Budget 2026 live: Renters tax credits extended to end of 2028, minimum wage rises

Ellen O'Donoghue

Summary

• A reduced 9 per cent VAT rate for hospitality has been confirmed
• The budget package consists of €8.1 billion in public spending and a €1.3 billion taxation measure
• The minimum wage will rise by 65c an hour to €14.15 per hour
• The renters tax credit is being extended to the end of 2028
• Hospitality receive reduced VAT rate from July 1st
• Pack of cigarettes to increase by 50c
• Child support payments to increase, but no increase to child benefit

2.50pm

Motorists are facing a rise of just over 2c per litre at the fuel pumps on the back of the increase in carbon tax charges, but motorists will be relieved that many reliefs for low emissions or electric vehicles were extended.

The increase in the rate per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted for all propellant fuels from €63.50 to €71 will see the cost of filling a 60-litre tank rise €1.28 for petrol and €1.48 for diesel.

Click here to read more on what impacts motorists in the budget.

2.40pm

Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin's Finance Spokesperson, described the budget as an "empty, hollow, dead end" for working people in Ireland.

He said it should have been a cost-of-living budget, as that is the biggest issue affecting people in the state.

He called the government "out of touch", asking what's happened, because "during the general election you told everybody that the cost of living issue" is their number one priority.

He said the Finance and Public Expenditure Ministers' speeches were "dripping with arrogance" and offered nothing for the ordinary households.

"Ordinary workers get nothing," he said.

Doherty called it a "nothing budget" which is very different from what the coalition promised during last year's election.

2.33pm

TG4 has been allocated a total of €65.4 million for 2026, an increase of €5.4 million from Budget 2025, but only slightly more than half of the €10 million uplift it requested in its pre-budget submission.

The Government will also double resources for its “Shared Island initiative”, Chambers said, as he announced the commencement of a new Dublin-Derry airlink.

Chambers said 2026 will see progress on the Narrow Water Bridge and Ulster Canal restoration projects, and further programmes on tourism, bio-economy and research.

2.32pm

Chambers commended his budget to the house and he is done.

Pearse Doherty of Sinn Féin is first to react to the budget and began by mentioning the Creeslough tragedy, which occurred in Donegal three years ago today where 10 people died in an explosion at a petrol station.

2.31pm

Over €3.8 billion is being allocated to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality next year for disability services.

Jack Chambers said this would include funding for Community-Based Specialist Disability Services to ensure people with disabilities receive “the right support at the right time in the right place”.

He said families waiting for assessments “will see progress” as around 6,500 private assessments would be funded to reduce delays.

He said this would fund 9,000 residential care placements, including 250 new ones next year, as well as 1,400 day services places for young people finishing school.

2.30pm

Chambers has announced funding for up to 1,000 trainee gardai in 2026, an additional 200 civilian gardaí, and a €19 million increase in the garda overtime budget.

He announced €39 million for the Irish Prison Service to respond to demand trends, €11 million for the courts service and a net increase of 400 Defence Force members, 50 new civilian posts and recruitment of critical civil servants, including in the area of cyber security and funding for a new Defence Forces uniform.

The Defence forces will also receive money for a military radar programme, new body armour, armoured personnel carriers and general modernisation.

Within the Department of Justice’s allocation, domestic and gender-based violence initiatives will get €11.5 million in additional funding.

Mr Chambers said there will be further investment in processing international protection applications, as well as funding for accommodation costs.

2.25pm

Uisce Éireann is to be given €1.4 billion next year to “continue to build essential capacity to support new housing developments”.

Jack Chambers said it would also help progress the development of wastewater treatment plants.

ESB and EirGrid are to get €3.5 billion next year to help “strengthen our energy security and accelerate our transition to renewable energy”.

More than €500 million in carbon tax revenue is to be used for residential and community energy upgrade schemes, and there will be investment in retrofitting public buildings.

2.21pm

Chambers just announced the establishment of a national artificial intelligence office to provide a focal point for AI development.

For farmers, he announced €85 million in additional funding to tackle bovine TB, €20 million for the ACRES scheme, and €20 million for the continuation of the national sheep welfare scheme.

There will be a budget increase of €10.7 million for Sport Ireland. €3 million of that will support the establishment of League of Ireland football academies.

The pilot basic income scheme for artists is to be made permanent.

A further €433 million is being given to complete the national broadband plan, he said, and €357 million for broadcasting, which includes €65.4 million for TG4.

2.15pm

An extra 35,000 children are set to benefit from the National Childcare Scheme, and measures to improve Year 5 of pay for educators and school-age children practitioners have been announced alongside 2,300 extra childcare places through the Building Blocks programme.

Chambers has announced 1,717 additional SNAs in 2026, 1,042 extra teaching posts, including 860 additional special needs teachers, money to implement the DEIS+ plan and an increase in the capitation rates paid to schools by €50 at primary and special and €20 for post-primary.

A permanent reduction of €500 in student fees has also been announced.

Chambers also announced the creation of 1,100 new places for studying key health and social care professions and money for two new veterinary medicine colleges to almost double the number of vet graduates.

2.10pm

There will be an extra €600 million for the disability budget, an increase in 220 acute hospital beds and expansion of diagnostic services, 280 community beds, an extra 1.7 million home support hours, 500 more nursing home places and increased staffing of mental health services.

2.07pm

Fuel allowance will increase by €5 weekly to €38, and eligibility will be extended to all recipients of the working family payment.

The Department of Housing is getting €11.3 billion.

€2.9 billion will be earmarked for new-build social homes and the acquisition of second-hand housing, while €2 billion will go towards social support programmes, including the Housing Assistance payment, Rental Accommodation and Social Housing Current Expenditure Schemes.

2.05pm

Chambers also announced an increase to the carer's allowance income disregard to €1000 for a single person or €2000 for a couple.

The Domiciliary Care Allowance will go up by €20 to €380 per month.

Child support payments are to increase by €8 per week for under-12s and €16 per week for over-12s, while the working family payment is also rising by €60 per week.

The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance is being extended to two- and three-year-olds.

2pm

The social welfare Christmas Bonus for 1.5 million people will be paid at a double rate of the normal payment.

There will also be a €10 per week increase in the social welfare payment for 1.5 million people.

1.56pm

Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers has announced a €1 billion contingency fund to be available in 2026 for any unexpected expenditure costs or unforeseen spending.

Chambers announced the allocation of €116.8 billion in 2026, an €8.1 billion increase on this year, with €6.1 billion more allocated as current expenditure, with capital projects increasing by €2 billion.

There will be an additional €2 billion for Social Protection, €1.5 billion for health and €1.2 billion for public service pay agreement adjustments.

He also just announced 12,500 additional public sector staff, including 3,370 in health, 2,600 in education, and 1,000 gardaí.

1.52pm

Conor Pope of The Irish Times has just pointed out that uncertainty was addressed on four separate occasions by the Minister for Finance, while he referred to the challenges the country is facing 10 times during his speech. 

1.44pm

That's Donohoe's speech done. He said that overall the country's public finances are in good shape, and employment is at a "historically high level," but added that "we must build more homes, we must help those who need our help in a more targeted way."

He told the Dáil that "any budget that attempts to do everything in a single go weakens our ability to be safe in a turbulent world".

He commended the budget to the house. 

Jack Chambers is up next.

1.41pm

The €5,000 VRT relief on electric vehicles has been extended to the end of December 2026.

The benefit in kind on electric company cars will be €10,000 in 2026, €5000 in 2027, €2,500 in 2028 and scrapped in 2029.

The €400 income disregard for income from household microgeneration selling to the grid has been extended to the end of 2028.

A packet of 20 cigarettes will increase in price by 50c, with a pro rata increase on other tobacco products.

1.40pm

Carbon tax will rise to €71 per tonne of CO2 emitted from tomorrow for auto fuels and other fuels from May 1st 2026.

Additional revenue from this increase is expected to be €121 million in 2026 and will be ringfenced for climate projects.

1.35pm

The 481 film tax credit will be enhanced to provide a 40 per cent rate for productions with a minimum spend of €1 million on relevant visual effects work. But there will be a cap of €10 million per production.

The Digital Games Tax Credit has been extended to December 31st 2031 and to cover post-release content work.

An increase in the gains someone can have under the entrepreneur relief from €1 million to €1.5 million has also just been announced.

"All of these measures will contribute to the creation and retention of jobs," Donohoe has said.

Donohoe has also announced a reduction to the tax rate to Irish and equivalent offshore funds and foreign life assurance products from 41 per cent to 38 per cent.

The Bank Levy has been extended by a year with a target yield of 200 million.

The farm consolidation relief, farm restructuring relief, and young trained farmer reliefs are being extended until the end of 2029.

1.30pm

The VAT rate for the food and catering businesses, and hairdressing services, is to be reduced to 9 per cent from July 1st 2026.

This measure will cost €232 million in its first year and €681 million in a full year.

The Research and Development tax credit will increase from 30 per cent to 35 per cent, and increasing the first year threshold from €75,000 to €87,500.

Paschal Donohoe is also announcing an action plan to reform Ireland's tax regime for interest.

1.26pm

The renters tax credit is being extended to the end of 2028, while mortgage interest relief will extend for a further two years, with a reduced rate in the final year.

Further, a 9% VAT rate cut on gas and energy has been extended to the end of December 2030.

1.25pm

Paschal Donohoe has committed to making progressive changes on income tax, but not in this budget.

The ceiling for the 2 per cent band of USC will increase by €1,318 to €28,700 to take account of the increased minimum wage.

The minimum wage will rise by 65c an hour to €14.15 per hour.

1.22pm

There will be a three-year extension for the income tax deduction for small landlords who retrofit a property, and the residential stamp duty refund scheme is being extended until the end of 2030 with some enhancements.

1.20pm

The Living City initiative is being extended until 2030, and the scope is being increased to include those built before 1915 and before 1975 and giving relief to support the use of over-the-shop spaces for residential departments.

Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo are being added to the scheme.

A new derelict property tax will be created to replace the derelict sites levy - it will be charged at a rate of no less than 7 per cent.

1.16pm

The Department of Housing is to receive €5 billion next year, including an extra €200 million for Home Building Finance Ireland.

The VAT rate on the sale of completed apartments will drop to 9 per cent from 13 per cent from midnight tonight until the end of December 2030.

There will be a further exemption in 2026 for the Residential Zoned Land Tax for those seeking to have land rezoned for genuine economic activity.

The profits arising from homes that fall under Cost Rental Schemes are to be exempted from corporation tax for developments on or after October 8th.

There will be an enhanced corporation tax deduction for certain costs incurred during the building of apartments of the conversion of non-residential buildings to apartments for those that have a commencement notice issued after tomorrow

1.11pm

The budget package is €9.4 billion, consisting of €8.1 billion for public spending and €1.3 billion for taxation measures, with a reduction of €150 million to facilitate more spending in targeted supports "for the most vulnerable".

1.08pm

Donohoe has just said this is "a sensible budget that will safeguard our future," and said it "protects jobs" and "supports growth". Inflation is forecast to remain at 2 per cent next year, he added.

Full employment and real incomes are set to grow, Donohoe has said. to grow,  “This is about jobs, this is about stability,” he said.

1.03pm

Paschal Donohoe's speech has begun in the Dáil chamber.

He begins saying that the budget will "invest in our future" and help tackle the "serious challenges" of meeting housing and investment needs, while at the same time "preparing for tomorrow."

12.40pm

Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, followed by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Jack Chambers, are set to announce Budget 2026 shortly.

While last year’s budget was marked by pre-election expenditure, with a €2.2 billion cost-of-living package of once-off measures, this year is due to be more restrained.

Follow our footage for a live rundown of what is announced.