Ireland announces €8.5 billion Budget 2027 package

The Government announced an approximately €8.5 billion Budget 2027 package on October 6, combining tax changes, welfare supports and spending measures, with the higher-rate income-tax threshold and childcare costs among its headline household measures. Finance Minister Simon Harris and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers presented the package. For a single earner, the threshold at which the 40% income-tax rate applies is set to rise from €44,000 to €46,500. Personal tax credits are to increase by €125 per worker. The Government said the combined tax changes would leave a typical middle-income earner about €750 a year better off, while a married couple could gain about €1,500. Those figures are Government estimates, not measured outcomes. A monthly childcare-cost cap of €550 for children up to senior infants is scheduled to begin in September 2027. The delay means families will not receive that announced cap immediately. The Government has described it as a step toward its stated goal of reducing childcare costs further. The package also includes a new €500 cost-of-disability payment.