Budget 2020
Colm
Tel: 01-6183196
BROPHY TD Budget 2020 is about 4 issues A €1 billion No Deal package to protect Ireland from the worst of No Deal; Protecting the environment with cleaner air, warmer homes and sustainable businesses;
Balanced development with investment in schools, hospitals, houses, primary care centres, buses, and roads; Making life a little bit easier for families.
PREPARING FOR BREXIT A €1.2bn package to respond to Brexit, including €1bn for a No Deal Brexit. The 1st part is €200m for Brexit whatever form it takes. It is spending to increase staffing, upgrade ports and airports infrastructure, and invest in IT and facilities management. The 2nd part is €650m in the event of No Deal. If we do not need it, we will not borrow it. It will support the Agriculture, Enterprise and Tourism sectors and assist the most affected citizens and regions. Of this, €220m will be deployed immediately in the event of a No Deal. €110m to help vulnerable but viable firms adjust, and €110m for Agriculture with supports for our beef sector (€85m) and fishing fleet (€15m). Alongside this, €365m for extra Social Protection spending for those on the Live Register, with a further €45m to assist people to transition to new employment opportunities. Easier for Business to get Investment and Key Employees -- reform the Employee & Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) which gives income tax relief against investments up to €250,000 p.a.; enhancing the R&D tax credit focusing on smaller companies; improve Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP) which removes employee’ tax on share options. Self-employed -- increase earned income tax credit, introduced by FG, by €150 to €1,500.
A BETTER DEAL FOR FAMILIES Education -- 1,600 extra school posts including 150 extra teachers, over 1,000 Special Needs Assistants, and 400 additional teachers for special educational needs. A 2.5% increase in capitation for schools; €74m for higher and further education. A €2bn increase since 2016. Childcare -- 200,000 children now benefit from government childcare initiatives; increased thresholds for National Childcare Scheme (opens in November) to €60,000 net to benefit 7,500 more children. €100 rise in home carers tax credit to €1,600, up from €1,100 in 2017. Healthcare -- Free GP care for under-8s & free dental care for under-6s (both Sept 2020); more medical cards for over-70s, by increasing income thresholds, benefitting up to 56,000. Justice -- 700 additional Gardaí. After nearly 1,600 probationer Gardaí have attested since June 2017, meaning Garda Strength is now over 14,200. Elderly -- prescription charges for over 70s reduced to €1 from July; income limits for medical cards for over 70s will increase by €50 (€150 for a couple); Drug Payment Scheme threshold reduced by €10 to €114 p.m.; 1 million additional home care hours; 1,000 therapists, nurses and other professionals; €25m for the NTPF to reduce waiting lists; €5 p.w. increase in the Living Alone Allowance; increase in the fuel allowance by €2 p.w. Vulnerable -- increase earnings disregard for One Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker’s Transition by €15; increase the Working Family Payment income threshold for families with up to 3 children by €10; increase in Qualified Child Allowance up €2 (u12s) or €3 (o12s); full Christmas bonus to be paid in December; increasing the hours that carers can work or study.
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FAIR CLIMATE ACTION The Climate Action Plan (70% renewable electricity, 950,000 electric vehicles, retrofitting of 500,000 buildings) will be supported by National Development Plan investment of €8bn and a further €13.7bn of investment by State companies. There is cross-party support to increase the price of carbon from €20 today to €80 per tonne by 2030. We are increasing the carbon tax by €6, as a first step, in 2020. Our approach, of a series of small and planned increases, will give people time to plan. All of the revenue (€90m) will be ring-fenced for protecting the vulnerable, sustainable mobility projects, new agri-environmental schemes and investing in our low carbon future. To do this fairly, the increase on home heating fuels will be delayed until May 2020, €52.8m is provided to retrofit the homes of people at risk of energy poverty, and the Fuel Allowance increases by €2 p.w. to €24.50. The 1% diesel surcharge is being replaced with a nitrogen oxide emissions-based charge reflecting the detrimental effect of these emissions on our environment. A range of tax measures to encourage electric vehicle take up.
PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF THE ECONOMY We have restored the economy to sustainability -- we will record budget surpluses for 2018 and 2019, for the first time since 2007, and we now have a diversified enterprise and export led economy, rather than one driven by construction and public sector. We will set up the Rainy-Day Fund with an initial fund of €1.5bn, to protect ourselves in the long-term. We will not make a €500m contribution this year because of Brexit. We are investing more in schools, hospitals, houses, roads next year, a rise of 10%, on top of the 25% rise this year. This is an €800m increase to over €8bn. This will improve facilities for people young and old, ensure balanced regional development, and create jobs. In the last 2 years more than 119,000 jobs were created. Tax changes in Budget 2020 are minimal as our priority is to safeguard our national finances in case of a no deal Brexit.
HOUSING The total housing budget in 2020 will be over €2.5bn. Over 50,000 new homes have been built in the last three years. €1.1bn to provide over 11,000 new social homes in 2020 (build, acquisition and longterm leasing); and a further 12,000 units in 2021. This is after over 23,000 since 2016. An additional €80m for HAP to support an extra 15,750 new tenancies in 2020. A further €20m to tackle homelessness, to a total budget of €166m in 2020. 15,000 new homes were built/purchased under Help to Buy; we are extending this for 2 more years. Affordability - House prices have started to level off. Rental Market - We have already introduced 44 Rent Pressure Zones nationwide. Budget 2020 provides for €2m to the RTB to investigate non-compliance with RPZs.
HEALTH The highest ever health budget of €17.4bn - a 6.3% increase. GP Care & Medical Cards - After the successful rollout of free GP care for u-6s and over 70s: Free GP care for under-8s (September 2020) Free dental care for under-6s (September 2020) More medical cards for over-70s, by increasing income thresholds by €50 for an individual and €150 for a couple p.w, benefitting up to 56,000. €259m has been committed to Sláintecare in 2020, increasing to €309m in 2021. Budget 2020 provides for recruitment of up to 1,000 frontline community healthcare staff including therapists, nurses and other healthcare professionals. €25m for National Treatment Purchase Fund to reduce waiting lists, a 33% increase. Reducing Costs - Reduction in prescription charge fees for all people by 50c; reduction in the Drug Payment Scheme threshold by €10 p.m.
Tel: 01-6183196 · Email: colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie @brophytalks ColmBrophyFineGael Colm Brophy TD working with Cllr. Baby Pereppadan, Cllr. Mary Seery Kearney, Cllr. David McManus, Cllr. Brian Lawlor, Ellen O’Malley Dunlop & Frances Fitzgerald MEP CBrophy_BudgetOverviewLeaflet_Oct19.indd 2
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