Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has delivered the 2019 Budget. Image: https://www.irishexaminer.comA total of €66.5 Billion will be spent in 2019.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has today announced a budget totaling spending of €66.5bn for 2019.
Of that, €59.3bn will be on current expenditure and €7.3bn on Capital spending.
He said Ireland will run a balanced budget in 2019 and committed to running surpluses in the year's ahead if revenues allow.
1. Housing
There was a major emphasis on housing in the 2019 budget and €2.3 Billion has been allocated to the sector.
When introducing the topic, Minister Donohoe stated the Government was determined to 'rise to the challenge to provide shelter and homes for our people.'
''Where we find ourselves is not where we want to be,'' he said.
''There's much work to be done to find shelter for homeless people. And improve affordability for those pulling in low to middle incomes.''
They intend to do this via a 26 per cent increase on the amount spent on homelessness services in 2019 as compared to 2018.
Here is a summary of housing measures introduced today in #Budget19https://t.co/5het3M1Nnr pic.twitter.com/Qjwyei6w2i
— Peter McVerry Trust (@PMVTrust) October 9, 2018
A further €60 million extra in capital funding will be provided to fund emergency accommodation.
While €30 million is being provided next year for homelessness services, bringing the total supports to €146 million in 2019.
Other highlights include:
- €1.4 Billion in capital funding allocated for the building of new social and affordable homes in 2019.
- 16,760 additional homes will be accommodated under the Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) at a cost of €121 million.
- Day-to-day spending on social housing is to increase by €40 million with the aim of delivering almost 5,000 new homes in 2019.
- An additional €210 million has been announced for local authorities to build and acquire new homes for social housing.
2. Healthcare
While spending on health is already at record levels, the overall health budget is to increase by €1.05billion to €17.02bn next year.
Meaning Two and a quarter billion euro will have been spent on healthcare in last two years.
Minister Donohoe confirmed the allocation of an additional €700 million to the health service, bringing the total additional 2018 investment to €1.2 billion.
The Government is to also provide an additional €84 milion for mental health services in 2019, bringing the total available funding for mental health to €1 billion. Minister Donohoe said this is an increase of 9%.
Meanwhile the cost of cigarettes is going up.
A pack of 20 will increase by 50 cent, with a pro-rate increase on other tobacco products.
An increase of 50 cents on the average pack of cigarettes to €12.70.
3. Social welfare
In terms of spending, Social Protection is by far the largest spending department and will receive a total of €20.5bn for 2019.
As widely reported, an extra two weeks paid parental leave will be given to new parents from November 2019, with in the first year of that child's life.
The minster said this was intended to be increased to seven-weeks over time.
Budget 2019: The government has been giving details on social welfare payments. Follow the latest details and reaction here #Budget19 https://t.co/tBZE2ETwdy pic.twitter.com/qfVAdg76nF
— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) October 9, 2018
He has increased the weekly rates of welfare benefits for 1.47 million people at a cost of €268.7 million.
Along with the weekly rate of the qualified child increase for children under 12 by €2.20 per week to €34.
For children over 12, it's gone up from €5.20 a week to €37.
While single parents will see their allowance increase by €20 a week from €130 a week to €150 a week.
4.Education
A total of €10.8 billion will be spent on the department of education and skills, a 6.7 per cent increase from 2018.
This will allow for 1,300 additional jobs in schools in 2019.
While €1.8 billion will be given to support special needs children.
Other things that were announced in Budget 2019 for Education include:
- Capitation grants for schools up 5pc from September 2019.
- The School Excellence Fund will increase by 25pc to over €2.5 million.
- €50 million in 2019 to facilitate the further roll-out of the investment programme to upgrade ICT infrastructure in all schools.
- A 0.1pc increase in National Training Fund levy in 2019 and 2020.
- €300m ring-fenced Human Capital Initiative from within the National Training Fund over 2020-24 to as response to Brexit.
- Additional €196m for capital spending in 2019 to support creation of up to 18,000 permanent school places and 5,000 replacement places.
5. Public transport
An additional €1.26 billion in capital will be provided to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Including funding for these projects:
- The N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin and the Dunkettle Interchange.
- Completion of the runway overlay project at Knock Airport
- Design, planning and implementation of cycling and walking projects around the country.
€40 million will also be provided to maintain and renew existing infrastructure – namely repair and rehabilitation works on regional and local roads.
6. Climate change
Donohoe says there will be a “step change” in funding commitments for climate action.
“One in every €5 in Exchequer investment in the Plan will be devoted to addressing climate change,” he says.
The government is investing €164 million in targeted measures to achieve Ireland’s objectives in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
He says a 1% surcharge for diesel vehicles will apply across all VRT bands.
Measures in future will incorporate climate measures into the “budgetary process,” he says.
However, in a deeply controversial move, no carbon tax initiatives will be included in budget 2019.
This is despite urgent calls from scientists in recent days that drastic action is needed within the next 12-years to stop the irreversible effects of global warming.
A day after the UN says the world has 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, @FineGael have a budget that effectively ignores climate change exists! For them it's something for another day and for now it's business as usual. #Budget19 pic.twitter.com/6aehNKTk64
— Green Party Ireland (@greenparty_ie) October 9, 2018
7. Agriculture
The Government is to provide €60m to the help prepare farmers for Brexit.
Minister Donohoe said the agriculture faced specific threats from Brexit and extra funding will be allocated to help "improve resilience" in this area.
"As well as making provision for the initial staffing and ICT needs in relation to the regulatory requirements of Brexit, agencies will be allocated additional resources to promote new markers and retain competitiveness," said Mr Donohoe.
