Budget 2024

Budget 2024 was announced on Tuesday, 10 October 2023.

This page is a short summary of the main changes in taxation, cost of living supports, supports for energy costs, social welfare, health, housing, education, employment and other areas. It is an overview and not a complete statement of all the measures announced in Budget 2024.

Some of the changes announced in the Budget come into effect immediately or before the end of 2023. Others take effect from the beginning of January 2024 or later in 2024. Many others have to be finalised before coming into effect. Some elements of these measures may change when the legislation required to bring them into effect is enacted.

The Budget sets out an overall package of €12.3 billion. This is made up of a package of once-off measures worth €2.3 billion, a core budget package of €5.2 billion (€4.3 billion current and €0.9 billion capital expenditure) and non-core expenditure of €4.5 billion for 2024 (plus €0.3 billion in additional capital funded from windfall receipts).

You can access a range of information on gov.ie's Budget 2024 page including:

• The Expenditure Reports
• Ministers' speeches
• Taxation measures
• Budget publications
• Your Guide to Budget 2024

You can also access the Department of Social Protection's Budget factsheet on gov.ie.

The Department of Social Protection budget allocation is €25.2 billion in 2024.

Once-off payments in winter 2023

• Once-off payment of €300 to people getting Fuel Allowance in the week beginning 20 November 2023
• Once-off payment of €400 to people getting the Working Family Payment on 23 November 2023
• Double payment of Child Benefit for each child on 5 December 2023
• Once-off payment of €100 to people who get an increase for a qualified child - you will get one payment per qualified child in the week beginning 27 November 2023 (you may qualify for this payment if you are getting Illness Benefit for a year and have an IQC)
• Once-off payment of €200 to people getting the Living Alone Increase between 29 November 2023 and 1 December 2023 (you will get the once-off payment on the same day you get your primary payment)
• Once-off payment of €400 to people getting Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension and Blind Pension between 22 November 2023 and 24 November 2023 (you will get the once-off payment on the same day you get your primary payment)
• Once-off payment of €400 to people getting the Carer’s Support Grant or Domiciliary Care Allowance on 30 November 2023

If you get Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Blind Pension, Carer's Support Grant or Domiciliary Care Allowance, you'll get one payment of €400, even if you qualify for more than one of these payments or you are taking care of more than one person.

Christmas Bonus

A Christmas Bonus of 100% will be paid in the week beginning 4 December 2023 to people getting a qualifying social welfare payment.

Social welfare weekly payments

The maximum rate of all weekly social welfare payments will increase by €12 with proportional increases for qualified adults and people on reduced rates of payment (January 2024).

The weekly rate for a qualified child will increase by €4. It will increase from €42 to €46, for children under 12 years of age. It will increase from €50 to €54 for children aged 12 years and over (January 2024).

Once-off double week in January 2024

A once-off double week for all weekly qualifying social welfare payments will be paid in the week beginning 29 January 2024. Payments that qualify for the Christmas Bonus will qualify for the once-off double week.

Child Benefit

A once-off double payment of Child Benefit will be paid in December 2023.

Child Benefit will be extended to children aged 18 who are in full-time education from September 2024.

Working Family Payment

The Working Family Payment income limits will increase by €54 across all family sizes from January 2024. A once-off payment of €400 will be paid to people getting the Working Family Payment in November 2023.

Parent’s Benefit

Parent's Benefit will increase from 7 weeks to 9 weeks from August 2024.

Carer’s Allowance

The Carer's Allowance income disregard will increase to €450 for a single person and €900 for a couple from June 2024.

Domiciliary Care Allowance

Domiciliary Care Allowance will increase by €10 to €340 per month from January 2024.

Employment programmes

People on Community Employment (CE), Tús, Rural Social Scheme or the Work Placement Experience Programme will get an increase of €12 per week from January 2024.

Free Travel Scheme

From July 2024, the Free Travel Scheme will be extended to people who are medically certified unfit to drive.

Employer and employee PRSI rates

All PRSI contribution rates will increase by 0.1% from 1 October 2024.

New Pay-Related Benefit Scheme

The Government has proposed a new Pay-Related Benefit Scheme for jobseekers which is expected to be introduced in December 2024. Under the scheme, a person will get a jobseeker’s payment rate linked to their previous employment income.

Social welfare rates

You can see a full list of social welfare rates for Budget 2024 below.

All domestic electricity customers will get €450 off their electricity bills. The energy credit will be paid in 3 instalments of €150. The first payment will be made in December 2023, the second will be made in January 2024 and the third will be made in March 2024.

A €300 once-off lump sum will be paid to people getting Fuel Allowance in November 2023. See ‘Social welfare’ above.

The reduced 9% VAT rate for gas and electricity will be extended for 12 months to 31 October 2024.

The temporary excise rate reductions on auto diesel, petrol and marked gas oil due to expire on 31 October 2023 will be extended until 31 March 2024.

Income tax

Income tax rates will stay the same (at 20% and 40%), but there will be increases to tax credits and changes to the income tax bands in 2024.

The standard rate tax band (the amount you can earn before you start to pay the higher rate of tax) will be increased by €2,000 to €42,000 for a single person, with proportionate increases for married couples and civil partners.

The following tax credits will increase by €100 to €1,875:

• Personal Tax Credit
• Employee Tax Credit
• Earned Income Tax Credit

The Home Carer Tax Credit will increase by €100 to €1,800.

The Single Person Child Carer Credit will increase by €100 to €1,750.

The Incapacitated Child Tax Credit will increase by €200 to €3,500.

Universal Social Charge

The ceiling for the 2% Universal Social Charge (USC) band will increase by €2,840 from €22,920 to €25,760 from 1 January 2024. The 4.5% USC rate that currently applies to income between €22,920 and €70,044 will be reduced to 4% from 1 January 2024. The 4% rate will apply to income between €25,760 and €70,044.

The reduced rate of USC for medical card holders is being extended until 31 December 2025. Reduced rates of USC apply to people who have a full medical card whose income is €60,000 or less a year.

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief

A new Mortgage Interest Tax Relief will be introduced for a year (12 months) for homeowners who had an outstanding mortgage balance of between €80,000 and €500,000 on their primary home on 31 December 2022.

The Mortgage Interest Tax Relief will be available on the increased interest you pay on your mortgage in 2023 when compared with the amount you paid in 2022. The tax relief on the increase will be 20%, which is the standard income tax rate. The relief will be capped at €1,250.

Rent Tax Credit

The Rent Tax Credit for people paying for private rented accommodation will be increased from €500 to €750 a year from 2024.

The Rent Tax Credit will be extended to parents who pay for rented accommodation for their student children under the Rent-a-room scheme and for ‘digs’. This change will be backdated to include the 2022 and 2023 tax years.

Tax relief for landlords

A temporary rental income tax relief is being introduced to support private landlords. The relief will be available against some rental income at the standard rate of 20% each year. It will be available from 2024 to 2027 and will only apply if the landlord keeps their rental property in the rental market for the next four years. Landlords can get 20% of:

• €3,000 for 2024
• €4,000 for 2025
• €5,000 for 2026 and 2027

The relief will reduce the tax due on rental income by up to €600 in 2024, €800 in 2025, and €1,000 in 2026 and 2027. The relief will be clawed back if the landlord leaves the rental market during this time.

Vacant Homes Tax

The rate of the Vacant Homes Tax is being increased from 3 times to 5 times a property’s existing base Local Property Tax liability. This increase will apply from the next chargeable period, starting 1 November 2023.

Carbon tax

Carbon tax will increase by €7.50 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted, from €48.50 to €56.00. This applies from 11 October 2023 for auto fuels. The increase will apply to all other fuels from 1 May 2024.

Tobacco

Tobacco Products Tax on a packet of cigarettes will increase by €0.75 from 11 October 2023, with pro-rata increases on other tobacco products.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

The 9% VAT rate on ebooks and audio books will be reduced to zero on 1 January 2024.

The reduced 9% VAT rate for gas and electricity will be extended for 12 months to 31 October 2024.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment allocation is €979 million in 2024.

Minimum wage

The national minimum wage will increase by €1.40 to €12.70 per hour from 1 January 2024.

Income tax, USC and PRSI

Income tax rates will stay the same (at 20% and 40%), but there will be increases to tax credits and changes to the income tax bands in 2024.

The standard rate tax band (the amount you can earn before you start to pay the higher rate of tax) will be increased by €2,000 to €42,000 for a single person, with proportionate increases for married couples and civil partners.

The following tax credits will increase by €100 to €1,875:

• Personal Tax Credit
• Employee Tax Credit
• Earned Income Tax Credit

The ceiling for the 2% Universal Social Charge (USC) band will increase by €2,840 from €22,920 to €25,760 from 1 January 2024. The 4.5% USC rate currently applies to income between €22,900 and €70,044 will be reduced to 4% from 1 January 2024. The 4% rate will apply to income between €25,761 and €70,044.

All PRSI rates will increase by 0.1% on 1 October 2024.

Wage Subsidy Scheme

The minimum weekly hours threshold for eligibility for the Wage Subsidy Scheme for people with disabilities is being reduced from 21 to 15 hours from April 2024.

Leave for parents

Parent’s leave and Parent’s Benefit will be extended by 2 weeks to 9 weeks from August 2024.

Supports for unemployed people

Community Employment (CE), Tús and Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) weekly payments will increase by €12 from 1 January 2024.

A new Pay-Related Jobseeker’s Benefit Scheme is expected to be introduced in December 2024. Under the scheme, a person can get a jobseeker’s payment rate linked to their previous employment income.

Supports for business

A once-off Increased Cost of Business Scheme (ICOB) grant will be rolled out in 2024 to help with business costs. The details of the scheme will be finalised for implementation in 2024.

The Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit will increase from 25% to 30% on qualifying expenditure on R&D from 1 January 2024. The first-year payment threshold will increase from €25,000 to €50,000.

A new reduced rate of CGT entrepreneur relief of 16% for angel investors in innovative start-up SMEs when they dispose of a qualifying investment for gains up to twice the value of their investment up to €3 million.

The upper age limit for Retirement Relief has been extended from 65 to 70 from 1 January 2025.

VAT registration thresholds will increase to €40,000 for services and €80,000 for goods from 1 January 2024.

Sectoral supports

Supports for farmers

Consanguinity stamp duty relief for family farm transfers is being extended for a further 3 years to 31 December 2028.

The maximum aggregate lifetime limit of the following agricultural tax reliefs will be increased to €100,000 from 1 January 2023:

• Young Trained Farmer Stamp Duty relief
• Stock relief for Young Trained Farmers
• Relief for succession farm partnerships

Audio visual sector

Increase to the current project cap on qualifying expenditure in the Section 481 Film Tax Credit from €70 million to €125 million, subject to State aid approval.

The Department of Education allocation is €10.5 billion in 2024. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth allocation is €7.3 billion.

Classroom places

744 new teachers and 1,216 new Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) will be recruited to support children with special needs.

Hot school meals

The hot school meals programme will be extended to 900 schools.

Free schoolbooks for post-primary schools

Free schoolbooks will be provided to Junior Cycle students from September 2024.

State exams

Fees will be waived for State examinations held in 2024.

Childcare

The National Childcare Scheme hourly subsidy will increase from €1.40 to €2.14, from September 2024.

Foster Care Allowance

In January 2024, the statutory Foster Care Allowance rate will increase by €25 per week. In November 2024, the Foster Care Allowance for children under 12 will increase to €400 per week, and the Foster Care Allowance for children aged 12 and over will increase to €425 per week.

A once-off double payment of the Foster Care Allowance will also be made this year (2023).

International protection applicants

The range of supports provided to international protection applicants will be expanded, including an additional payment for children.

The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science allocation is €4.1 billion.

Student contribution

The Student Contribution will be reduced by €1,000 in the 2023/2024 academic year for students who qualify for the Free Fees Scheme. If you have already paid your Student Contribution, you will still benefit from the reduction and you will get any refund due to you.

From September 2024, the Student Contribution fee will be abolished for all incomes under €55,924.

Student grant

Maintenance grant rates will increase by €615 for all non-adjacent rates and by 10% for adjacent rates from September 2024 - a pro-rata increase will be available from January 2024.

The postgraduate tuition fee grant will increase by €1,000 for students in the 2023/2024 academic year.

There will be a full restoration of maintenance grants under the Student Grant Scheme for postgraduate students from September 2024.

Support for part-time students

From September 2024, a new pilot scheme will be available for part-time undergraduate students who are attending eligible part-time programmes, in-person or online, leading to a major award at Level 6, 7 or 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

The scheme rules are still being developed, but it is expected that the following will apply:

• The undergraduate programme must take place in the State and lead to a major award at Level 6, 7 or 8 on the NFQ.
• Students must meet nationality, residency, and progression criteria.
• Specified publicly funded undergraduate part-time blended and part-time online programmes will be eligible.
• Applicants with reckonable incomes under €55,924 will be able to apply – a SUSI administered means test will determine eligibility.

PLC fees and charges

The PLC participant contribution fee of €200 was abolished in 2022, however students continue to face various other charges such as student services charges, application fees, exam fees and professional registration fees. It was announced in Budget 2024 that additional funding would be provided to abolish these charges and fees from September 2024.

Student accommodation

The Rent Tax Credit is extended to parents of students renting a room or digs in 2024. The tax credit will be available for the 2022 and 2023 tax years.

Apprenticeships

The number of craft apprenticeship scheme places will increase.

There will be a once-off reduction of 33% in the contribution fee for apprentices in higher education in the 2023/2024 academic year.

National Training Fund

The purpose of the National Training Fund and possible legislative changes to the fund will be examined.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage budget allocation is €6.9 billion for 2024.

Help-to-Buy Scheme

The Help to Buy Scheme (HTB) is extended to the end of 2025.

All applicants buying a home using the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme will now qualify for HTB. This will come into effect from 11 October 2023.

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief

A new Mortgage Interest Tax Relief will be introduced for a year (12 months) for homeowners who had an outstanding mortgage balance of between €80,000 and €500,000 on their primary home on 31 December 2022.

The Mortgage Interest Tax Relief will be available on the increased interest you pay on your mortgage in 2023 when compared with the amount you paid in 2022. The tax relief on the increase will be 20%, which is the standard income tax rate, and it will be capped at €1,250.

Rent Tax Credit

The Rent Tax Credit for people paying for private rented accommodation will be increased from €500 to €750 a year from 2024.

The Rent Tax Credit will be extended to parents who pay for rented accommodation for their student children under the Rent-a-room scheme and for ‘digs’. This change will be backdated to include the 2022 and 2023 tax years.

Tax relief for landlords

A temporary rental income tax relief is being introduced to support private landlords. The relief will be available against some rental income at the standard rate of 20% each year. It will be available from 2024 to 2027 and will only apply if the landlord keeps their rental property in the rental market for the next 4 years. Landlords can get 20% of:

• €3,000 for 2024
• €4,000 for 2025
• €5,000 for 2026 and 2027

The relief will reduce the tax due on rental income by up to €600 in 2024, €800 in 2025, and €1,000 in 2026 and 2027. The relief will be clawed back if the landlord leaves the rental market during this time.

Vacant Homes Tax

The Vacant Homes Tax (VHT) will be increased from 3 times to 5 times the basic Local Property Tax (LPT) rate. This increase will take effect from 1 November 2023.

Social and affordable housing

In 2024, 9,300 new build social homes are expected to be built. Social housing will also be delivered through the strategic acquisitions programme. 2,130 leased social homes will be delivered through various leasing schemes.

Over 6,400 affordable and cost rental homes will be delivered through the First Home Scheme and other schemes that support local authorities and approved housing bodies to build cost rental homes.

Funding for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme will be €525 million in 2024. This will provide 8,800 new HAP tenancies and support 58,000 existing HAP tenancies.

Funding of €111 million for the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) will support 1,400 new RAS tenancies in 2024 and 16,000 households already in the scheme.

Funding of €21 million is allocated in 2024 for the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation.

Supports for homeless people

Funding of €242 million has been allocated to homeless services in 2024. This will support local authorities providing emergency accommodation and other services and help people to exit homelessness.

Regeneration, adaptations and remediation

In 2024, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland is allocated €380 million to fund their community and residential energy upgrades schemes. There will also be a new low-interest loan scheme that can be used with the SEAI grants to help people with the additional costs of these upgrades.

In 2024, €50 million is allocated to the Croí Cónaithe Fund. This fund is used to refurbish vacant properties and help provide serviced sites for sale in towns and villages. €75 million is provided for 1,300 grants to adapt the homes of older people and people with a disability. A further €25 million is allocated for adaptation works to 1,800 existing social homes.

€70 million is provided to support the remediation of homes affected by defects in 2024.

Funding of €50 million is provided for the National Regeneration Programme, which will benefit some of the most economically disadvantaged communities.

€31 million will support the continued transition to a strategic planned maintenance programme for local authority social housing and the remediation of over 2,000 void units for re-letting to households on housing waiting lists.

Regulation of the housing sector

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and other advocacy supports will receive €13.4 million in funding.

€10.75 million will be provided for local authority inspections in the rental sector and for the regulation of short-term lettings.

The Housing Agency will receive funding of €17.2 million and the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority will receive €3.3 million.

The Department of Health budget allocation is €22.5 billion.

Medical card

The reduced rate of Universal Social Charge (USC) for medical card holders is being extended until 31 December 2025. Reduced rates of USC apply to people who have a full medical card and an income of €60,000 or less a year.

Free contraception

From 1 January 2024, the age limit for free contraception will increase to include women aged 31. Currently, women aged 17-30 can get free contraception.

Disability services

€64 million is allocated for additional services for people living with a disability including:

• More than 90 additional residential places
• Further development of respite services
• 1,400 day places for people who have left school
• Increased personal assistance hours
• Increases in rates for staff
• Home supports

COVID-19

The Department of Health budget includes €1 billion for further COVID-19 spending including vaccinations, contact tracing and testing in hospitals.

Mental Health

€1.3 billion has been allocated to mental health services including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), suicide prevention services and Traveller Counselling Services.

Older people

€2.6 billion has been allocated to services for older people, including:

• Extra funding towards Fair Deal Scheme, Day Services, Meals on Wheels and caring for older people leaving hospital
• Establishing a commission on care for older people

Dementia

€300,000 will be used to fund weekend activity clubs for people living with young onset dementia.

The tax disregard for personal income received by households who sell residual electricity from micro-generation back to the national grid is being doubled from €200 to €400. From 1 January 2024, an income disregard of up to €400 per year will apply to profits to a qualifying person from the micro-generation of electricity.

Solar panels

From 1 January 2024, the VAT rate for the supply and installation of solar panels in schools is being reduced to zero.

Electric vehicles

VRT relief for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is extended to the end of 2025.

Carbon tax

Carbon tax will increase by the same amount in every budget until 2029. The increase will be applied to auto fuels (petrol and auto diesel) from midnight on Budget night (from 11 October 2023). So, the rate per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted for petrol and diesel will go up by €7.50 from €48.50 to €56.00 from 11 October 2023. The increase will be applied to all other fuels from 1 May 2024.

The Department of Transport has been allocated €3.5 billion in 2024.

This includes funding for:

• BusConnects, MetroLink, Connecting Ireland programme and the Cork commuter rail
• Carbon reduction programmes and electrification of the public transport fleet
• Cycling, walking and infrastructure
• Expansion of greenways including the Carlingford Lough, the Great Western Greenway in Mayo and the South Kerry Greenway
• National, regional, and local roads
• Electric vehicle (EV) support and infrastructure
• Public transport projects and funding for Local Link services
• Aviation industry, regional airport support and International Civil Aviation Organisation and Euro control membership
• Maritime transport and safety, including the transition to a new Coast Guard contract
• Emergency Transport Services to continue providing emergency transport services as part of the response to the war in Ukraine
• The Safe Routes to School Programme at 275 schools

Public transport fares

Reduced fares of 20% on public transport will continue in 2024.

The Young Adult Leap Card will be extended to people aged 19-25.

Electric vehicles

The VRT relief for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with a value of up to €50,000 is extended to 2025.

The current benefit in kind deduction for electric vehicles of €35,000 has been extended until the end of 2025. This will be reduced to €20,000 in 2026 and €10,000 in 2027.

Motor insurer’s insolvency compensation fund

The Motor Insurers Insolvency Compensation Fund levy will be reduced by 1% from 1 January 2024.

Carbon tax

Carbon tax will increase by €7.50 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted, from €48.50 to €56. This applies from 11 October 2023 for auto fuels. Carbon tax for all other fuels will increase from 1 May 2024.

The Department of Justice allocation is €3.27 billion in 2024, which includes funding for:

• Up to 1,000 new Garda, 250 additional Garda staff, and a Garda reserve recruitment campaign
• Increasing the Garda overtime budget by 25% and the Garda trainee allowance to €305 per week (up from €184)
• Community safety initiatives, including establishing Community Safety Partnerships nationwide
• The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to support its transition to a new body once pending legislation passes
• Additional staff project support for the Probation Service and the Legal Aid Board
• The International Protection Office and the continued response to the Ukrainian crisis
• Supports for victims of crime and implementing the Human Trafficking Action Plan
• Modernising the Courts Service to make it more accessible
• Restructuring the Data Protection Commission to a new three-Commissioner model
• Establishing the new Policing and Community Safety Authority, which will replace both the Policing Authority and the Garda Síochána Inspectorate
• The Irish Prison Service, who are allocated €27 million to fund staff pay and increase staff numbers

Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency

Additional funding of €12 million has been allocated for combating domestic, sexual and gender based violence, and to implement the Zero Tolerance Strategy in this area. This funding will also help establish the new Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency. The new Agency will have a core budget of €43 million.

Criminal legal aid

Funding of €9 million will go towards the criminal legal aid scheme, including a fee increase of 10% for legal professionals working on the scheme in early 2024. This comes ahead of reforms being introduced by the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Bill 2023.

Defence

Total defence funding is €1.23 billion in 2024. This includes funding for:

• 400 new military personnel, and advertising to support recruitment
• Military equipment, communication systems, and military transport aircraft and vehicles
• Medical care, including private secondary medical care for military personnel
• Army pensions

New funds

The Future Ireland Fund will have 0.8% of GDP paid annually to the fund from 2024 to 2035 (approximately €4.3 billion in 2024). The fund is estimated to reach around €100 billion by 2035. It will be used to meet the costs of ageing, climate, digitalisation and other fiscal and economic challenges.

The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund will grow by 2 billion a year from 2024 to 2030. The €14 billion fund will allow for investment in infrastructure and resources for capital investment in the event of economic downturns. It will also support climate and nature-related projects (€3 billion).

The funds will both be managed by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and will require legislation.

E-cigarettes and vaping products

A tax on e-cigarettes and vaping products will be introduced in Budget 2025.

Supports for refugees from Ukraine

€2.5 billion will be provided for humanitarian support to refugees from Ukraine including accommodation, social welfare payments and education. Funding will also be provided for the Community Recognition Fund which supports community projects welcoming and hosting arrivals from Ukraine and other countries.

Irish diaspora

Additional funding of €1.5 million has been allocated to the Emigrant Support Programme (ESP). This increases the total budget allocation for the ESP to €15.395 million in 2024, to support Irish community organisations around the world, particularly in areas with rising numbers of younger Irish citizens.

National Broadband Scheme

Funding of €348 million has been allocated to the National Broadband Scheme to provide up to 100,000 homes with fibre broadband in 2024.