All eyes on The Budget

All eyes were on the Budget last week with Finance Minister Michael McGrath signing off on Budget 2024’s extra €14bn in spending.

With election talk in the air, the government had an opportunity to show it was on the side of the people. Only time will tell what the public really think.

For voters the ultimate sway factor will be just how much Budget 2024 takes from their pockets or adds to them. It’s pretty simple really – issues like the cost of living, housing and health are the main pillars on which this government will rise or fall.

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In brief terms – for renters there’s a credit up to €750, and there’s temporary mortgage tax relief worth up to €1,250. The health service will get an extra €500m next year in a €22.5bn package.

We are told that most people, including those reliant on welfare payments, should see incomes rising ahead of inflation over the next year.

With child poverty a big issue in this country a new section in the Department of Taoiseach has been established to oversee measures to address this issue and a range of measures were announced by spending minister Paschal Donohoe.

These included an increase in the qualifying child payment made to those on welfare, an extension of the schools hot meals scheme and the inclusion of 18-year olds in education for child benefit payments.

There’s a €12 a week rise for welfare recipients, but according to Vincent de Paul, it would have taken a rise of €27 to keep in line with rising costs.

On the surface there appears to be some good news generally as the experts tell us that most workers will be €800 better off after cuts to the Universal Social Charge (USC) and income tax tweaks.

But the real question is has the Government gone far enough? Listening to the real problems on the ground in the debates the following day revealed that many people were adamant they had not.

Over the coming days and months the people will digest what’s on offer. They will give their real answer at the polls.