THE LEADERS OF the three coalition parties are set to meet today as the final touches are put to tomorrow’s Budget.

Paschal Donohoe’s fourth Budget as Finance Minister will be dominated by the country’s response to Covid-19, with some €9 billion of spending next year related to the pandemic. 

The government has previously said that the Budget is being prepared on the basis that there will be no UK-EU trade deal and no widely available Covid-19 vaccine programme in the first half of 2021.

Donohoe will be joined in presenting the Budget by Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath, who last week brought a memo on expenditure strategy to Cabinet. 

The Cabinet last week approved the drawdown of €1.5 billion from the State’s ‘rainy day’ fund for tomorrow’s Budget. 

Among the measures expected in Budget 2021 are support packages for businesses that have been shut or curtailed as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. 

For example, live music venues will be able to apply for a minimum of €10,000 under a new scheme, according to government sources.

Earlier today, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland released research which estimated that more than a fifth of pubs in Ireland have continuing costs of up to €2,000 a week despite being closed.  

Green initiates are set to feature in tomorrow’s Budget, with funds for new or extended home retrofitting schemes and an increase in carbon tax. 

There will be no increase in income taxes in the Budget, Donohoe has said.