On 9th July, Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers TD, and Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, published the Government’s Summer Economic Statement 2024. This document sets out the Government's budgetary strategy and outlines the fiscal parameters within which discussions will take place ahead of Budget 2025.
Key takeaways from the statement include:
- Budget 2025 will deliver an overall package of €8.3 billion and will be presented to Dáil Éireann on 1 October 2024
- Additional public spending will amount to €6.9 billion and taxation measures will amount to €1.4 billion
- Public spending will increase by 6.9% in 2025
- €90.9 billion is being provided for current expenditure; an increase of 6.4% on 2024 and €14.5 billion for capital expenditure to deliver the NDP; an increase of 10.6%
- An additional €1.5 billion in funding for the health service will be provided this year
- A taxation package that will help shield workers from higher taxation arising from wage inflation
The Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform said:
“Today’s publication of the Summer Economic Statement demonstrates this Government’s ongoing commitment to providing for high quality public services and better societal outcomes in a manner consistent with a fiscally sustainable expenditure strategy.”
“The budgetary approach taken in recent years has ensured that we could continue to build on and improve day to day public services and key infrastructure requirements whilst also responding to external shocks, such as the global pandemic and the spike in inflation, in order to minimise the fall-out for households and businesses. This response successfully balanced the need to address continuing expenditure priorities against the risk of adding to inflationary pressures.”
“Budget 2025 is being framed in the context of this continued need to further improve public services and infrastructure so that we can support a growing population and growth in our economy.”
To read the Summer Economic Statement 2024 in full, please see here.