... and during all this time...Ireland increased the number of millionaires from 16,000 to 91,000."
Fianna Fail and Green Party Government
BUDGET 2009
• Medical cards means tested.
• Income levy of 1% introduced on income up to €100,000 with 2% on higher.
• €10 travel tax.
• 20% hike in hospital bed charges.
• 50c hike in packet of cigarettes.
• VAT increased by 0.5%.
• DIRT increased by 3% to 23%.
• Excise Duty on cigarettes increased by 50c.
• Excise Duty on wine increased by 50c.
• Petrol increased by 8c.
• Betting tax doubled to 2%.
• Motor tax increased by between 4% and 5%.
• Automatic entitlement to the medical card for over 70’s abolished.
• €200 levy on employer-provided parking spaces in urban centres.
• 41 state agencies to be abolished, amalgamated or privatised.
• Stamp duty on ATM cards halved, paid for by an increase in stamp duty on cheques.
• Cervical cancer vaccine withdrawal.
EMERGENCY BUDGET 2009
• Income levies doubled to 2% and 4%.
• PRSI ceiling increased.
• Social Welfare Christmas Bonus abolished.
• Jobseeker’s allowance reduced, under 20s cut to €100 per week.
• New 1% levy on life assurance premiums.
• Capital gains tax – up from 22% to 25%.
• Early Childcare Supplement to be halved to €500 and scrapped in 2010.
• Mortgage interest relief cut to only first seven years.
• Health levy doubled to 4% and 5% - entry point.
for the higher rate reduced to €1,443 per year.
• Excise duty on cigarettes up 25c.
• Excise duty on diesel up by 5c per litre.
• Children’s allowance to be means tested or taxed.
• Rent supplement halved to reflect a fall in rental prices.
• Capital expenditure in education cut by €54m.
• Higher education budget down by €24m.
• €2m saved through delays in recruiting additional educational psychologists.
• Another €2m 'saved' by lowering the level of awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board.
• Strategic Innovation Fund cut by 50% to €2m.
• Overall education cuts of €134m.
• Department of Transport budget cut by €300m.
• NAMA established.
BUDGET 2010
• Jobseekers allowance for those under 21 cut to €100.
• VAT rate cut by 0.5%
• 5%-10% pay cut for public sector workers.
• Carbon tax introduced.
• Ministers take a 15% pay cut; Taoiseach takes 20% pay cut.
• Diesel up 4.9c and petrol up 4.2c.
• Minimum wage cut by €1 per hour.
• 4% cut in social welfare payment, excluding old age pension.
• Child benefit decreased by €16 each month, although welfare dependent families remain unchanged.
• Prescription charge levy introduced costing 50c per item.
• Arts budget decreased by 6%.
• €12m cut from sports budget.
• Water charges to be introduced.
• Irish domicile levy introduced.
• Minister forecasts return to positive growth in 6-9 months.
BUDGET 2011
• Charges for private/semi-private beds up 21%.
• €10 cut to child benefit for first & second child.
• €20 cut in child benefit for third child.
• 4c on petrol and 2c on diesel.
• Third-level student charges rise by €500 to €2,000.
• Student grants cut by 4%.
• €8 cut for social welfare, jobseekers payments.
• Air travel tax of €3.
• Public service pensions over €12k cut by 4%.
• Employee PRSI/Health Levy relief gone.
• Income/health levy replaced with universal social charge (USC) at 2% up to €10,036, 4% to €16,016 and 7% above this level.
• Pension contributions subject to PRSI and USC.
• Employee PRSI ceiling removed.
• Increase in PRSI rate for the self-employed, higher earning public servants and office holders.
• 1% tax on residential transactions up to €1m and 2% over €1m.
• All stamp duty exemptions abolished.
• DIRT increased by 2%.
• Online betting to be subject to same betting duty as in bookie shops.
• Carer’s allowance for those under 66 to be cut by €8 to €186 per week.
• Passport fees for over 65’s introduced.
Fine Gael and Labour Party Government
BUDGET 2012
• VAT increased by 2%.
• €100 household charge introduced.
• Child benefit for 3rd and subsequent child cut.
• Disability allowance for new claimants aged 18-21 cut from €188 to €100 per week.
• Drug payment scheme threshold increased from €120 to €132 – a cut of €12m from the scheme.
• JobBridge introduced.
• Minimum contribution by single tenants towards rent supplement to increase from €6 to €30 per week. Minimum contribution by couples will be €35.
• Winter fuel allowance cut by six weeks – or €120 per year.
• Post graduate students will no longer receive maintenance grants.
• Back to school allowance of €200 abolished for two and three year olds.
• Also, back to school allowance to be cut from €305 to €250 (aged 12 plus) and cut from €200 to €150 (11 and under).
• Cigarettes up 25c
• Carbon tax increased from €15 per tonne to €20 per tonne; meaning
Petrol up 1.4c
Diesel up 1.6c.
• €17.32 increase on Fuel Oil.
• €14.46 increase on Natural gas.
• Motor tax up €56 to €160 for band A.
• Motor tax up €69 to €225 for band B.
• Motor tax up €28 to €330 for band C.
• Capital Acquisition Tax up from 25% to 30%.
• DIRT up from 27% to 30%.
• Total cuts to school funding of €24m a year.
• School Transport: Primary charge increased from €50 to €100 and the maximum primary family payment increased from €110 to €220.
• Grant of €635 paid at birth on all multiple births and further grants of €635 paid when the children are 4 years of age and 12 years of age will be abolished.
• Abolition of Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative from 2012.
• 1.3% growth forecast.
BUDGET 2013
• Child benefit cut by €10 per month.
• Respite care grant cut by over €300.
• Prescription charge for medical card holders increased from 50c to €1.50 per item.
• Local Property Tax introduced.
• Maternity benefit to be taxed.
• Property tax of 0.18% up to €1m; 0.25% on houses over €1m.
• 10c rise on spirits, beer and cider.
• 10c on a pack of 20 cigarettes.
• €1 increase in a bottle of wine.
• Minimum PRSI level of annual contribution from self-employed will be raised from €253 to €500.
• PRSI-free allowance has abolished meaning a loss of €264 per year for employees.
• Over 70’s with an income of €600 and €700 per week will have their medical card replaced with a GP card.
• Duration of Jobseekers Benefit cut by 3 months.
• Telephone Allowance Scheme reduced.
BUDGET 2014
• Child benefit for fourth and subsequent child cut to €130 from €140.
• Pension levy increased from 0.6% to 0.75%
• Medical cards for unemployed replaced with GP only card on return to work.
• Prescription charges for medical card holders to increase from €1.50 to €2.50.
• Bereavement grant of €850 scrapped.
• Number of days for entitlement to Illness Benefit increased from three to six days.
• Telephone allowance for household benefit recipients to be discontinued.
• Income thresholds for over 70’s on medical cards to be lowered to €900 per week for couples and €500 for a single person.
• Reduced jobseeker’s allowance of €144 to apply to those aged 25.
• €100 Jobseeker’s Allowance to apply to people up to age 24.
• Increase of 50c on 75cl bottle of wine.
• Increase of 10c on pint of beer/cider.
• 10c increase on a pack of cigarettes.
• One Parent Family Tax Credit replaced with Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit, available only to principal carer of the child.
• €25m cut in funding to third level institutions to continue.
BUDGET 2015
• €405m tax cut for top 17% of earners.
• 2% USC rate reduced to 1.5%.
• 4% USC rate reduced to 3.5%.
• 0.6% pension levy abolished.
• Double Irish tax loophole to be abolished and replaced with the Knowledge Development Box with a 6.25% corporation tax rate.
• Cigarettes to increase by 40c.
• Water charges introduced.
• Child benefit to increase by €5 per week.
• Lone Parent’s Allowance cut.
• No changes to class sizes.
• Household Benefits Package to allocate.
€100 payment towards water bill.
BUDGET 2016
• Old age pension to increase by €3 per week.
• Christmas bonus for social welfare recipients restored to 75% of the recipients weekly payment.
• Child benefit to increase by €5 per month.
• Respite care grant restored to previous level.
• Fuel allowance increased by €2.50 per week to €22.50.
• Minimum wage increased by 50c.
... and during all that time...Ireland increased the number of millionaires from 16,000 to 91,000."