![\"Paschal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/8876f5ae-1b64-4bfe-89fb-3572cd2383bd.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDouble child benefit unlikely this Christmas after there were two double payments last year\n<\/p>\n
Negotiations are continuing this weekend, with Tuesday\u2019s announcement \u00adunlikely to give any relief to workers on tax payments.<\/p>\n
Government sources last night told the Sunday Independent that a double payment at Christmas is likely to be \u00adincluded as one of the few one-off measures to \u00adremain in the overall package.<\/p>\n
This will benefit pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and lone parents in a move that last year benefited close to 1.4 million people. However, it is understood it is unlikely there will be double child benefit this Christmas, after there were two double payments last year.<\/p>\n
The \u20ac9.4bn package, which includes \u20ac1.5bn in tax cuts, is poised to be one of the most austere and financially prudent budgets in years.<\/p>\n
Discussions with major departments including health, education, social protection and housing continued yesterday ahead of a meeting of party leaders this evening as the Government prepares to rein in spending and protect jobs amid economic uncertainty. <\/p>\n
At least a third of the overall tax package is expected to be consumed by the massive budgets needed to reduce the Vat rate for hospitality and construction.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Paschal Donohoe will present Budget 2026 on Tuesday. Photo: Collins<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – October 6th <\/p>\n
A reduction in the Vat rate for restaurants from 13.5pc to 9pc is expected to kick in from July at a cost to the Exchequer of more than \u20ac300m. A Vat rate cut on the construction of new apartments to 9pc is due in January, at the latest, in a bid to stimulate development at a cost of between \u20ac200m and \u20ac300m.<\/p>\n
The coalition is also preparing for a significant increase in tax breaks for research and development in what one source described as a \u201cpro-enterprise budget\u201d, while changes to the means test for carers are also expected to be announced on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has already ruled out any income tax package for middle-income workers.<\/p>\n
Government sources indicated that while social protection measures would be rolled out as part of a potential \u20ac1.8bn package, the focus would be on making \u201cpermanent, sustainable reductions in key areas\u201d.<\/p>\n
Public transport fees are expected to remain at a reduced level next year under plans to be announced by Transport Minister Darragh O\u2019Brien, while it is understood funding has been secured by Justice Minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan for the recruitment of up to 1,000 extra garda\u00ed in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Double child benefit unlikely this Christmas after there were two double payments last year Negotiations are continuing this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,10472,2190,18,13,14,6,3847,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,46,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-104755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-budget-2026","11":"tag-cost-of-living","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-housing","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-latest-news","20":"tag-latestnews","21":"tag-main-news","22":"tag-mainnews","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-paschal-donohoe","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}