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LAST UPDATE | 7 Oct
FINANCE MINISTER PASCHAL Donohoe unveiled the details of Budget 2026, including a surprise change to how derelict properties are taxed, a cut to the hospitality VAT rate, and an extension of the rent tax credit for another three years.
Unlike recent years, where one-off measures and tax cuts for workers were unveiled, this year’s package doesn’t feature a ‘cost of living’ package.
Donohoe, along with Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, announced the details in the Dáil. The opposition rounded on the government in response, with Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty insisting he’d “never seen election promises abandoned so fast and so completely”.
Updates were by Jane Moore and Lauren Boland.
Good morning and welcome to The Journal‘s liveblog of Budget 2026.
We’ll be taking you through all of the updates this morning as well as the main announcement this afternoon.
But first thing’s first – let’s look at what we know so far.
This will be Paschal Donohoe’s seventh Budget speech as Minister for Finance, but his first as part of the new government that was formed in January.
He will deliver the speech at 1pm in the Dáil, followed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Jack Chambers at 1.45pm.
After the speeches, the Dáil schedule will be cleared for the day to allow opposition parties to have their say on the announcement.
They should be done by 8pm, at which point voting on the Budget will begin and is scheduled to last until after midnight.
This year’s Budget package is expected to contain an overall package of €9.4 billion.
Unsurprisingly, we already know quite a lot of what today’s big announcement will contain, with various measures having been leaked already.
Our Political Editor Christina Finn has a round-up of what we can expect to hear, including a rise in social welfare payments, a rise in the carbon tax, a cut to college fees and a new tax on vapes.
While we’re well-used to the details of the Budget being leaked in advance nowadays, it was not as accepted in the past.
In fact, 30 years ago, it led to the resignation of the then-Junior Minister for Finance.
In 1995, Phil Hogan resigned after it emerged that one of his advisers had faxed (yes, faxed) details of the Budget to the media.
The Rainbow Coalition was in power at the time, comprising Fine Gael, Labour and the Democratic Left.
It’s safe to say that opposition parties were not impressed. They had been complaining for weeks that the coalition government had already leaked more Budget information than virtually any other administration.
Then, four hours before Labour’s Ruairí Quinn was due to address the Dáil, Hogan’s adviser faxed details of the Finance Minister’s speech to newspapers.
While Fine Gael Taoiseach John Bruton, while making an apology to the Dáil, insisted he wouldn’t ask Hogan to resign, Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern threatened to table a motion calling for Hogan’s resignation unless he answered questions in the Dáil.
In the end, Hogan resigned as junior finance minister on 9 February 1995 to avoid “damaging” the government.
Speaking in the Dáil chamber, he said: “To avoid any possibility of damaging a government led by Taoiseach John Bruton – a man of the utmost decency and understanding qualities – I have tendered my resignation from government and it has been accepted. The decision to resign is entirely my own.”
Of course, he would go on to resign from another position some 25 years later…
As we said earlier, we’re expecting the government to cut the VAT rate for food-led hospitality from 13.5% to 9%.
This comes after a long-running campaign by the hospitality sector, with many in the industry pointing to the VAT rate being reinstated to 13.5% after the Covid-19 pandemic as a significant strain on their businesses.
However, while the cut will be a boost for smaller cafés and restaurants, big multinationals like McDonald’s and Starbucks will also benefit from the move.
It was criticised by Minister of State for Justice Niall Collins on The Tonight Show last night.
"It's not what I would do if I were Minister for Finance" @NiallCollinsTD on the proposed VAT cut for the hospitality industry. pic.twitter.com/nbcUfJ5HVc
— TonightVMTV (@TonightVMTV) October 6, 2025
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said the Budget will be “fair and balanced”.
In a post shared on social media last night, he said it “aims to address the challenges of today while ensuring we have the capacity to invest in our future”.
Tomorrow Minister Chambers and I will present #Budget2026. We believe it is a fair & balanced budget that aims to address the challenges of today while ensuring we have the capacity to invest in our future and what our country needs to keep us moving in the right direction. pic.twitter.com/qUvitXbszZ
— Paschal Donohoe (@Paschald) October 6, 2025
Our Political Correspondent Jane Matthews is at Government buildings this morning, where barriers have been erected and the road has been closed.
This has been a familiar sight on Budget day in the last few years.
Even before this week, it was well flagged in advance that this Budget was not going to be like the so-called “giveaway” budgets of the last few years with the absence of any cost-of-living package.
As a result, there will be no one-off payments announced today. But the government has suggested that it will be focusing on targeted measures for the worst off in society.
Last week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin pushed back on the suggestion that people will be worse off this year. He pointed out that real wages (wages adjusted for inflation) are rising by about 3% this year while inflation is at approximately 2%.
“We will have a social protection package, but last year, inflation had reached very high levels, coming out of Covid-19, and we were trying to protect people for two to three years with the specific special packages, and that’s not feasible, that they would continue forever, but it depends on other aspects of the economy as well,” he said.
There’s still over an hour to go until Paschal Donohoe gets to his feet to announce the Budget.
In the meantime, Jack Chambers is putting the finishing touches to his speech (which he will read around 45 minutes after the Finance Minister).
The two ministers had a last look at the Budget itself yesterday…
We also know in advance of today’s speeches that there will be no changes to personal taxes announced in the Budget.
Paschal Donohoe told reporters on Friday that the main priority would be “measures that can enhance the competitiveness of our country and support further investment within our economy”.
“The consequence of that is there will not be changes from a personal taxation within the Budget, because I’m going to be prioritising decisions instead with regard to jobs and investment in the future of our company.”
Our Political Correspondent Jane Matthews is down at the plinth, where opposition parties are speaking before the big announcement.
Independent Ireland’s Michael Collins says that unlike in years gone by, “there’s no money for anything” in this year’s package.
“Last year money was like confetti. This year, there’s no money for anything.” - Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins on this year’s Budget.
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) October 7, 2025
@thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/UmAadORFV6
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín is not happy either. He is calling for a 0% VAT rate on the construction of apartments for the next three years to stimulate supply.
The rate is expected to be reduced from 13.5% to 9%.
Aontu (unsurprisingly) not impressed with this Budget, leader Peadar Toibin says he wants O% VAT on the construction of apartments for 3 years to stimulate supply. Says the expected cut to 9% does not go far enough. pic.twitter.com/IM0nHrTdEj
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) October 7, 2025
Amid the scrutiny of Budget 2026, the message being pushed by Government is that it is the biggest capital investment in the history of the State that will protect jobs and invest in future and critical infrastructure.
They are keen to stress that they are targeting supports to those who most need it, and that the strongest improvements in disposable income will be in lower-income households.
They are also emphasising that this is the first Budget of this coalition, and that they can’t do everything in one go.
With less than half an hour to go, here’s a quick round-up of some of what we can expect to hear announced:
There they are now.
Green and blue are the tie choices this year.
Paschal Donohoe is on his feet. He says Budget 2026 will invest in our future “while securing the jobs, prosperity and stability of today”.
He says it will tackle the serious challenges of meeting our housing and investment needs “while we prepare for tomorrow”.
He says our economy has proven to be resilient “and this is due to the transformation in our country in recent decades”. He says there are more than 2.8 million people working in Ireland today.
Christina Finn reports from the Dáil gallery:
There’s usually a bit of a buzz around Leinster House on Budget Day but compared to recent years it’s all a bit flat, with fewer people than usual around the corridors.
Micheál Martin entered the chamber just before the speech began. He seems in good spirits and was chatting to guests in the ‘distinguished guests’ gallery, where Paschal Donohoe’s children are sitting.
Donohoe says the government understands that not everyone feels the benefits of a strong economy in their daily lives. “For many, concerns about their cost of living, about access to a home remain paramount,” he says.
He says uncertainty “is the defining feature of the economy of the world” and that this year saw greater fragmentation as widespread tariffs were introduced.
He says tariffs “will of course impact growth in the coming years” but the question is how we respond to this challenge.
“We do this with a plan to strengthen the resilience we have shown in the past, underpinned by a sensible budget that will safeguard our future.”
He says Ireland expects to add a further 63,500 jobs by the end of next year with the economy remaining at full employment in the coming period, with inflation forecasted to remain at 2%.
He says the government is “acutely aware” that prices remain high, and that the budget seeks to address this through targeted supports.
He says the updated National Development Plan commits to €275bn in capital expenditure over the next five years.
“This strategic investment will support our energy, our water, our housing, our transport sectors, these are areas that are critical to making Ireland a better place in which to live and work.”
He says of the €9.4 billion Budget package, €8.1 billion will be allocated to public spending while €1.3 billion will be allocated for taxation.
Reduced the tax package by €150 million to facilitate additional spending “in targeted supports for the most vulnerable, while maintaining an unchanged total budgetary package”.
He says the one-off measures of the past must be replaced by more targeted and permanent supports which will give greater certainty to people.
He says that by the end of next year, there will be €24 billion in the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. By the end of the government’s term, they expect to have more than €40 billion built up in the funds.
Housing
Donohoe says they have committed over €5 billion in capital investment for housing delivery next year. This is in addition to the investment by the Land Development Agency and by approved housing bodies.
They are reducing the VAT rate on construction of apartments to 9% effective from tonight until 31 December 2030.
He announces another opportunity for landowners to avail of an exemption in 2026 if they seek to have their land rezoned “to reflect the genuine economic activity being carried out”.
He says he is exempting rental profits arising from homes that fall within the cost rental scheme from corporation tax.
“This exemption will apply to all developments that are designated as falling within the cost rental scheme by the Minister for Housing from on or after 8 October 2025.”
New derelict property tax
In a surprise, Donohoe announces the introduction of a new derelict property taxes which will be implemented and collected by Revenue.
The tax will replace the derelict site levy, which is currently charged at 7%. He says he does not intend for the new tax to be charged lower than this.
It will be legislated for next year.
He is extending the Residential Development Stamp Duty Refund Scheme until the end of 2030.
He is extending the two time limits that applies for acquisition to commencement and commencement to completion, from 30 months to 36 months, and he’s also providing for a full stamp duty refund to be claimed in respect of a multi-phase development.
Minimum wage increase
Donohoe announces “targeted measures” to USC.
As of 1 January of 2026, the national minimum wage will increase by 65c to €14.15 per hour.
The ceiling for the 2% rate band will increase to €28,700. “This increase will ensure that full-time workers on the minimum wage will remain outside of the top rate of USC, while also giving a modest benefit to all workers whose income is above that amount,” he says.
The USC concession that applies to those who have a full medical card and earn less than €60,000 per year is being extended so that the reduced rate of USC continues to apply for a further two years until the end of 2027.
The rent tax credit is being extended for three years to the end of 2028.
The mortgage interest tax relief will also be extended for a further two years, with a reduced value applying in the final year.
The 9% rate of VAT on gas and electricity bills is being extended until 31 December 2030.
Hospitality VAT rate
Donohoe says to support businesses and help them to retain jobs, the VAT rate for the hospitality sector is being reduced from 13.5% to 9%.
The measure will come into effect on 1 July 2026. He says it will cost €232 million in 2026 and €681 million in a full year.
He says the research and development tax credit will increase from 30% to 35%, while the first-year payment threshold will go up to €87,500.
He also says he will publish an “action plan” to “reform Ireland’s tax regime for interest”.
He says he is expanding the geographic scope of the participation exemption for foreign dividends.
He says he will publish an action plan today “to reform Ireland’s tax regime for interest”.
He announces an improvement to the 481 Film Tax Credit to provide for a 40% rate of relief for productions with a minimum of €1 million of eligible expenditure on relevant visual effects work. The raise will apply up to a maximum of €10 million per production.
He also announces a six-year extension to the Digital Games Tax Credit to 31 December 2031.
Donohoe says he is reducing the tax rate that applies to Irish and equivalent offshore funds and foreign life assurance products from 41% to 38%.
He will also introduce a new market cap exemption Stamp Duty threshold of €1 billion for Irish SMEs and start-ups trading on regulated markets.
For companies below this threshold, the 1% Stamp Duty charge paid on share transactions will not apply.
He says the Revenue Commissioners will begin a phased roll-out of “domestic electronic invoicing arrangements for business to business transactions”. They will publish further details of this tomorrow.
Government and opposition politicians are already getting their spoke in on the impact of today’s Budget.
In a pre-prepared video on X, Taoiseach Micheál Martin insisted that the package – which sees a move away from the once-off cost-of-living packages of recent years – will “help those who need it most”.
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty will give his party’s full response in the Dáil from 2.30pm, but already he’s calling it a budget that puts “the interests of the rich and privileged” ahead of working people.
Paul Murphy of People Before Profit is calling it a “budget of austerity at a time of prosperity”.
Today, the government will announce Budget 2026 - putting the interests of the rich and privileged ahead of working people and communities.
— Pearse Doherty (@PearseDoherty) October 7, 2025
I’ll be your voice, standing up for workers and families as I deliver Sinn Féin’s response live from 2:30pm at https://t.co/nFAutJWo2g 📺 pic.twitter.com/DGtMP6TumP
Carbon Tax
Donohoe says a tax of €71 per ton of C02 omitted will be applied to auto fuels from tomorrow and all other fuels from May 2026.
“The additional revenue arising from the carbon tax increase is estimated at €121 million in 2026 and a full-year additional yield of €157 million,” he says.
He says the duty on a pack of 20 cigarettes will increase by 50c, while excise duty on other tobacco products will increase on a pro-rata basis.
He says he is extending the Income Tax disregard of €400 for income received by households who sell electricity from micro-generation back to the grid for a further three years to the end of 2028.
Concluding, Donohoe says Budget 2026 “will boost our resilience and protect jobs”.
“It puts us in the best possible position to create a stronger and more competitive economy while meeting the needs of our people today and in the time to come.”
He says that any budget that attempts to achieve everything in a single go “weakens our ability to be safe in a turbulent world”.
“This is why we make the case for running budget surpluses and setting up funds for the future.”
He commends the Budget to the house.
Christina Finn reports from the Dáil gallery:
Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy could be heard heckling Donohoe during the closing moments of his speech, as the minister confirmed the carbon tax increase.
“Surely Healy-Rae didn’t agree to that,” Carthy called.
The carbon tax increase is not a surprise, it’s worth noting – this is part of a scheduled annual increase.
The rise kicks in from midnight tonight, adding about 2.5 cents to the cost of a litre of petrol or diesel.
Jack Chambers is now addressing the Dáil.
He says to improve people’s lives, “we need to ensure that the decisions we make today are ground in the best interests of our nation”.
“Our vision is to create a thriving country where enterprise can flourish and people feel valued regardless of background, ethnicity, sexuality or gender,” he says.
“This is our opportunity to be a caring country defined by stability, tolerance and progress for those who were born here and those who have chosen to make Ireland their home.”
Chambers says he is allocating €116.8 billion in 2026, an €8.1 billion increase on this year’s allocation.
He says an additional €6.1 billion will be allocated as current expenditure, with the budget for capital projects increasing by €2 billion.
Some €2 billion will be provided for social protection, €1.5 billion for health, €1.2 billion for public service pay agreement adjustments and €1.4 billion to broaden supports across many sectors.
Housing
Chambers says he is allocating €11.3 billion to the Department of Housing.
He says almost €2 billion of this will continue to meet the social housing needs of over 100,000 households through the Housing Assistance, Rental Accommodation and Social Housing Current Expenditure schemes.
He says he is allocating €7.2 billion in capital funding within this, which will include €2.9 billion “to support the delivery of thousands of new build social homes and the second-hand acquisitions programme”.
Some €1.2 billion will go to the Starter Homes Programme “to deliver thousands of starter homes through a range of affordability supports”.
Some €300 million will go to the Urban Regeneration Development Fund.
Some €205 million is being allocated to the new Housing Activation Infrastructure Fund to support the work of the new housing activation office.
Some €140 million is being allocated to retrofit further social homes, and €130 million will fund up to 17,000 adaptation grants of homes for older people and people with a disability.
Climate
Chambers says he’s allocating €1.1 billion to the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment next year.
This includes €209 million for the Climate Action Plan and Environmental Leadership Programme.
Transport
For transport, €4.7 billion is being allocated.
Some €940 million will go towards the public transport Public Service Obligation “to support our public transport network”.
Investment will also go towards the continued rollout of the Dart+ programme and Bus Connects.
He says several major road projects, including the Adair bypass, the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramogue and the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road, will be funded and developed in 2026.
A number of major greenway and active travel projects will also be funded and developed next year, he says.
Just tuning into this year’s Budget coverage?
Our Assistant News Editor Rónán Duffy has a roundup of all the main announcements so far here >
Political Editor Christina Finn says the atmosphere in the Dáil chamber has all been a bit flat so far:
The opposition has been very tame - the TDs are usually a bit more rowdy.
They did wake up there briefly there when the €500 cut in student fees was announced, with Sinn Fein TDs heckling that it actually works out as an increase to the charge, compared to last year.
Our reporter Andrew Walsh has the full details on the student fee changes here.
From Christina again in the Dáil gallery:
First heckling on the Jim Gavin controversy from Matt Carthy when Chambers said ‘when our sports men and women succeed a nation rises’.
Carty shouted ‘just not in the presidential election’.
Social protection
Chambers is allocating €28.9 billion to the Department of Social Protection.
He confirms an increase of €10 per week for social protection payments, which he says will benefit 1.5 million people.
While carers had called for the assessment to be abolished altogether, Chambers announces an increase in the Carers Allowance income disregard to €1,000 for a single person and €2,000 for a couple.
The rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance is also increasing by €20 per month to €380 per month.
He announces a €300 million package of supports for children and families.
This includes an increase in the weekly rates of the Child Support Payment by €8 for children under 12 and by €16 for children over 12.
The Working Family Payment income threshold is increasing by €60 per week.
The Back to School clothing and footwear payment to two and three year olds is being extended.
The Weekly Fuel Allowance payment is going up by €5 to €38, while fuel allowance eligibility is being extended to all households receiving the Working Family Payment.
Chambers also announces a so-called Christmas bonus payment for 1.5 million recipients of long-term social welfare schemes this year.
He says that alongside these new measures, the 2026 allocation for the Department “will provide an additional 30,000 recipients on pensions, illness, disability and carer schemes the full-year cost of jobseekers pay-related benefits introduced earlier this year and continued support for over 50,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine, including lone parents, pensioners and other vulnerable cohorts”.
Children
Over €3.8 billion is being allocated to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality next year for disability services, he says.
He says this will include funding for Community Based Specialist Disability Services to ensure people with disabilities receive “the right support at the right time in the right place”.
He says families waiting for assessments “will see progress” as around 6,500 private assessments would be funded to reduce delays, while it will fund 9,000 residential care placements, including 250 new ones next year, as well as 1,400 day services places for young people finishing school.
The early years sector is to be allocated an additional €125 million next year, bringing the total funding to €1.5 billion.
He says more than 285,000 children will benefit from the National Childcare Scheme, while the ECCE scheme for early childhood care will benefit 105,000 children.
He says Year 4 of Core funding will continue, with enhancements in Year 5 of the scheme “to improve pay for educations and school age childcare practitioners”.
Health
Chambers says the €27.4 billion for the Department of Health will deliver 220 more hospital beds, at least 280 community beds and 500 more nursing home places.
The funding will also provide an additional 1.7 million Home Support Hours, increased staffing for mental health services and “enhanced” community and primary care services.
Education
The €13.1 billion for the Department of Education next year will provide for 1,717 additional special needs assistants to bring the number in the system to almost 24,900.
He says there will be an increase of 1,042 teacher posts, which includes 860 additional teachers working in special educational needs settings.
There will be additional funding for the implementation of DEIS Plus and a new DEIS Plan for children at risk of educational disadvantage.
He says there will also be an increase in the standard capitation rates paid to schools from €224 to €274 for primary and special schools, and from €386 to €406 for post-primary schools.
Sports
Chambers announces an investment of €3 million to establish League of Ireland football academies next year.
He says the funding would be part of a multi-annual commitment to focus on grassroots and “to nurture our brightest and young talents here and at home”.
He says the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport will get €1.5 billion next year, €10.7 million of which will go towards Sport Ireland.
He also announced €1.6 million for intercounty Gaelic games players and funding to the Irish Rugby Football Union.
Chambers says Uisce Éireann is getting €1.4 billion next year to “continue to build essential capacity to support new housing developments”.
ESB and EirGrid will get €3.5 billion to help “strengthen our energy security and accelerate our transition to renewable energy”.
He says the government will double resources for its Shared Island initiative and that a “new Dublin-Derry airlink is to commence”. This involves a further €1 billion out to 2035.
He says next year will see progress on the Narrow Water Bridge and Ulster Canal restoration projects, and further programmes on tourism, bioeconomy and research.
“This Government is committed to supporting vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland where people can live, work and connect.”
Basic income for artists
Chambers confirms a successor scheme to the piloted basic income for artists, which will be introduced next year.
A further €84.9 million for arts and culture is also being allocated for next year.
Some €433 million is being given to complete the national broadband plan, while €357 million is being allocated for broadcasting – including €65.4 million for TG4.
Chambers says the TG4 funding includes “a €5.4 million increase to ensure high-quality Irish language content, children’s programming and expanded news service”.
Justice and Defence
Chambers says the Department of Justice Budget allocation will allow for the “recruitment of up to 1,000 trainee gardaí” next year, along with 200 civilian staff, additional reserves and 19 million euro for extra overtime.
He says work will also continue “to free up Garda members to spend less time on administration and more time on the front line and in our communities”.
He says domestic and gender-based violence initiatives will get €11.5 million in additional funding.
There will also be further investment in processing international protection applications, as well as funding for accommodation costs, he says.
Meanwhile, the Defence Forces are set to get a new uniform.
Chambers says the 11% increase in the Defence budget will also lead to“enhanced recruitment” and training and healthcare supports.
This will provide for a “net increase” of 400 Defence Force Members, 50 new civilian jobs as well as 70 civil servants to work in “critically important areas such as cyber security”, he says.
Infrastructure projects, including military radar and the rollout of a “new general service body armour system”, will also be progressed, he says.
Agriculture
Chambers says funding for bovine TB eradication is being doubled to €85 million.
Some €20 million is also being allocated to the national sheep welfare scheme, with a further €20 million for the ACRES biodiversity scheme, reaching €280 million next year.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and The Marine will also allocate €35 million to the World Food Programme, Chambers confirms.
Wrapping up, Chambers says Ireland had shown its ability to “adapt and thrive” in the past 100 years.
“For all the challenges we have faced, we have persevered, we have always found a way,” he says, adding that Budget 2026 will mark a move towards “a fairer, better and more resilient future”.
“We know what our challenges are and we must now grasp the opportunity to overcome them. This is the right path for our country and our people.”
From Political Editor Christina Finn in the Dáil gallery:
A bit more energy now as Pearse Doherty rounds on government.
He tells Harris that during the election the Fine Gael leader told anyone with a camera that the cost-of-living crisis would be the number one priority.
But he says the coalition have left families hammered. Harris says ‘you’re wrong’.
When Doherty says the government is trying to convince students ‘up is down’, one backbencher shouts ‘how much are student fees in Northern Ireland?’.
The opposition parties now get to respond to what they’ve heard – and first up is Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty.
The Donegal TD begins with a tribute to those killed in Creeslough three years ago today.
Turning his attention to the Budget, he says self praise is no praise at all, “and that is what just echoed loudly right across these benches of the Dáil”.
“Ordinary people, where are they? They are left in the cold,” he says.
He says the government’s big message here “is that you’re on your own”.
“This is a Budget written by Fine Gael. A Budget that abandons workers and families to look after those at the top. No help with the cost-of-living crisis, no action to end the rip off, no break on taxes. A blueprint for the continuation of the never-ending crisis in our housing and health, and election promises? One after the other, torn up and thrown in the bin.”
He says the first impact of the Budget will be that petrol and diesel will go up tonight.
“It is one of the worst government decisions that we’ve had. I’m shocked at what’s in this Budget,” he says, adding that it gives workers “nothing”.
From Political Editor Christina Finn in the Dáil gallery:
Micheál Martin is clearly uncomfortable as Pearse Doherty talks about child poverty.
Martin and Simon Harris shake their heads. Harris asks if Doherty has read the budget – holding up the childcare section to say more places are being delivered.
But Doherty points out that the pre-election promise was childcare costs cuts to €200. Which has not materialised.
“You’ve been in government about 16 years and you’ve made a balls of it,” Doherty tells Harris.
Concluding his remarks, Pearse Doherty says: “I’ve never seen election promises abandoned so fast and so completely.”
He says the government has made a conscious decision to prioritise “the well off, the landlords, the developers, the investors, at the expense of ordinary workers”.
You have really shown your true colours.
“You have taken a calculated risk. You hope that people will forget this by the time the next election comes around. But I fear, folks, that people are going to remember this one because you have shafted them royally.”
Here’s that exchange between Pearse Doherty and Simon Harris across the floor of the Dáil a little earlier on:
Mairéad Farrell is now on her feet. She begins by saying that the very first actions of this government “told us exactly who you sought to represent in this new Dáil term, and that was yourselves”.
This is, of course, a reference to the speaking rights row.
She describes the €9.4 billion Budget package as a “rip off”.
“There’s nothing in this budget for working people and families. It ends energy credit supports, increases income taxes in real terms and hikes student fees,” Farrell says.
You are increasing costs on workers and families while refusing to provide the supports they need, but continuing to waste their tax monies.
On housing, Farrell says having a home of your own “should not be a luxury. It should be a fundamental human right”.
She says the country desperately needs a balanced housing system with an adequate number of social and affordable homes alongside a private rental sector and home ownership within reach of working people.
“You should be building public homes enough to meet the need for social and affordable housing. You should be freezing rents for three years alongside increasing renters tax relief, and you should activate the small and medium-sized builder developer sector to deliver more quality homes for working people to buy at moderated prizes. That is what a sound economy is built on.”
Farrell says homelessness is at “shocking levels”.
“There are 5,000 children in homelessness, and neither one of you mentioned homelessness in your speeches today. That is outrageous,” she tells Donohoe and Chambers.
She says the homelessness crisis is “the result of having a weak, broken housing system that fails to meet the basic needs and fundamental human rights of our people”.
“It should not be seen as inevitable. It should not be something that we become desensitised to. It is not good enough that more children will be in emergency accommodation this Christmas.”
Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty responding to the Budget in the Dáil:
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) October 7, 2025
"I have never seen election promises abandoned so fast and so completely"
Labour TD Ged Nash is taking aim at the government over childcare, saying it hasn’t lived up to promises it made during last year’s election.
He hits back against what he sees as insufficient social welfare measures in the budget also, saying: “I remember when Fianna Fáil used to care about the social protection system.”
“We heard from two ministers earlier today, and neither of them mentioned homelessness,” Nash observes.
“This budget contains little or nothing that would radically increase housing supply,” he continues.
There’s been months of talk about whether the Budget would cut the VAT rate for hospitality. We now know that it will from next July, both for local restaurants and international chains like McDonalds or Starbucks.
Opposition parties aren’t happy to see multinational chains included in the reduction.
The number of members in the Dáil has significantly thinned out compared with the full house for the Budget speeches earlier.
Opposition members are still reacting to the new Budget.
Looking at climate action funding, Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan says that with some ambition, Ireland could both secure its own energy supply and become an exporter of clean energy.
However, he says: “Once again, the Budget is totally devoid of ambition in this area.”
In his address to the Dáil this afternoon, Chambers said there would be a net increase of 400 army, navy and Air Corps personnel under the Budget.
However, the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) has warned that such an increase in military personnel levels will be a “major challenge”.
One defence source said a net increase of 400 personnel would require more than 1,000 recruits in the next 12 months, The Journal news correspondent Niall O’Connor reports.
Minister for Children Norma Foley is taking questions now from media at a post-Budget press conference.
Minister for Children Norma Foley acknowledges that childcare costs are still too high for many parents, and says that this budget will see a maximum fee cap in place for next Sept. No mention of the election promise of capping childcare costs at €200 per month. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/YtsgLgK274
— Eimer McAuley (@eimer_mcauley) October 7, 2025
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary has defended the government’s decision to go for a leaner Budget this year but conceded that he didn’t get his entire ‘wish list’ for his department.
Weekly social welfare payments will increase by €10 next year under Budget 2026 - not by €12 to core payments as Calleary had hoped.
“I had a very big wish list going into these talks. What we decided was to target payments,” the Fianna Fáil TD said.
“The negotiation to get the €10 was tough but we had a very construction negotiation at all times. So I was happy to be able to get those targeted payments – Child Support, Working Family, Fuel Allowance – while getting that €10 increase.”
Ruth Coppinger is up now in the Dáil, and she – like all the Opposition TDs we’ve heard from – is less than impressed by the Budget.
She ends with a call for free childcare: “We need investment into a public childcare scheme. It should be free like primary and secondary education is.”
“There was an expectation that this budget would contain a clear ring-fenced fund so we can protect our habitats while guaranteeing farmers a source of income,” says Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman, decrying that such a fund did not materialise.
Independent TD Catherine Connolly is speaking now. Connolly, of course, has had quite a lot on her plate aside from the business of the Dáil over the last few weeks as she campaigns for the presidency.
On climate and biodiversity, Connolly tells the Dáil: “I searched in vain for the two speeches to see was there any recognition of the emergencies we’ve declared.”
She condemns also the lack of recognition of homelessness in the Budget speeches and accuses the government of “twisting words” in terms of what it considers to mean that someone is ‘adequately housed’. She says there is an “utter failure” to recognise that there is a housing crisis in Gaeltacht areas.
Connolly also cites the number of people providing care services without receiving any compensation for their work, expressing her dissatisfaction that it wasn’t a priority in the Budget, and criticises that it contains no commitment to publicly funded childcare.
Our politics editor Christina Finn has been speaking to Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe this evening. She asked him about the derelict property tax announcement, which came as a surprise today.
Essentially, a previous tax on derelict sites will now be collected by Revenue instead of by local authorities. Is the change a message that local authorities have dropped the ball in relation to derelict properties?
Here’s what he said:
Christina was also speaking to Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, whom she asked about spending on childcare.
It’s been one of the most talked about issues today; lack of childcare places and high prices are a major concern for parents, and Opposition members have criticised the Budget for not going far enough, they say, to addressing the strain the problem puts on families.
A lesser-discussed point of the Budget: there are plans to re-establish flights between Dublin and Derry for the first time in 15 years.
The government previously funded a daily flight between Dublin Airport and City of Derry Airport but it was withdrawn in 2011.
Resources under the Shred Island initiative are now being put in to re-establishing the air route.
It’s a plus for connectivity, but it does raise questions from a climate action point of view; more flights means more greenhouse gas emissions.
If you’ve been following the various Budget developments throughout the day, you might have noticed that politicians have made repeated references to… McDonald’s.
Eh, why?
It’s to do with the cut in the VAT rate for restaurants, which will include large chains like Ronald McDonald’s. We have the story for you on The Journal.
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