Budget 2018 To Be Revealed This Afternoon

Budget 2018 will be delivered in the Dail this afternoon.

It’s the first budget for Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach and Paschal Donohoe as Minister for Finance and will have to first be passed by a Cabinet meeting this morning.

Leaks suggest it will put more money in people’s pockets – with tax breaks for workers and an extra fiver in welfare benefits.

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Efforts to tackle the homeless crisis could see developers offered cheap loans and a new housing agency set up to take over NAMA owned lands.

Clare’s Senator is calling for a Tourism Capital Investment Programme to be announced in the budget.

Martin Conway says such a programme would allow counties like Clare to put forward projects aimed at developing a year-round tourism trade.

The Ennistymon Fine Gael Senator believes it would allow for further jobs growth in parts of Clare which traditionally see a drop in employment once the tourist season ends: