The Government has taken the wraps off its first budget since being installed at the start of the year. Budget 2026 was a less flashy affair than previous years, with the €9.4 billion package shorn of generous once-offs like double child benefit payments and electricity credits.

So, what does Budget 2026 have for you and your pocket?

Tax package and contingency

• The tax package has been pared back by €200 million to allow for more targeted spending in supports for the most vulnerable – meaning that €1.3 billion, not €1.5 billion, in taxation measures in this budget
• A contingency fund of €1 billion is being set up to respond to spending pressures, and to cover the costs of hosting the EU presidency next year

Personal tax and minimum wage

• No broad-strokes personal tax package
• Minimum wage goes up by 65c to €14.15 per hour
• In order to avoid penalising minimum wage earners, the universal social Charge (USC) 2 per cent rate band rises to €28,700

Welfare

• Jack Chambers said there was a €2 billion increase in spending for the Department of Social Protection – although the department’s budget day materials only refer to a €1.15 billion increase
• There will be a €10 across-the-board increase to core weekly welfare payments including the old-age pension
• A “Christmas bonus” double payment has been confirmed
• Child support payments will increase by €8 for kids under 12 and €16 for those aged 12 and over
• Eligibility for fuel allowance has been extended to those receiving working family payments
• Income thresholds for the working family payment increased by €60
• The income disregard for the carers’ allowance will increase by €375 for a single person up to €1,000 and €750 for a couple, up to €2,000
• Domiciliary Care Allowance increases by €20 to €380 per month
• The Fuel Allowance rate has increased by €5 weekly to €38

Childcare, children and disabilities

• €3.8 billion for disability services
• 250 new residential care placements and day service supports for 1,400 young people finishing school, and 50 places for older adults
• Funding for 6,500 private assessments of need, 150,000 hours of home support, 10,000 overnight and 15,000 day respite sessions
• Early years funding increased by €125 million, funding extra spaces, access and inclusion schemes
• Funding for extensions to community centres and schools to deliver about 2,300 additional childcare places
• The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance has been extended to two- and three-year-olds

Education

• A new Deis+ scheme for schools with the highest levels of education disadvantage
• Overall, there is provision for another 2,600 workers in education
• 1,042 new teacher posts, including 860 new special education teachers
• 1,700 new SNAs
• New Education Therapy Service to roll out therapy supports directly into special schools
• Increases in capitation rates: €50 for primary and special schools, and €20 for post primary schools
• €1.6 billion in capital to fund more than 300 school building projects

Third level and apprenticeships

• Fees for students will come down by €500 on a permanent basis, to €2,500. This will be experienced by many as an increase in real terms, as they have been temporarily lowered to €2,000 in recent years
• Income thresholds for Susi grants will rise by €5,000 to €120,000 per household
• €810 million in capital funding

Housing, mortgage holders and renters

• Total allocation of €11.3 billion for the Department of Housing
• €2 billion for social home building and acquisitions, €1.2 billion for starter homes schemes including the extension of Help to Buy
• €300 million for urban regeneration
• €205 million for a new housing activation infrastructure fund, €140 million for retrofitting social homes and €130 million for adaptation grants for older and disabled people
• Renters’ tax credit extended for three years at its current level of €1,000 for an individual or €2,000 for a couple
• VAT on the sale of new apartments to be reduced from 13.5 per cent to 9 per cent
• Exemptions or reductions in corporation tax on profits from the sale of some apartments, including cost-rental schemes
• Enhanced corporation tax deduction for some costs in apartment developments – and the conversion of non-residential buildings into apartments
• Mortgage interest tax relief extended for two years, but reduced for the final year. People will be able to claim the existing level of €1,250 for 2025, and €625 for 2026
• Landholders will get another chance for an exemption to the residential zoned land tax if they seek to have their land rezoned due to a genuine economic activity being carried out
• A new derelict property tax will be implemented, replacing the derelict site levy. That new tax will not be lower than the current levy, and will be implemented some time in 2027, to be administered by the Revenue Commissioners
• Income tax deduction for small landlords who retrofit their properties to be rolled over for another three years

Energy, infrastructure, climate and utility bills

• Lower VAT of 9 per cent on utility bills will be extended for three years to the end of 2028
• €588 million for SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes – an €89 million increase on last year
• €1.4 billion for Uisce Éireann
• €3.5 billion for ESB and EirGrid
• €1.1 billion for the Department of Climate to fund energy upgrades, retrofit, Just Transition and more projects

Transport

• €4.7 billion for the Department of Transport
• Including spending on Dart+, BusConnects and major road, greenway and active travel projects
• Reduced public transport fares will be maintained for next year
• €5,000 VRT relief for EVs extended to end of 2026
• BIK regime for company cars extended on a tapered basis – worth €10,000 next year, €5,000 in 2027 and €2,500 in 2028. It will be abolished in 2029

Enterprise

• VAT on food businesses, catering and hairdressing will reduce from 13.5 per cent to 9 per cent from July 2026
• This will cost €232 million next year and €681 million in a full year
• Research and development tax credits will be overhauled
• The R&D credit rate will rise from 30 per cent to 35 per cent
• The first year payment threshold rises to €87,500 to support smaller projects
• CGT revisions: entrepreneurial relief reformed with the lifetime limit raised from €1 million to €1.5 million
• The Special Assignee Relief Programme has been extended for five years and increased minimum qualifying income raised to €125,000 per year
• Banking levy extended by another year with a target yield of €200 million
• Total funding for the Department of Enterprise will be €1.3 billion, including more funding for Enteprise Ireland, the IDA and other enterprise offices

Health

• The final allocation for health will be €27.4 billion, an increase of €1.5 billion on 2025
• There is funding for 3,370 new hires across the health sector
• 300 more staff for mental health services
• 100 more clinicians for mental health crisis teams
• At least 280 community beds, 1.7 million more home support hours and 500 more nursing home places
• Increased staffing and expansion of mental health services

Justice

• Up to 1,000 additional gardaí in 2026
• More money for body cameras, prisons victim support, youth diversion and domestic violence programmes
• More spending on resources to speed up immigration processing

The Arts, Sports and Education

• Basic Income for Artists scheme to be retained on a permanent basis, rather than as a pilot scheme
• The section 481 film tax credit will see a new 40 per cent rate of relief for productions with €1 million of spending on relevant visual effects work, up to a maximum of €10 million per production
• The digital games tax credit will be extended for six years until the end of 2031
• €10 million more for sports, including €3 million for the FAI’s academy system, €1.6 million for intercounty GAA and funding to strengthen high performance player development in women’s rugby.
• €5 million for the Post Office Network
• €433 million for the National Broadband Plan – €33 million of this is new funding
• €357 million for broadcasting including €5.4 million increase for TG4

Agriculture

• €85 million for Bovine TB eradication
• €20 million for the ACRES scheme

Foreign Affairs and Defence

• Overseas development aid boosted by €30 million
• Funding for a net increase of 400 new Defence Forces members
• New Defence Forces uniform and a new body armour system
• Upgrade of armoured personnel carriers

Old reliables

• Excise duty goes up by 50 cent on a box of cigarettes with pro-rata increase on other tobacco products