1.54 a week you’d be cribbing. you just cant win
I get an extra €3.63 per week on a salary of €31.5k
I’ll be celebrating with an extra 2 cans of Dutch next Friday :)
(or maybe one on Friday and one on Saturday)
Oh Yes Sean a dho…Sean a haon you should be grateful for the crumbs
When he says that the USC Charge is for those earning over 12,000 does that mean that I don’t pay it until I pass that mark or am I doomed from the first euro I earn in a year?
If you earn 1199 you pay nothing. If you earn 1200 you pay 2% of 1200.
That’s how it worked before so I’m guessing it’s the same.
*1.5% of 1200
plus another 5 per month for each kid if you have them? And think there was a 100 tax allowance for water charges?
It’ll be at least 9 months til I can claim that extra fiver.
If anyone wants to go halfs on a nipper just PM me.
€3.63 a week is €188.76 a year… That’s pretty similar to another figure that the average person has recently been told they will be getting charged annually for a certain transparent fluid…
There is another article on the journal which states single people 35k per year will get 8 euro per week.. So 416 less tax per year. What percentage reduction against last year would that be?
Pedro I think the colour of that fluid varies greatly depending on what part of the country you live in.
The only transparent thing where I live is the lies told by politicians, the crap that comes out of my tap sure isn’t transparent!!!
I thought the USC was an emergency measure for the duration of the Economic and Financial crisis……It is like PRSI which was allegedly intorduced as an Insurance scheme that we paid for Welfare benefits, Pensions and medical insurance should we need them….It then became just another Tax
I thought you continued to maintain Ireland remains in a precarious economic position? Are you now saying the crisis is over and the USC is no longer needed? Which is it?
I think the “Income levy” was floated as a temp tax. They then let that expire and introduced this new USC to replace it. Haven’t heard any mention of it being a temp measure.
I didn’t know they hit roll your own tobacco tax.miserable effers.
so if i understand this right this budget encoruage people to stay at home unemployed because thats the only way to get house benefits,cut water charges,christmas bonus,allowances living the life etc…and people who work everyday have to pay the full of every bills. maybe get like 1 or 2 euro extra per week. so its looks like everybody better off on social welfare then.
The one and only main thing that we need to know from this budget is that in reality it is going to make very little positive difference to anyone.
married couple earning 50k each will come out with an extra 200 per month from the income tax/USC changes alone. Add in child benefit, plus 100 tax credit for water and they should be pretty happy I would think.
how could someone earning up to 60k be entitled to a medical card??? if i got it right
many are, paudi.. something like 40% of the population have medical cards.
So sign up for irish water and we’ll give ye a few bob. That few bob comes back to us anyway. If you sign up for it, you deserve everything coming ypur way
Just move out of Ireland. Ireland is not a place for newly married people, hoping to have a successful career, family and a home (paid for by my good self, not the government) and being robbed through countless “flaithuil” taxation. Good Luck fellow Irish!
Whatever hope about being married… Try be successful and single. You miss out on the extra tax allowances for being married.. Plus, the 70k usc entry point is per person, so a married couple on 70k each get 140k per year and still only pay 7%
Water charges will cost more than all of these small gains, up yours fg… Good luck with that election, again top earners benefit most
How are top earners benefiting most? The burden of USC is being moved further up the income chain.
How do top earners benefit most? Additional USC rates for those earning >70k and 100k. Although if I was earning it I could probably afford it!!!
I am in the top earning bracket and I net out at zero gain/loss for this budget I as far as I can tell – am not complaining about that.
I think if you were a little better at maths, you may be a top earner yourself someday.
Hear, hear. If tax goes up by 1% then higher earners get screwed more and if tax goes down 1% higher earners benefit more.
Jeez it doesn’t need a degree in economics!
Sounds like the default knee-jerk reaction from the Socialists – “honest, working class hit again …. the devious, fat-cat rich upper-class Toffs will benefit significantly from this budget … When we get into power there will be a 100% toff-tax on the filthy rich earning over €100K a year”. Their eternal sense of persecution, unfairness and hand-out entitlement for doing just about nothing must get tiring after years of that Carry-on?
.. And the house charges, and the continuous prescription rises plus meds off prescriptions every week. Electricity, coal and gas cylinder prices have had huge increases, plus food and buses stopped altogether. Allowances and basic monies cuts. No, not easy street at all.
I’m dizzy with excitement
A little from column A, a little from column B….
I swear we’ve turned into a nation of tedious accountants and economists at this stage. The Land of Statements and USC’s…
So you wouldn’t want the national budget to be done by tedious acountants & economists?
I look forward to the opposition response to the budget and what they’ll be most enraged about.
Working overtime tonight john? Must be great pay
ah now the truth John does it for the love of Enda
The response has thus far been embarrassing. Fianna Fáil scoring a political own goal by pretending to be concerned about give-away budgets, and Sinn Féin upset at the idea the middle-income workers who bore the brunt of the cuts should be first in line for any relief. I expect them to keep hammering the water charges line.
Biggest load of balls!
Pension levy rip-off gone. Yippee!!!!
Will be very happy to see the back of that horrible levy, so that is worth welcoming for those who have to invest in private pensions.
Wow. I think its the most irresponsible budget, probably ever. AJ Chopar’s findings and recommendations out the windows. I hope we dig bigger holes for all the junk that will be bought with the ridiculous reintroduction of the Xmas bonus, and end up as landfill.
And they still think we’re gonna pay water charges
Those of us who believe in social democracy will, yes.
Those of us who believe that you can pick and choose when you pay your taxes might not be, no.
Did anybody explain to you that we already pay for the services of water?? Why the hell should we allow the privatisation of our water?? So you can go and talk about democracy all you like. It’s our democratic right to refuse to be ripped off AGAIN!!
Why don’t people who’ve been on water schemes for ages also get tax relief
Divide and conquer!!!!!!
Sooooo I go to work all year where I don’t get a Christmas bonus to help pay towards people who don’t work get a Christmas bonus???? What’s the point:(
No point, none at all,sit at home scratch your whole, pop out a sprog or 6 preferably with gobby git syndrome or rickets or something, try and have them by atleast 2 different dads,extra points but sadly no extra no money, oh no wait,hang on. I’m sure there’s an extra bob or two in it if u claim it’s something to do with you culture!Then you can sit bk n pay €20 a week rent because of corse you live alone and everything else is pretty much handed to you. Well done.
Very disappointed with the budget no move to assist low paid ps who took very unfair cuts and are suffering particularly those with young families. First to be cut last to be supported. Shame on this government reduce tax for some totally unaffected and leave low paid suffering.
Anyone know if disability allowance is changed and if the price of medication has changed.
Thanks.
Neither rate has been changed.
But maybe you’ll the extra 25% Christmas bonus. Not sure on that.
Thanks Michael. That question wasn’t for me. Glad you answered.
Glad to say that the Christmas bonus does apply. Small mercies.
Best of luck!
I’m a pensioner on state contributory pension and a well from which I get my water how much have I got?
Rand – if living alone you may qualify for the extra €9 per week on the living alone allowance so up 468 per year there.
Plus, possibly the household benefits package €100 payment towards water costs.
Plus, the social welfare 25% bump at Christmas may be applied to pensions – not sure yet on that – 47 euro?
The USC level and rate changes might just about affect you to the tune of 200 per year better off.
Don’t know enough about your personal circumstances to be able to say but looks like the bones of 900 euro per year.
we’ll give you €9 a week if you give us your well! deal?
Whatever they have introduced.whether I was prsi, usc.etc etc.there here to stay we are never getting rid of.
.5% is an insult, scrap it
Does the reduction in the pension levy include public sector pensions or does it only apply to private pensions?
Only Private. The Public one should be called a small contribution towards a gold plated retirement fund.
Haha, you’re hilarious. As a low to middle income earner I pay about 140 euro a month to my – non voluntary – pension. Multiply that by 52 and again by 40 and you’ll get a very rough idea that I’ll have paid a few quid in myself by the end of it
Sorry, obviously I mean multiply by 12
It’s still nowhere near the value of it though…
Anyway… The pension raiding was only done on private pensions so you can’t stop paying something you never started
Margaret, thats €67k you have to pay to be entitled to a reasonable income, potentially for 20 or 30 years. Anyone in the private sector you give a limb to get that kind of return. It’s just not available in the real world, only in Quango Quango land.
Pat, anyone who joined in the last decade who ends up with a €67k fund will get a small lump sum and the contributory old age pension. And that’s it. €230 a week. There’s no gold plating there.
I actually pay a pension levy of 160 quid a month too. The pension levy was on public sector pensions as well as private pensions
Obviously a good job done in regards to the budget today! Very few disagreeing with the new measures
I am a Registered General Nurse with 25 years experience. I can’t get my head around the pension levy. Was there any changes? It costs us a small fortune. Anyone know?
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