2017 Irish budget
Summary
- Social welfare payments and the State pension are to increase by €5 per week commencing from the start of March.
- 50 cent added to the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes. The excise on alcohol and fuel is being left unchanged.
- Three USC brackets will be reduced by half a percent.
- A tax rebate of up to €20,000 in a new help-to-buy scheme for first-time buyers. This goes toward a deposit for a new home.
- The rent-a-room relief is to be increased. With a higher tax ceiling of €14,000 (from €12,000), the government hopes to encourage homeowners to rent out a vacant room.
- The Home Renovation Incentive Scheme is being extended by two years to the end of 2018 to help those not buying new homes.
- The home carers’ credit is to increase by €100 to bring it up to €1,100.
- The Government is reducing the €25 cap on prescription charges for over-70s to €20 from 1 March.
- Social welfare recipients will be entitled to a Christmas bonus equal to 85 per cent of their weekly payment (up from 75 per cent in 2015).
- 800 new gardaí to be recruited in 2017.
- Funding for the Department of Defence is to increase by €16 million.
- €1.2bn in funding for housing, with 47,000 new social housing units by 2021.
- Medical card for all children who receive domiciliary care allowance.
- Intention to introduce tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in April 2018 after public consultation.