TODAY’S BUDGET WILL be very different from the one announced last year when we were in the grip of the pandemic. 

Last year was the biggest budget in the history of the State, with the government extending the various Covid-19 supports over for another year. 

This year’s package is €4.7 billion – with new spending accounting for €1 billion and €500 million set aside for tax measures.

The cavernous setting of the Convention Centre was the venue for last year’s budget, but politicians have now returned to Leinster House, so proceedings should be similar to other years, pre-Covid. 

Both Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath are due to address TDs. 

Donohoe will take to his feet first at 1pm to read his Budget speech.

McGrath will follow, with each of the ministers’ speeches due to last around 45 minutes – so we should be done by around 2.30pm or shortly thereafter. 

As the main opposition party, Sinn Féin will get an hour in reply. The other opposition parties and groupings will get 45 minutes each. Speeches will be done by 8pm.

Voting on the Budget measures will get underway at 8.30pm, and is due to end by midnight.

Immediate changes are voted in tonight (such as excise or cigarette price hikes) but votes on some of the more substantive issues take place over subsequent days.

The day’s proceedings were curtailed somewhat last year due to restrictions on gatherings, and places like hotels being closed.

Much of the Budget reaction comes via press conferences and interviews in Buswells Hotel, across the road from Leinster House. Stakeholders and groups give their reaction to the announcements throughout the day, and there’s usually a sizeable encampment of TV and radio reporters in the venue. 

Protests outside the Dáil are generally a feature of Budget Day, and while the scale of such demonstrations was smaller last year, it is expected there will be a return to larger numbers this year.

Speaking to reporters before Cabinet this morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said this year’s budget was partly about ensuring there will be no “cliff edge” as Ireland emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also said packages announced today would be line with the framework outlined in the Government’s summer economic statement earlier this year.

“Finances have improved significantly in contrast to what would have been predicted, even in the summer, given the nature of the economic recovery. But that said, we do have to be prudent and we have to plan over a five-year framework,” he said.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar also told reporters that the budget would be framed around getting public finances in order, helping families with the cost of living, investing in public services, and helping businesses that are still struggling due to the pandemic. 

What can we expect in the Budget speech?

No income tax increases or cuts are expected in the Budget, but Leo Varadkar has said there is a need to protect middle income earners from inflation and the rising cost of living. 

This will be done by indexing tax credits and tax bands. This could involve increasing the cut-off point at which the higher rate of income tax is applied, and increasing the entry point for the USC.

The pension and welfare package will be a “big part” of the Budget, Varadkar has indicated. He said the government also wants to do something for people paying for childcare. This could see changes to the National Childcare Scheme and an increase in the universal subsidy.

One feature of today’s announcement is that the government plans to help people working from home by allowing employees to claim back 20% to 30% of their energy bills or by boosting the daily working from home allowance.

Young people are due to get reduced fares on public transport, it is understood. 

There will also be free contraception rolled out for young people, as reported on last week by The Journal. This will cover the cost of fitting and removing contraception such as implants, and will also cover two consultations per year for contraception.

In terms of housing, the Help-To-Buy scheme will be extended beyond December 2021 into next year. The issue vacant sites and land hoarding by developers and the State will also be addressed in this year’s Budget. 

The Housing for All investment of €4 billion will include the largest capital budget of €2.6 billion.

Funding for homeless services will be €194 million, and there will be an increase in Traveller Specific Accommodation Schemes to €18 million. There will be increased funding for housing adaptation grants from €60m to €65m and retrofitting will also increase by €20 million to €85 million.

The carbon tax will be increased by another €7.50 this year to €41 per tonne. This will push up the cost of petrol, diesel and home heating fuels. Meanwhile the government aims to protect the vulnerable from energy price hikes by increasing the fuel allowance.

There has been no pension increase in the last two years and due to the rise in the cost of living it is expected it will rise by €5. There have been calls for it to increase by €10-€15, but sources say that’s unlikely.

The justice package in the Budget will see an additional 800 gardaí committed to for 2022 by the government. There will also be a 20% increase in in the Garda Mountain Bike Unit, from 556 Gardaí deployed on mountain bikes to over 650. This follows calls for a more visible presence of the force on city streets.

It is anticipated this will be followed by further increases in the coming years, with the strengthened Mountain Bike Unit expected to be deployed across Dublin and other urban centres to support high visibility policing and increase community safety.

In addition, 400 Garda civilian staff will be recruited next year, and will help to free up more gardaí for frontline policing.  It will bring the total number of Garda staff to 3,800, the highest ever number – ensuring that more gardaí can focus on core policing duties rather than administration.

It is understood that to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau, a new Community Safety Innovation Fund will be established to help fund projects to increase community safety.

Due to the successes of the Criminal Assets Bureau in seizing proceeds of crime, the assets will provide additional funding for investment in community safety projects.

The fund will be established with an initial outlay in 2020 of €2 million.

There will also be a package of €13 million to help tackle domestic, sexual and gender based violence, which is a priority for the Government and Minister Helen McEntee, who returns from maternity leave in three weeks’ time.

This will include €1 million additional funding for the Divisional Protective Services Units of An Garda Síochána. The Budget allocation will assist with the Government’s new plan to tackle domestic, sexual and gender based violence, which is to be published in the coming weeks. 

In terms of the arts and entertainment, a new suite of measures will be announced tomorrow as part of a €100 million overall package to boost domestic and inbound tourism numbers and to support the sector are planned.

There will be additional supports for festivals and investment in nightlife events and activities on the back of the Night-Time Economy task force report which was recently published.

The report for Minister Catherine Martin included supporting late-night openings of creative venues; new offerings in food and entertainment; measures with vintners and others to revitalise night-life across the country.  

More details are expected to be announced about the pilot basic-income guarantee for artists, which was the top recommendation in the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce report. 

There have been calls for the payment to be set at €327 a week, in line with the task force recommendation, beginning in January 2022. The announcement is set to be a big element of the arts package in the Budget. 

In terms of sport, the Budget will set out details of how female gaelic games players will receive the same amount of funding as their male counterparts. 

On cigarettes and alcohol, it is not expected that there will be tax hike on the price of alcohol this year, but the price of cigarettes is expected to increase.

Stay with The Journal throughout the day for the latest Budget news. We’ll be liveblogging from midday and you can expect articles throughout the day on the main developments and reaction.