Budget 2023 | Business Post

Government will need €3bn budget bailouts for departments this year

Additional funding is needed for health overspend, the Ukrainian refugee crisis and cost of living measures

HSE to ask for increased funding as spending exceeds record budget allocation by €700m

Health service chief says there is ‘no question’ about HSE requiring ‘substantial’ bailout

Government to be warned against ‘repeating mistakes’ of Budget 2023

Social Justice Ireland will call on the government to implement targeted measures over once-off supports and increase social welfare payments by €25

Shane Coleman: Ministers must decide between saving the economy and winning the election

Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath are walking a tightrope between keeping their parliamentary parties happy and warnings over a budget splurge that could further fuel inflation

Climate & Environment

Record carbon tax haul of €807m in 2022 after Budget hike

Government has ring-fenced the additional revenue to pay for increases in the fuel allowance for households, the national retrofitting grants and agri-environmental schemes for farmers.

Brian Keegan: Tax and support policy must also urgently accommodate property sector

Last week’s budget correction in the Finance Bill means that trades, manufacturing and services are now treated equally in terms of tax and supports, but landlords and tenants need more

Budget tax changes: devil will be in the details of Finance Bill

If a reduction in the overall capital gains rate is not possible then consideration should be given to a reduction in the rate applicable for gains arising on the disposal of investments in SMEs

Editor’s picks: Sit down with the best of our big reads

Our editors handpick the best writing in this week’s Business Post – including an in-depth look at the tracker mortgage scandal, and the investment fund that bought a Swords three-bed for €1.7m

Behind the scenes of Budget 2023 with the ministers who shaped it

Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath detail the ‘intense discussions’ and midnight calls in the run up to this year’s budget as they worked to deal with the cost of living crisis

Few new services expected from €1.2bn health spend increase

Only €254 million will be spent on new measures, the rest will go to increases in delivering existing services

Donohoe earmarks windfall tax for energy support extension

Finance minister says scheme may run on after end of February, but government is making ‘no commitments longer than six months’ as yet

Tony O’Brien: Donnelly gets rough end of budget stick as grand health plan at a standstill

Cancer programmes and dental health largely overlooked, funding for new medicines reduced and an under-resourced GP system all point to a budget that suits an economic rather than a health strategy

Levy on blocks will delay social homes, says housing charity

Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland estimates that the levy will add up to €4,000 to the cost of a regular semi-detached home

Property Sector Analysis

Cost inflation and permission timelines are largest barriers to housing, sector experts say

Some 300 industry experts were surveyed at the Housing Convention 2022 to discuss what the sector requires to meet building targets. This is how they responded

Mediahuis chief: ‘The money we get from the Vat reduction will go into developing new platforms’

Peter Vandermeersch and other industry leaders agree that the government’s decision to reduce the Vat rate on print and digital newspapers to zero will give the sector the financial foothold they need to maintain standards and move to a digital-first future

Matt Cooper: Budget packs a political punch that could change the fortunes of the parties in power

While the government might get a boost in the polls, there’s still so much that can go wrong – mostly arising from circumstances outside its control

O’Leary warns cap on energy prices could ‘bankrupt’ UK economy

The Ryanair chief executive compared the move by Liz Truss’ government to the Irish bank guarantee

Donohoe confident of high compliance with vacant home tax

The Finance Minister says the involvement of Revenue in collecting the charge means those due to pay it will do so

McGrath and Donohoe walk fine line between extravagance and prudence

The requirement for Covid-19 supports to stay in place for the best part of two-years shows the risk in Budget 2023’s provision for most inflation related measures to cease by the end of February

The opposition responds: ‘Uncaring’ budget ‘failed to give people certainty’

Faced with such a widely aimed response to the country’s challenges, Sinn Féin focused its attention on the old reliables of health, housing and the treatment of those on lower and middle-incomes