LAST UPDATE | 28 Sep 2022

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.

Budget 2023

1. Measures valued at €11 billion were announced yesterday by both the Finance Minister and Public Expenditure Minister during Budget 2023.

In the hours after the Budget, there are already some measures kicking in, including extensions to excise cuts on diesel, petrol and marked gas oil and VAT cuts.

The cost of cigarettes has also been increased by 50 cent, with the average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes now set to cost €15.50.

Reader response

2. Following yesterday’s Budget, The Journal readers got in touch to detail how they would be impacted by the suite of measures announced by the Government.

While some measures have been welcome, including the reduction in childcare and student fees, some people are concerned that the only impact the Budget will have on them is the three electricity credits.

Social welfare

3. The core social welfare rates and state pension are set to increase by €12 from 1 January, with multiple lump sum payments set to be paid out before Christmas.

Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath said that the welfare increases would not increase until January due to the number of lump sum supports that were being introduced in the meantime.

Childcare

4. The Minister for Children has sought to reassure parents that a reduction in childcare costs announced in the budget won’t result in childcare providers increasing fees and swallowing up the savings meant for families.

Roderic O’Gorman said that 90% of childcare providers will not be able to increase fees following the announcement as they signed up to a “fee freeze” as part of a funding programme introduced last year.

Clareabbey

5. A young girl remains in a critical condition in hospital after she was discovered with serious injuries at a house in Co Clare early this morning.

Gardaí have also confirmed that a woman was also found unconscious at the scene. She was also removed to University Hospital Limerick where her condition is described as critical.

Ukraine annexation referendums

6. Kremlin-installed authorities in four Ukrainian regions under Russian control claimed victory in annexation votes, drawing global outrage, as Moscow warned it could use nuclear weapons to defend the territories.

Ukraine and its allies have denounced the so-called referendums as a sham, saying the West would never recognise the results of the ballots, which have dramatically ratcheted up the stakes of Russia’s seven-month invasion.

Free contraception

7. The Minister for Public Expenditure yesterday announced the expansion of the government’s free contraception scheme for 17 to 25-year-olds to women aged 16 to 30.

The change will come into effect from 1 September 2023 and could see an individual save up to €470 on the cost of prescription contraception.

Nord Stream leaks

8. The EU believes leaks from two Russia-Germany undersea gas pipelines “are not a coincidence”, with indications they were “a deliberate act”, the union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said today.

Swedish seismologists detected “massive releases of energy” just before the two leaks, with one telling AFP “there isn’t much else than a blast that could cause it”.

Hurricane Ian

9. The powerful Hurricane Ian left a trail of destruction and caused a widespread blackout in Cuba overnight, while Florida residents braced for a direct hit from the “extremely dangerous” storm that is already pummeling the US state with high winds.

Ian hit Cuba’s western regions for more than five hours early yesterday morning, before moving out over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Insmet meteorological institute said.