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The good, the bad and USC: Here's what you had to say about Budget 2016

USC, Christmas bonuses, smoking tax…you had A LOT of opinions on it all.

IT’S ALL OVER, Budget 2016 has been announced and you’ve been letting us know exactly what you think about it in the comments section.

People were feeling a bit more positive than previous years ahead of today’s speeches:

lookinf forward

However, when the news actually came, not everybody was thrilled with the results.

Willr said, “An extra €7.70 a week, barely covers rate of inflation. So nothing really. Just kept same really. Inflation running close to 3% next year. So that cancels a lot of gains out, unfortunately.”

While a lot of people are happy that the Universal Social Charge has been decreased, this comment pretty much sums up the general consensus on it:

USC

Meanwhile, the Christmas Bonus of €141 for jobseekers and €173 for pensioners has been receiving mixed reviews:

Dole comment

This comment from Tongueless Ghost got over 635 green thumbs and 155 red thumbs:

ghost

While Ciara Heffernan made this point:

Ever been a single parent who cannot afford to work because of how expensive it is to secure childcare at affordable prices? Trying to make sure your child(ren) doesn’t feel left out because the 200 euro a week just is not enough to cover rent, food, clothes, electricity, heating, toiletries and cleaning products as well as presents from santa?

Here’s what you had to say on the smoking tax which will see a pack of cigarettes rise by 50c from midnight.

smoking ReactionGifs.com ReactionGifs.com

Rusty Balls said:

Or here’s an idea, if they were serious about any of this (we all know they’re not, but what the hell) they could ring fence the taxes from tobacco products and pump it directly back into the Health Service or smoking prevention. In all likelihood the tax increase on tobacco products will go towards other debts…

smoking

A lot of you noted that you thought the priorities of the Government were wrong:

-

And people are NOT happy about the lack of investment in Irish start ups:

start ups

The Knowledge Development Box also got a dressing down:

So will Budget 2016 affect your vote? 

Here’s what you had to say on that score:

bond holders- not happy

william

While Dustin The Turkey felt the budget had a Celtic Tiger ring to it:

Many of you don’t think your bank account balance is going to get much of an impact:

extra 5

Some people were happy though, saying it was a change from recent years:

Happy with Budget- working man

While a lot of people expressed dissatisfaction with how the money was allocated:

Capture

Ciaran got a lot of green thumbs for his take on it all:

ferrari

So what did you make of Budget 2016? Will you be off to ‘buy a Ferrari’ like Ciaran?

Have you say in the comments section below:

Read: Here are the winners and losers of Budget 2016. Where do you fall?>

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