The Budget is like a painting – framed by how much the Government has to spend and viewed very differently by everyone.
Today's €4.7 billion calculations allow us to picture how State, personal and business finances will add up for 2022 and beyond.
The key Budget points are outlined here …
Taxation
€520 million of income tax reductions include increasing the standard rate band by €1,500 and increasing each of personal tax credit, employee tax credit and earned income credit by €50
Reduced VAT rate of 9% for the hospitality sector will remain in place to the end of August 2022
Universal Social Charge - ceiling of second rate band increases from €20,687 to €21,295
Working conditions
Minimum wage rises 30 cent to €10.50 per hour
Income tax deduction amounting to 30% of vouched expenses for heat, electricity and broadband incurred while working from home
Social welfare
€5 increase in main weekly welfare payments and State pension confirmed, including young jobseekers' allowance
Weekly fuel allowance rises by €5 from midnight tonight
Thousands more carers will be in line to receive Carer's Allowance with a single person allowed to earn €350 and a couple €750 per week and still qualify for the payment
Double payment of welfare allowances at Christmas agreed
Housing
New 3% Zoned Land Tax (based on market price of land) to encourage the use of land for building homes, it will apply to land which is zoned suitable for residential development and is serviced, but has not been developed for housing
Help-to-buy scheme will continue throughout 2022
Landlords allowed relief for pre-letting expenses for a further three years
€174 million for supporting the direct delivery of over 4,000 affordable homes next year
€50 million to help service sites and refurbish properties
Climate measures
Carbon tax will rise by €7.50 per tonne to €41 - petrol and diesel costs will increase from midnight tonight, with a 60 litre tank of petrol costing approx €1.28 extra while the same amount of diesel will be €1.48 more - all other fuels will have the increase applied from 1 May 2022
€5,000 relief for Battery Electric Vehicles to end 2023
Changes to Vehicle Registration Tax ranging from 1% increase for vehicles that fall between bands 9-12 to 4% for those in bands 16-20
Accelerated Capital Allowance scheme for gas and hydrogen powered vehicles and refuelling equipment extended for three years
€202 million fund for people to improve the energy efficiency of their homes in 2022
Childcare/family
Maternity benefit and parental leave payments to be increased
Parent's Benefit extended by 2 weeks to 7 weeks from July next year
Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance increased by €10
Children up to the age of 15 will be included in the universal payment under the National Childcare Scheme. It provides 50c per hour towards the cost of a Tusla-registered childcare place for a maximum of 45 hours per week
New funding stream for up to 4,700 early years and childcare providers will be put in place from September 2022 onwards to support improvements in the quality of childcare provision
Education
Average teacher pupil ratio in primary schools is expected to be reduced from 25 to 24 pupils
980 additional teachers and 1,165 additional SNAs
€50 million in ICT grants for primary and post primary schools
Funding for 200 school building projects
€30 million for the school transport scheme
€18 million to expand DEIS programme and €4 million to extend hot schools meals to more DEIS primary schools
Maintenance grant for Third Level students will be increased by €200, qualifying income thresholds expanded by €1,000 and qualifying distance reduced from 45km to 30km
€200 contribution fee for post-Leaving Certificate courses abolished
Creation of 20,000 new further education and training places
Public services/infrastructure
Additional 800 gardaí and 400 civilian staff to be recruited
20% increase in the Garda Mountain Bike unit
Funding for the establishment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority
€100 million to be made available for disability services
€2 million fund to assist community safety projects will also be established
€30 million for protection and renewal of roads
Over €1.4 billion to further develop public transport networks
Healthcare
Free GP care extended to children aged six and seven years of age
Free contraception for women aged 17-25 from next August
The maximum amount someone will pay for approved prescribed medicine under the Drugs Repayment Scheme will be cut from €114 a month to €100
€10.5 million has been provided for 19 additional critical care beds in 2022, bringing the total ICU beds next year to 340
€250 million to address waiting lists
€30 million for the Department of Health to provide further supports for areas hard hit by the pandemic - palliative care, mental health and disability services
Covid supports
Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme will remain in place, in a graduated format, until 30 April, 2022 - the scheme will close to new employers from 1 January, 2022
Farming
General stock relief will continue to the end of 2024
Stock relief for Young Trained Farmers and Farm Partnerships, and the Young Trained Farmer stamp duty relief will continue to the end of next year
Second phase of the soil sampling programme to go ahead in 2022
Travel/tourism/arts/culture
New Youth Travel Card will offer a 50% discount to those aged between 19 and 23 across the transport network
€360 million allocated to boost Active Travel and Greenways
€40 million to market Ireland overseas as a tourist destination
€25 million to establish a basic income scheme for artists
Over €60 million to extend the commercial rates waiver for quarter four targeted at the hospitality, arts and certain tourism related sectors
€90 million for an aviation package to help Ireland rebuild vital connectivity
Cigarettes
Excise duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes rises by 50 cent, with a pro-rata increase on other tobacco products
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