The Celt Budget 2019 update

Mattie McGrath's cries of “where's granny?” may be the only surprise of a budget that was flagged in advance of Minister Pascal Donohoe's delivery to the Dáil this afternoon.

Housing, Health and Brexit support for agriculture all see financial commitment from the Finance Department. Tax relief for granny flats did not make an appearance.

The headlines include:

 

Housing

Under the heading of Housing the minister committed Government allocation of a total of €2.3bn to the housing programme for 2019. €1.25bn allocated for the delivery of 10,000 new social homes through a combination of construction, acquisition and leasing. There will be an extra €121m for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) for 16,760 new tenancies.

 

Social Welfare

For people in receipt of Social Welfare payments and allowances there will be an addition to a €5 per week increase in all weekly social welfare payments from next March, the Christmas bonus payment will be fully restored to all social welfare recipients this year.

 

Agriculture

Agriculture and farming will see a spend of €60m for Brexit related support to improve resilience in the farm sector.

 

Health

For Health there will be an increase of €1.05bn in funding for 2019 bringing the health budget to €17bn. Highlights include a €25 increase in the weekly income threshold for GP Visit cards and a 50ct reduction in prescription charges from €2.00 to €1.50 for all medical card holders over the age of 70.

 

Corporation Tax

The Corporation Tax rate remains unchanged at 12.5%.

 

 

Cigarette hike

Excise duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes will rise by 50 cents, bringing the cost of a packet of cigarettes to €12.70.

 

Education

There will be €10.8bn for the Department of Education and Skills, an increase of 6.7%, to allow for almost 1,300 additional posts in schools in 2019. As expected the Tourism and services sector rate of VAT will increase from 9% to 13.5% from January 2019.

 

Publications

The 2019 Budget will retaining the 9% rate for newspaper publications and reduction in the rate for electronic publications from 23% to 9%.

 

Climate change

Climate change additional related measures include €103.5m for improvements in grant and premium rates for planting forests.