The Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers, today (Tuesday, July 9) confirmed that Budget 2025 will deliver €1.4 billion in tax cuts and also earmark €6.9 billion for “additional public spending”.
The pre-general election budget, which will be unveiled on October, 1 this year in the Dáil, will according to Minister Chambers and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, deliver an overall package of €8.3 billion.
The Government today published the Summer Economic Statement, agreed at Cabinet this morning, which sets out its spending priorities.
The statement sets out that latest data suggests that “the worst of the energy price shock has passed, and headline inflation is back at rates consistent with price stability”.
It also details that Budget 2025 will be the Government’s “fifth, and final, financial statement” and that it “will be framed against a backdrop of a supply-constrained domestic economy and an international economy undergoing major structural change”.
Budget 2025
According to Minister Chambers, while the economy is in reasonably good shape at present, the “external outlook remains highly uncertain”.
“There remains the continuing need to improve public services and infrastructure, particularly in the context of a growing population and economy.
“The Government has adapted its fiscal strategy to take account of this, to support the continued delivery of better healthcare services as well as accommodate higher capital spending,” the minister added.
Meanwhile the Minister for Public Expenditure also detailed that the Summer Economic Statement sets out an overall expenditure package for Budget 2025 of €105.4 billion.
Minister Donohoe said that a key element of this package is an “agreement in relation to the level of health funding for 2025”.
“Following significant engagement, I and my officials, have reached an agreement with the Department of Health and the HSE which will provide for an additional €1.5 billion for the Health sector in 2024.
“In addition, I have also agreed that a further €1.2 billion will be allocated in 2025 for existing level of service costs,” the minister added.