What time is the budget due on our screens?
Irish Examiner saying he will begin his speech @ 1pm.
Mr Donohoe will begin his budget speech at 1pm today and will announce:
- A full return to the 13.5% Vat rate for the hospitality sector;
- The back-to-school allowance will increase by ā¬25 while the qualified child allowance payment will rise by ā¬2.20 a week for under-11s and ā¬3 for over-12s;
- The budget for Housing Assistance Payment will increase by ā¬120, largely to meet growing demand;
- The health budget will increase from ā¬15.2bn to ā¬17.2bn next year;
- An extra 100,000 free GP cards through a ā¬25 increase in the access threshold, ā¬55m for mental health funding, and ā¬75m for the National Treatment Purchase Fund waiting list reform system;
- A review of the local property tax which will be limited to vulnerable and older people, a situation that means the squeezed middle will lose out on any reforms;
- An increase in homelessness funding;
- A ā¬25 increase of the back to school allowance;
- A ā¬2.20 a week rise of the qualified child allowance for those under the age of 11 and a ā¬3 rise for those over the age of 12;
- A 20c increase of the minimum wage, to ā¬9.80;
- And a ālooseningā of means test subsidised support rules for families with children aged between three and 15 in need of financial help, a move that will cost ā¬90m and will take up most of the ā¬130m departmentās budget rise.
An 11th-hour backlash from Fine Gael backbenchers forced Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to abandon planned hikes in excise on diesel and alcohol.
Christmas bonus for civil servants
Ah yeah, letās just throw more money at health.
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Any sip of water yet?
I havenāt seen any yet.
Is this a thing ?
Paschal very proud of the fact that heās fucking even more money at the black hole that is the health service. 5th in the EU in terms of spending he says. What about results though?
Category A CAT threshold up by a whopping 10kā¦
3 years ago ā¦ Comrade Doherty nailed itā¦
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We need that version of Pearse Doherty back pronto, mo chara. He looks jaded and/or disillusioned over the past while. To use TFK terminology, is he phoning it in these days? Iām not happy with the party, mate. Michelle OāNeill isnāt impressing me and Mary Lou hasnāt really done much since taking over from Gerry. It seems that the leadership isā¦wait for itā¦lightweight.
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Heās certainly been much quieter in recent years it seems to me.
4 young kids, talk of a few marriage problems last year ā¦ But I heard him speak in Cork a couple of weeks ago and he was top notch - real fire in the belly stuff.
I think we are spreading our self a bit thin alright ā there was absolutely no reason to contest the presidential campaign - waste of time and resources. We should really be all guns blazing on housing/ health and on Brexit and that dirty tramp Fosterā¦ iām equally unimpressed with OāNeill ā we should be plying the pressure on the DUP big time and angling to get back into Stormont but all iām hearing is white noise.
I will be raising these questions/ issues at our next marching drill tho and I hope to have some answers for you then.
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Big mouth Pearse ran for the hills when a gubberment needed to be formed in 2016 and hasnt been heard or seen since.
maybe SFIRAs finance spokesperson went back to letterkenny rtc to complete his diploma in civil engineering that he didnt get around to finishing first time out
If only you had a forum like a national parliament to raise the issue of Brexit.
The Dail?
SF were always anti EC/EEC and EU . They opposed entry in 1972 and opposed every treaty since . At which Ard Fheis did their policy change ?
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