THREE MONTHS AGO, Paschal Donohoe and Micheal McGrath delivered the new coalition’s first Budget, the largest in the history of the State.

The Budget aimed to help the economy recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with headline announcements including a €4 billion allocation for health, supports for businesses, and further increases in carbon tax. 

Measures like that carbon tax increase and a hike in the price of cigarettes took effect from 14 October, but many more won’t be implemented until tomorrow.

Here’s what you need to know: 

Social Welfare 

Payments for qualified child dependants will increase by €5 for children aged 12 or over and €2 for children aged up to 12, taking effect at various dates in January, depending on the weekly welfare payment that either parent is receiving.

The Fuel Allowance payment will increase by €3.50 to €28.00 per week from next week, affecting over 375,000 households.

The Living Alone Allowance will increase by €5 per week to €19, affecting pensioners, widows and widowers, and people with disabilities. It will take effect from the first week in January.

The Island Allowance (paid to people living on certain offshore islands) will increase by €7.30 to €20 per week from next week.

The Working Family Payment will have its weekly income threshold increased by €10 for families with up to three children from next week, affecting around 48,700 families.

The Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant which assists widows, widowers and surviving civil partners with children will increase from €6,000 to €8,000 tomorrow.

A €1,000 support grant to provide supported employment services for jobseekers with a disability will also be introduced next month.

Taxation

Anew form of Motor Tax will be introduced for cars registered after 1 January.

The new tax on vehicles will instead take account of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) emissions system.

What happens later in 2021?

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, currently set to expire on 31 March, will continue in some form beyond that date, with Donohoe saying a similar scheme would be needed until the end of the year to provide businesses with greater levels of certainty.

The Government is also putting in place a Recovery Fund for businesses of €3.4 billion in light of the threat posed by Brexit.

An additional 2,100 posts will also be created in the school system, including another 990 new special needs assistants (SNA), and will likely be available for the new school year next September. 

A further €20 million has also been allocated to ensure students impacted by Covid-19 have access to supports through the SUSI grant system ahead of the next academic year.

The SUSI fee for postgraduate study will also increase by €1,500 to €3,500 ahead of next September.