Budget 2026 to be 'expansionary package' with most measures coming in January
Budget 2026 is set to be an 'expansionary package', with most measures poised to take effect from January next year.
Speaking at Wednesday's Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that while no decisions have been made yet on Budget 2026, it will be an expansionary package.
He said one normal Budget will be announced in October, which will be responsible and responsive, with most of the measures taking effect from next January.
Although nothing is confirmed, the Government is signalling a focus on reducing education and healthcare costs, cutting childcare fees, and permanently lowering the VAT rate for small businesses.
The Fine Gael leader said he and his party colleagues remembered very well what it canvassed on at the last General Election.
He said the VAT rate for small businesses will be reduced permanently. Mr Harris said childcare fees for many families are like a second mortgage and these costs must be permanently reduced over the lifetime of this Government.
He said the cost of education, across all levels, must be reduced along with healthcare costs, and significant progress should be made in children's disability services and special education.
The Fine Gael leader also said he fully supported the calls by Deputies Michael Murphy and Micheál Carrigy that all the country post offices, which provide a vital service to communities everywhere, be supported to the tune of €15 million annually for the next five years. Current State Aid funding ceases at the end of this year.
The meeting also heard the revised National Development Plan will come before Cabinet next month.
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RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Quiet man of Government emerges from the shadows
As the fledgling Iran and Israel ceasefire unexpectedly took root last Tuesday morning, a less dramatic act of consolidation was playing out in front of the cameras in Government Buildings. The coalition's leaders hurriedly arranged themselves on the podium in the press centre on Merrion Street to tell the world about a plan to breathe new life into Dublin's O'Connell Street. The event was late getting under way as the Taoiseach explained that the ferociously busy Cabinet meeting had worked through no less than 50 items. Was Micheál Martin suggesting that the "do-nothing Dáil" label which smudged the planned glossy opening act of this Government was now consigned to history? That was the clear inference and amid the spirit of fast-moving newness there emerged from the wings, the politician who effectively leads the Independent ministers in Government. Seán Canney stood with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste in a manner akin to Eamon Ryan's ever-present role in the last administration. The Galway-East TD's prominent public positioning last week was the result of mounting frustration among some Independent ministers and TDs. They felt that the presentation of the Government, particularly by the media, as primarily a two-party entity, was unfair and inaccurate. "There were conversations among a few ministers, and it was decided that we need people to know that there are three and maybe four parts to this Government," said one minister. Others point to what they perceive as an even deeper disregard for some Independent TDs who signed up to the Programme for Government. "They cut us out of the consultative process when making decisions and that led to Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole voting against them, but it is now sorted, they know we're serious," said one Independent TD. The group has also had its own Deputy Government Press Secretary, Tom Blade, appointed this week. All the while there is an absolute rule across Government that these ministers and TDs must receive information simultaneously with those in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. He is a great manager of people and is very structured in his approach, I think he could qualify for a UN role at this stage. If everyone understands their roles better now, there is nonetheless a complicated structure to the Independent's place in the Government. What is beyond dispute is that Mr Canney is the de facto leader of the Independent ministers. Privately he is acutely aware that it is a job which requires the most well-honed of diplomatic skills, given the differing aims of his colleagues and the absence of a political party machine. "He is a great manager of people and is very structured in his approach, I think he could qualify for a UN role at this stage" is how one Cabinet minister sums up the man who first entered politics in the 2004 local elections. 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The former quantity-surveyor, who also lectured in that subject for almost a decade at GMIT, is said to have surprised some in Government with his focus on national issues. He has also impressed those in the Department of Transport where he has set a lofty ambition to reduce driving test waiting times to ten weeks by September. "He really grabbed that one by the scruff of the neck and he is receiving fortnightly reports to ensure that the RSA makes it happen," is the view of someone familiar with Mr Canney's work in the department. Notably, he is understood to have opposed the idea of appointing NAMA boss Brendan McDonagh as the housing czar, during what was a bruising Government controversy earlier this year. "He is very much big picture," said one senior figure in Government Buildings. On Tuesdays, Mr Canney along with Noel Grealish attend Cabinet meetings and also that day, Mr Canney chairs a meeting of the five Independent ministers. 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Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Fianna Fáil is in desperate need of a candidate for the presidential election. Applications are invited
No matter how much it protests that no decisions have been made, it's hard to see how Fianna Fáil can really just sit out October's presidential election . True, the party hasn't contested an election since 2007, when Mary McAleese snatched the nomination from Albert Reynolds and went on to win a bitterly contested race, subsequently serving two successful terms. But the reasons the party didn't contest in 2011 and 2018 – the first because it was in total meltdown after the financial crisis and then because there was a popular incumbent whom it quite liked seeking a second term – don't apply in 2025. Micheál Martin, having restored Fianna Fáil from a state of near-death to the largest party in the State and returned to the Taoiseach's office after last year's elections, has a credible claim to being the party's most successful leader since its founder. Running for elections is what successful parties do. Sitting on the sidelines, especially with Fine Gael running in what could turn out to be a restorative election for its leader, would be a peculiar choice and reflect both an insecurity about the future and a paucity of imagination and resources for the present. If Sinn Féin runs its own candidate – undecided, say party sources, but likely I think – it would be even harder for Fianna Fáil to enter a nolle prosequi. READ MORE Not that Martin and his allies care all that much for the presidency. They are interested in power and there is little if any power in the Áras. But symbols matter in politics. The election of Michael D Higgins in 2011 didn't save Labour , some Fianna Fáilers point out. True. But the election of Mary Robinson opened the door to thousands of voters who would give Labour unprecedented political opportunities. More than that, Robinson's election signalled and was part of opening up what would lead to a different society. 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Apply: Micheál Martin, Government Buildings, Dublin 2. Canvassing will most certainly not disqualify. Is Conor McGregor really the only person who wants to be President of Ireland? Listen | 19:19
Irish Independent
5 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Some government backbench TDs will not attend US embassy's July 4 celebrations
It comes as a number of opposition TDs said this week that they would boycott the annual event, with one planning to participate in a protest on the night. Politicians are among a host of guests invited to the celebration, including business leaders and civil groups. While many in opposition have chosen to boycott the event in recent years, TDs in both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have said they will also not go this year. Fine Gael TD Barry Ward said he felt it was not appropriate for him to go, citing a number of reasons, including changes to the rules around J1 visas. From this week, applicants for J1 student visas are required to set their social media accounts to public so authorities can examine them. It's not something I'd be comfortable with this year 'In the context of now asking people, the so-called land of the free, to give up all their private information in relation to social media and then possibly refusing people entry because they said something they didn't like,' Mr Ward said. 'They have first amendment rights that extend beyond Americans and yet they don't seem to respect their own constitutional basis. 'So I just decided I'm not going to go this year.' Fianna Fáil TD Peter 'Chap' Cleere said he received an invite but would not attend because of the current geopolitical situation. 'I'm not anti-US, but I just think in the current environment, it's not something I'd be comfortable with this year,' Mr Cleere said. Another Fianna Fáil TD said they were aware of a number of party colleagues who were choosing not to go this year, which they said was not something that would have happened in previous years. Similar conversations are also happening within the backbenches of Fine Gael, one TD said. Some TDs who spoke off the record said they did not consider their decision not to go as a boycott. Instead, it was down to them feeling uncomfortable attending the event. Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne said he would be attending this year but added that there were 'many policies' from the US administration that he did not agree with. Irish companies employ as many people in the US and US companies do here 'Like the overwhelming majority of Irish people, I have family and friends in the United States and I value those relationships. 'Irish companies employ as many people in the US and US companies do here. 'This has nothing to do with government policy. There are many policies of Donald Trump's presidency with which I strongly disagree,' Mr Byrne said. Fine Gael TD John Clendennen said while he had accepted the invite for now, he may not attend due to other events that night. However, he said it was important for politicians to take the opportunity to convey during these events Ireland's message both on Gaza and in relation to trade tariffs. I've never been and I'm not going this year Meanwhile, Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin said he will not be attending the July 4 bash in the US embassy, adding that he has not gone in previous years. He was unable to say if all party colleagues would be boycotting it. 'I've never been and I'm not going this year, I don't know what the view of other folks are but it's not an event that I've attended,' he said. 'Certainly this year, given what's going on, particularly in the Middle East, that gives me more reason not to go.'
