#Budget2020: There will be ‘absolutely no surprises’, says Paschal Donohoe

Additional reporting by Daniel McConnell, Juno McEnroe, and Elaine Loughlin

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has insisted there will be "absolutely no surprises" when he reveals his Budget 2020 plans this afternoon.

As he arrived at Government Buildings for the weekly cabinet meeting this morning, Mr Donohoe said while this will be "a particularly challenging budget" due to the Brexit threat, he has done his best to balance public with national needs.

The Finance Minister said what has been reported in the media this morning is broadly in line with what he is expected to reveal in his budget speech to the Dáil at 1 pm.

"This was a particularly challenging budget because of the need that we have to make some changes before Brexit, combined with the inevitable political challenges that emerge in this being the final budget of this Dail did make it a challenging process.

"But it's done and I'm looking forward to presenting the budget to the Dáil today," Mr Donohoe said.

• HEALTH

• €30m increase to the over-70s medical card budget, which will help 56,000 people and means the weekly income threshold will rise to €550 for a single person and €1,050 for a couple.
• Prescription charges for over-70s cut by 50c, to €1.
• Cap on a family’s monthly drugs payment scheme reduced by €10, to €114.
• Free dental care for under-sixes and free GP care for under-eights, delayed until September.

• ENVIRONMENT

• Carbon tax expected to rise by €6 per tonne.
• Polluted-linked charges for new petrol and diesel cars.

• BREXIT

• €900m war chest to cope with a no-deal Brexit.
• €100m to help tens of thousands of people at risk of losing their jobs.
• Extra €10m available for loans to small at-risk companies.

• HOUSING

• Help-to-buy system to be continued, helping thousands of first-time buyers to afford deposits, however, it may be tweaked to ensure wealthy buyers are excluded.

• SOCIAL PROTECTION

• Minimum wage to rise by 30c, but delayed until March in no-deal Brexit scenario.
• Christmas bonus for welfare recipients to be retained.
• Increase in qualified children’s allowance and living alone allowance, but across-the-board €5 increases for pensioners and other social welfare recipients to be scrapped.

Earlier: ‘No chocolates, some smarties’ in €1bn Donohoe budget plan

Hikes in carbon taxes, cigarettes, and commercial stamp duties will help boost Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe’s Brexit budget fund to €1bn today, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

First-time buyers, vulnerable children, and the elderly are set to be the main beneficiaries in the Government’s final — but limited — giveaway budget before a general election.

Plans to slash the €200m Help-to-Buy scheme for first-time buyers have been dramatically abandoned, meaning the scheme will continue with an additional €50m.

According to senior government sources, the U-turn on the Help-to-Buy scheme occurred because of increased fears of the impact of Brexit on the already cooling housing market.

“If we ended up in a no-deal Brexit, what that could mean for the housing market, it must be asked whether it’s a good idea to be withdrawing something like that,” said the Government source.

“Were the market got into difficulty because of that, we had to take all of that into consideration when making the final decision.”

Other Fine Gael colleagues said the party moved for fear of being outflanked by Fianna Fáil on the issue ahead of a general election, even though many feel the scheme is too generous.

On the increase of commercial stamp duty, Mr Donohoe is also looking to increase the rate of stamp duty on commercial properties from the current rate of 6% to 7.5%.

A full 1% increase would deliver an extra €94m so the increase is expected to raise €141m. What is clear is that Mr Donohoe will not be cutting taxes tomorrow in the same fashion he has done in recent years.

“When you compare what we will do today to the fiver or if you compare it to the tax packages we’ve done before, none of that will be in the budget, none of it,” said a Government source. “Heading into an election, it is a big gamble.”

In a big win for the Independent Alliance, up to 56,000 people aged over 70 will become eligible for a medical card, after negotiations with Mr Donohoe.

The new eligibility threshold for a single person increases by €50, meaning someone in receipt of a gross weekly income of up to €550 will soon be able to apply for a medical card. A couple who have a weekly income of up to €1050 will be eligible to get medical cards.

It has also been confirmed that Mr Donohoe and Independent Alliance junior minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran had a “furious row” over the impact of the carbon tax on rural people. It is understood that Mr Donohoe was forced to apologise to the OPW minister over the spat and the apology was reciprocated.

“We had very heavy discussions,” said Mr Moran. “I’m happy to say that the minister will address some of my concerns in the budget.”

He said this budget would not reflect other pre-election budgets and accused past Governments of “trying to buy votes”.

He said there would be “no chocolates” in Budget 2020 but it would contain “some smarties”, adding: “There’s not one for everyone in the audience, but we will try and help the most vulnerable in our society.”