Tens of thousands of pensioners will see their weekly welfare payments increase by up to EUR13 under plans to be announced in today’s budget.
All social welfare recipients will also see a EUR5 weekly rise along with a full Christmas bonus when Budget 2022 is announced this afternoon.
Elsewhere, changes in taxation will see a weekly drop in taxes of around EUR8 for average workers.
The state pension is set to increase by EUR5 to EUR253.30 from January while the Living Alone Allowance will increase by EUR3 to EUR22 on the same date.
Fuel Allowance will also rise by EUR5 a week from midnight and will now be worth EUR33 per week, but carbon tax will increase.
Pensioners in receipt of all three payments will receive EUR308 a week from the new year.
The move is part of an almost EUR900m budget package secured by Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys.
Among the welfare recipients to receive a EUR5 boost are those on Illness Benefit, parental leave payments and the Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Ms Humphreys and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath also struck a deal that will see welfare recipients receive a double payment in the lead-up to Christmas.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is set to unveil a tax package that will see tax bands increase to allow workers keep more of their salaries while he will also increase tax credits. The lower EUR35,300 tax band is expected to rise by EUR1,500 and workers will only start paying tax at EUR36,800 once the changes are implemented.
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There will also be 2pc rise in the personal tax credit, employment tax credit and earned income credit for the self-employed. The changes in the tax system will mean someone earning EUR40,000 a year will see their taxes fall by around EUR435 a year.
The move is aimed at index- linking tax bands and credit to take into account rising levels of inflation.
“Failure to index bands and credits would be a tax increase by stealth,” a government source said.
However, carbon taxes will increase by EUR7.50 to EUR41 per tonne meaning filling a 900-litre tank with home-heating oil will increase by EUR19.40.
The cost of a full tank of -petrol will go up by EUR1.28 and diesel will go up by EUR1.50.
It will add EUR16.95 to the average annual natural gas bill, 89c to a 40kg bag of coal and 20c to a 12.5kg bale of peat -briquettes.
The increase in the Fuel Allowance is aimed at offsetting the rise in energy costs for those who can least afford it. The EUR5 increase will mean those on the 28-week scheme will receive a total EUR924 towards their energy costs. There will also be changes to means testing for the Fuel Allowance to allow more -people claim the benefit.
There will also be a significant package for carers, including changes to how they are means tested along with a EUR5 increase in their weekly payments.
The changes, the first in 14 years, will mean savings up of to EUR50,000 will be disregarded when a carer is being means tested. This is up from the -current level of EUR20,000.
There will also be a EUR10 Increase in the Back To School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment.
The Hot School Meals Programme will be extended to 300 schools after the Budget which is ten-fold increase in the number taking part in the scheme since Ms Humphrey’s took office.
The National Childcare Scheme will be increased to include children aged up to 15. Only children up to the age of three are currently covered by the subsidy.
The scheme provides 50c per hour towards the cost of a
Tusla-registered childcare place for a maximum of 45 hours per week.
Funding is also being provided for 800 new gardai and 400 civilian personnel for the force. The Garda mountain bike unit is to be expanded and there will be additional investment in the Criminal Assets Bureau. There will also be a package of EUR13m to help tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
In primary schools, the pupil teacher ratio will brought down to 24:1, which will be reduced from the current ratio of 25:1, meaning a reduction in class sizes.
Nearly 1,000 new teachers in special education will also be announced in the Budget. Along with Education Minister Norma Foley, the Minister of State for Special Education Josepha Madigan has secured a final figure of 980 new teachers in special education with an additional 1,165 special needs assistants (SNAs) also secured.
After talks on the Education allocation ran down to the wire, the Budget package will also include a commitment that schools with teaching principals and two or more special classes will get an administrative principal – a principal who does not teach a class. Ms Madigan has secured what is being dubbed “one of the biggest investments in special education ever”.
