Budget 2022: A Breakdown Of Spending Plans

The government have set out their stall for spending plans in 2022.

The Minister for Finace Paschal Donohoe and his colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath have announced a budget package worth €4.7bn.

That will mean a breakdown in expenditure of €4.2bn, with €500m worth of tax measures.

: Budget 2022 – Broken down :

Welfare

• A €5 weekly increase for all social welfare recipients
• The weekly fuel allowance is to increase by €5 from tonight
• The Christmas bonus will be paid in full for 2021
• The State pension will increase by €5
• An extra €3 will be added to the Living Alone Allowance
• More carers will qualify for payments in the first major reform of the Allowance in over a decade
• The Carers Allowance will also increase by €5
• A COVID-19 contingency fund is being created and includes €500m for testing and tracing, a vaccine booster campaign and PPE
• Employer Wage Subsidy Scheme extended in a graduated form until April 30th 2022
  – No change to the scheme in October and November
  – In December, January and February, a two-rate structure of €151.50 and €203 will apply
  – In March and April 2022 a flat rate of €100 will be in place – reduced employers PRSI to no longer apply
  – Scheme closes to new entrants from January 2022
• The earnings limit on Disability Allowance will rise from €350 to €375

Parents and families

• The Back to School Allowance will go up by €10
• Parents Benefit to increase to seven weeks from July next year
• Plans to freeze childcare fees have been unveiled
• Free GP care will be given to children aged six and seven – with plans to extend it to those up to 12 years
• New funding stream for 4,700 childcare providers from September 2022
• Maternity benefit and parental leave payments will go up by €5 a week
• The pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools will be reduced by one point

Taxes

• The lower tax band of €35,300 will rise by €1,500
• A 2% rise in the personal tax credit
• The ceiling for the second band of USC is rising to €21,295
• The USC exemption for medical card holders and those over-70, earning less than €60,000, stays in place
• Carbon tax will rise by €7.50 per tonne – increasing the price of natural gas, bag of coal and bale of briquettes
• The cost of a full tank of petrol will go up by €1.28 and the diesel will go up by €1.50
• The VRT exemption for Battery Electric Vehicles is to be extended to the end of 2023
• A revised motor tax system from January will see:
  1% increase in VRT for bands 9-12
  2% increase for bands 13-15
  4% increase for bands 16-20
• Reduced VAT rate of 9% for hospitality sector will remain in place until August 2022

Cost of living

• The minimum wage is rising by 30c to €10.50 an hour
• The price of alcohol will be unchanged – 50 cent will be added to the cost of a pack of cigarettes from midnight
• A pilot scheme is being introduced to provide a basic income for artists
• The live events sector is to get €25m in support
• Working from Home Employees can claim back 30% of vouched expenses for heat, electricity and broadband for working from home
•  €25m for a new Youth Travel Card, which will see 50% discount on public transport for those aged 19-23

Health

• Core health spending is to increase by €1bn, to a record €20.38bn
• 8,000 new posts to be created across the health system
• Free contraceptives for women aged 17-25 from next August
• There is a €250m package to shorten waiting lists
• €105m for disability services – the rate of Wage Subsidy Scheme for disabilities will rise by €1 a week
• A package on domestic and sexual violence, including extension of legal aid for victims and funding awareness campaigns

Work

• 1,000 extra nurses are to be recruited
• An extra 800 Gardaí will be hired and 400 civilian staff
• There is will be a 20% increase in the Garda Mountain Bike Unit
• An extra 980 teachers and 1,165 new Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to be taken on
• €6.7m for a Youth Justice Strategy to tackle anti-social behaviour

Housing

• An extra €194m for homeless services
• €202 is to be spent on retrofitting homes, which will support 22,000 energy upgrades
• The Help-To-Buy scheme will be retained for 2022 at current rates with a ‘full review’ next year
• A Zoned Land Tax to encourage the use of land for building homes – this will apply to land zoned suitable but undeveloped
• New mica redress scheme to be announced ‘in coming weeks’