Ireland on Tuesday announced an €11-billion budget for the upcoming year to combat mounting pressures caused by the cost-of-living and energy crises precipitated by the war in Ukraine. Finance minister for Ireland's three-party governing coalition, Paschal Donohoe, announced the measures -- comprising extra spending of €6.9 billion and €4.1 billion in one-off expenditure -- in the lower house of parliament. The budget, he said, was "focused on helping individuals, families and businesses deal with rising prices". "As we have seen all too clearly over the past few years with Brexit, with Covid and now with the war in Ukraine, unforeseen risks and challenges are becoming more frequent in their occurrence," Donohoe told the Dail. "The war in Ukraine has sent shock waves throughout the global economy and this is most evident in energy and commodity markets, where prices surged at the onset of the war and have remained high," he added. The budget outlined a provision for €600 in household energy credits, payments capped at €10,000 a month to help eligible businesses with energy bills and an increase for entry to the top tax rate to €40,000. The levels of spending were possible,...
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