Réamhra / Introduction
A Cheann Comhairle,
Agus an Tánaiste agus mé féin ag cur Bhuiséad fiche fiche seacht i bhur láthair, déanann muid é sin ó bhonn láidir.
Ní féidir an bonn láidir sin a thomhas trí staitisticí eacnamaíocha amháin áfach.
Tá sé le fáil i gcumas agus in uaillmhian ár ndaoine óga.
Sa neart atá inár gcuid pobal ar fud na tíre
Agus i sochaí a bhfuil athrú thar na bearta tagtha uirthi ach ina mothaítear go láidir fós gur cheart seasamh le chéile agus aire a thabhairt dá chéile.
As the Tánaiste and I present Budget 2027, we do so from a position of strength.
This strength stems from the hard work and dedication of the Irish people.
It resides in the talent and ambition of our youth,
In the spirit of communities across our country,
And in a society that has undergone extraordinary change while retaining a deep sense of connection and care for one another.
As the saying goes, Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine; we live in the shelter of one another.
That spirit of connection comes from the progress we have made as a country.
At full employment and with strong public finances, our economy continues to grow.
That growth has given us both the means and the opportunity to confront the challenges facing our people, strengthen our country and invest with confidence in its future.
But prosperity is not an end in itself. It brings with it choices, and with those choices comes responsibility.
As a Government, our responsibility is to ensure that the growth we experience today is translated into lasting improvements in people’s lives, greater resilience in our economy and a stronger country for the generations that follow.
A Cheann Comhairle, the Budget I am announcing today represents a scale of investment in our public services and infrastructure not seen before in our State.
But the level of our spending cannot, in itself, be the measure of our success.
That success must be measured differently.
In the homes that are built,
In hospital waiting lists that are reduced,
In childcare places created,
In infrastructure delivered,
And, ultimately, in whether people can see and feel a difference in their daily lives.
That is the true measure of our success. Not the scale of the resources we allocate, but the difference those resources make for our citizens, our communities and our country.
Budget 2027 targets resources where they can have the greatest impact.
Supporting families under pressure, helping workers with the cost of living and investing in the services and infrastructure on which our future depends.
However, Budget 2027 is not just an exercise in allocation, it is also an exercise in reform: simplifying how the State works, improving how public services are delivered and shifting our focus from simply building a bigger State to building a better one.
We have seen significant growth in the size, resources and reach of our public services in recent years.
Our task now is to ensure that this increased capacity translates into services that are more responsive, efficient and capable of delivering for our people.
Fiscal responsibility and public service reform are two sides of the same obligation – to use our position of strength wisely.
When times are good, governments have a responsibility to build resilience, rather than assume that favourable conditions will continue indefinitely.
As former Taoiseach Seán Lemass once observed: “We know by theory and experience that we cannot insulate ourselves from the effects of economic decline in other states.”
Internationally, we are facing the most fractured and uncertain geopolitical environment that many of us have experienced in our lifetimes.
While Ireland has successfully absorbed or mitigated many of the worst effects of this instability, we have not been insulated from it. Its consequences are visible at the pumps, on supermarket shelves, in household bills and in the costs faced by businesses across our economy.
At home, the concentration of corporation tax receipts – among a relatively small number of firms – remains a significant vulnerability for our public finances.
Taking those revenues for granted, and continuing to increase permanent expenditure commitments with them, would be akin to writing cheques today that we may not be able to pay tomorrow.
Expenditure Strategy
This is why Government is taking a responsible approach to managing our public finances, moderating current expenditure growth next year to six per cent down from over eight per cent in recent years.
This will see an extra seven point one billion euro allocated in 2027, bringing the total level of gross public expenditure to one hundred and twenty-five point six billion euro.
We will support investment in our public services and infrastructure, but we will do so at a pace that is sustainable and with a much greater focus on what that investment delivers.
We need to ensure that today's commitments can be honoured tomorrow.
To achieve this, we must fundamentally reset how we allocate resources and how we build a better State.
Creating Value for Money for the Future
Over the past year, I have introduced stronger expenditure controls, greater scrutiny of how staff resources are deployed and a renewed emphasis on accelerating infrastructure delivery.
Reform cannot be an occasional exercise or a response to emerging pressures alone. It must sit at the heart of everything we do.
Through the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce, we have made great strides on infrastructure reform this year.
I believe we can emulate this when it comes to day-to-day spending.
Therefore, it is my intention to establish a new Public Spending Efficiency Taskforce whose mandate will be to extensively scrutinise day to day public spending.
It will identify areas across public spending where there is scope to drive greater efficiencies and it will recommend specific actions that can deliver better services and greater value for money.
I have asked my officials to establish this Taskforce, with terms of reference to be finalised and work to commence within three months.
This work will inform the approach to Budget 2028 and subsequent Budgets over the lifetime of this Government to drive better economy, efficiency and delivery in all day-to-day spending.
The work of the Taskforce will be geared towards building a better State – a goal that is also driving my approach to infrastructure delivery.
Delivering Critical Infrastructure
On this day last year, I made a commitment to tackle the barriers that are delaying critical infrastructure projects across our country.
Since then, we have embarked on an unprecedented programme of change, and it is working.
This year alone, we have:
The reforms we are delivering at pace are moving us quickly in the right direction, but we must not become complacent.
In 2027 I intend to build on the work of the Taskforce, identifying the next steps needed to drive accelerated infrastructure delivery.
Success will be measured by how quickly we can translate the two hundred and seventy-five point four billion euro committed through the National Development
Plan into real projects – the water, energy and transport infrastructure we need to deliver more housing and tackle homelessness.
Next year, I am allocating twenty point three billion euro for capital investment, an increase of one point one billion euro on 2026.
Transport
A key focus of this investment will be on transport, a sector that has had a challenging year.
Conscious of the pressures being faced, particularly by road haulage and commercial passenger transport operators, Government is extending the Road Transport Support Scheme for two months this year. This will cost an estimated seventy-three million euro.
To further support the transport sector in 2027, I am allocating five point five billion euro to the Department of Transport.
This will enable:
Through the National Development Plan, four point two billion euro will:
Government is also allocating an additional six billion euro in Exchequer resources over the period 2027 to 2030 to progress MetroLink – a project of unprecedented scale in our country.
Now at detailed tender phase, MetroLink is a project that will be delivered and it will transform our capital city, reducing congestion and journey times for hundreds of thousands of commuters.
It will also enable up to one hundred and twenty thousand more homes to be built.
Climate, Energy and Environment
Investing in our energy infrastructure is also key to housing delivery.
Secure, sustainable and affordable sources of energy have never been more important for our country, and to support progress on our ambitions, I am allocating one point three billion euro for the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment in 2027.
This provides for a record capital allocation of six hundred and fifty-four point five million euro for SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes.
This will deliver more solar PV and a package of enhanced renewable energy and retrofit grants, including a boiler scrappage scheme to support permanent reductions to the cost of living.
A total of one hundred and seventy million euro will be allocated to climate action and the environment. This will include twenty-five million euro for the EU Just Transition programme in the Midlands, ensuring these communities are supported through our energy transition.
Finally, an overall allocation of one hundred and fifty-five million euro will further develop our circular economy, including forty-seven million euro to tackle waste contamination sites, making our localities cleaner and protecting nature and our natural resources.
Water
Water is another critical natural resource and a building block of future growth.
To support its significant programme of investment and to accelerate the delivery of new and existing water infrastructure, I am allocating two point three billion euro to Uisce Éireann in 2027.
This includes one point five billion in capital funding:
This investment will progress over four hundred projects in counties across Ireland next year including the Eastern and Midlands Region Water Supply Project, the Greater Dublin Drainage Scheme and Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades in Limerick and Waterford.
Housing, Local Government and Heritage
The shortage of housing is the single greatest challenge facing young people and families today.
A lack of supply is contributing to homelessness, driving up costs and impeding our young people from experiencing the independence that comes from owning their own home.
To fully address this challenge, we need to make it easier to build the houses our growing country needs.
In the coming year, Government will continue to accelerate reforms to remove the barriers standing in the way of progress with a supply side focus.
To support the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in 2027, I am allocating nine point four billion euro. This includes:
I am allocating five point six billion euro in capital funding which will include:
Investing in public services and our people
A Cheann Comhairle, this Government is acutely aware of the pressures many people and their families are facing in our country and today’s Budget will ease that pressure.
While we cannot insulate against every price rise, we can deliver a meaningful and progressive package of supports for households, one that seeks to address cost of living pressures and protect the most vulnerable in our society.
Social Protection
Our social protection system is a key part of achieving this and next year I am allocating thirty point nine billion euro for the Department of Social Protection.
This is a two billion euro increase on this year and will provide for:
To support households with their energy costs:
To support families and children, I am increasing:
Alongside these new measures, this funding will:
Children, Disability and Equality
Making progress to reduce child poverty is a key priority for Government and this Budget takes decisive steps to move us further along that path.
Reducing childcare costs is a meaningful way of making progress, making it more affordable for families to raise their children and supporting parents to participate in our workforce.
For this reason, I am reducing the maximum childcare fees paid by parents, from seven hundred and thirty-five euro to five hundred and fifty euro per month for children up to senior infants. This will save parents two thousand two hundred and twenty euro per child per year.
Taken together, the childcare measures in Budgets 2026 and 2027 will reduce the maximum parental co-payment by more than thirty per cent, keeping us firmly on the path towards achieving our Programme for Government commitment on childcare costs.
The seven point six billion euro allocation to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality in 2027, will also:
Disability
This Government is fully committed to advancing the rights and improving the lives of people with disabilities. To make progress:
Further developing capacity in this sector will support people with disabilities and their inclusion in everyday life in our country.
Education and Youth
It is also vital that every student is supported to reach their full potential, and that our education system is inclusive of all students.
To support this, I am allocating fourteen point four billion euro to the Department of Education and Youth in 2027.
This will provide for an increase of seventeen million euro to the capitation funding paid to schools to support their running costs.
Per pupil, this will mean an increase of sixty-eight euro to three hundred and forty-two euro at primary level, a twenty-five per cent uplift, and an increase of forty euro to four hundred and forty-six euro at post primary, a ten per cent increase.
An additional two million euro will support the DEIS Plus programme and three million euro of funding is being provided for an additional one hundred Home School Community Liaison coordinators to improve outcomes for children at risk of educational disadvantage.
I am providing for a fifty-six million euro increase in the allocation to support children and young people with special education needs in mainstream, special classes and special schools. This will fund:
Additional funding of thirty-three million euro for school transport will bring one hundred and eighty thousand school children to and from school every day.
Capital funding of one point six billion euro will:
Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
A Cheann Comhairle, the frontier of technological innovation is moving at an unprecedented pace.
The development and diffusion of AI is not just a new trend; it is a paradigm shift that will have profound implications for our economy and society.
As a country, we are well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that AI offers, but only if we equip our people with the skills of the future.
To deliver on this, I am allocating five point three billion euro to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in 2027.
This will fund a new three-year National Training Fund skills package with a total investment of three hundred and sixty million euro. Of this, one hundred and fifty million euro will be targeted at strengthening skills resilience across the economy, including the skills we need to adapt to a future where AI is central to work.
I am also conscious of the pressure many families face in supporting their children through third level education.
To ease cost-of-living pressures on families and widen participation in higher education, I am introducing a permanent reduction to the student contribution fee of one hundred and fifty euro.
I will also provide for enhanced and new student contribution fee grants for families with more than one child attending higher education and an increase of SUSI maintenance grant rates by four point five per cent from January.
Overall, these measures will benefit over one hundred fifty thousand students and their families.
Additional funding will also be provided to
A nine hundred and twenty-five million euro capital allocation will fund key NDP projects, including:
This investment in education and research will drive scientific discovery and innovation – a cornerstone of our digitalisation agenda.
Digitalisation and AI in the Public Service
In the public service in particular, our ambition must go beyond using new technology to make old processes faster. We must use it to redesign services around the citizen to make public services better and easier to access.
To support this, I am providing seventeen million euro to the Digital Transformation Fund in 2027, alongside ongoing investment of nine million euro in Government digital infrastructure, bringing total planned investment to twenty-six million euro next year.
This funding will support the delivery of simpler, more connected and more accessible public services for people, families and businesses across the country.
There is perhaps no area where the combination of investment, reform and technology has greater potential to improve people's lives than in our health service.
Health
Our life expectancy in Ireland has never been higher, and our health system is among the highest funded in Europe on a per capita basis.
In the past decade, annual investment in health has increased by over thirteen billion euro and in that time, the health workforce has grown by over thirty per cent.
It is crucial that our investment in health, alongside productivity and reform, translates into better outcomes for patients.
To support this, the Department of Health will receive an additional one point six billion euro in current expenditure in 2027.
This will provide for:
Budget 2027 provides for a record level of investment in mental health, delivering:
The NDP will fund one point seven billion euro in health infrastructure projects in 2027, including:
Investment in public healthcare strengthens our communities and protects the most vulnerable in society.
The same is true when it comes to security and defence.
Protecting our communities and our State
Justice, Home Affairs and Migration
A Cheann Comhairle, everyone who lives in our country deserves to feel safe in their homes and communities.
Our Gardaí play such a critical role in this and to support the force in 2027, funding will be allocated to recruit up to one thousand trainee Gardaí, bringing our force to over fifteen thousand next year.
A five point nine billion euro allocation for the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration will also provide:
Defence
Alongside investment in justice, we will continue to strengthen our capacity to protect the State and respond to a more uncertain international environment.
This is why I am announcing a package of one point six billion euro for the Department of Defence for 2027.
An increase of almost nine per cent, it will support:
Three hundred and forty million euro of NDP funding will support:
Foreign Affairs and Trade and Shared Island
Our security is shaped by our engagement with the wider world – especially at a time when Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Overseas development funding is a crucial part of our global contribution and that is why I’m announcing funding of one point three billion euro for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for 2027.
This will include:
Our Shared Island
The progress we have made to secure peace on this island can act as a beacon of hope in an increasingly fractured world.
But we know too well that we cannot take this for granted. We must continue to invest in building connection and progress that is mutually beneficial.
The Shared Island Initiative offers us this opportunity by delivering major investment that will benefit the whole island.
In 2027, I am allocating two hundred million euro to the Shared Island Fund to support:
We will also invest in major new infrastructure in ports to support Offshore Renewable Energy both North and South, as well as upgrades to rail infrastructure between Dublin, Belfast and Derry, in line with the All-Island Strategic Rail Review.
The Shared Island Initiative will deepen connections between people across the island and offer new opportunities for enterprise.
Strengthening growth, enterprise and Ireland’s global position
Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
Enterprise flourishes in our country when the courage, determination and vision of our entrepreneurs, SMEs and family businesses is matched by a State that can enable and support the right conditions for success.
I believe the State can create these conditions in two ways.
Firstly, we can simplify and rebalance regulation to make it easier for domestic and foreign owned enterprises to do business here.
And secondly, we can deliver targeted financial supports to new and existing businesses, so that they can continue to grow and support record levels of employment in our country.
To support these goals, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment will receive one point four billion euro in 2027.
Agriculture, Food and the Marine
For decades now, our agriculture sector has been delivering for Ireland.
A key component of our modern economy, it is the heartbeat of every corner of Ireland, supporting almost one hundred and sixty thousand jobs.
I am conscious of the pressures that farmers are facing when it comes to fuel costs. Therefore, the Fuel Income Support Scheme for farmers and agricultural contractors and related horticulture and fisheries schemes are being extended to cover a further five-month period this year at a cost of thirty-one point two million euro.
Government will continue to support the agriculture sector in 2027 and to do so I am allocating two point three billion euro to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
This will provide:
Not only is Ireland’s agri-food sector supporting jobs and exports, but it is also the driving force of our rural communities.
Supporting vibrant communities and culture
Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
Our farmers, food producers and coastal communities play a vital role in sustaining regional economies and supporting growth across the country.
The success of these sectors has always depended on the strength of the communities behind them.
In 2027, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht will receive six hundred and twenty-eight million euro. Of this:
In 2027, the NDP will support the development of:
Together, these measures will strengthen rural amenities, support the Gaeltacht and help preserve and promote the unique cultural heritage that enriches our country.
Culture, Communications and Sport
Communities are sustained by the institutions, traditions and activities that bring people together. Our artists and media help define who we are as a people. They preserve our heritage and showcase Ireland's creativity and talent at home and abroad.
From local clubs to national level, sport has a unique ability to unite.
Those of us lucky enough to be in Croke Park and indeed the whole country will never forget how they felt in those final seconds as the clock ticked down on Mayo’s seventy-five year wait for All Ireland glory this summer.
We are a country that understands the immeasurable contribution sport makes to our shared sense of belonging.
That is why in 2027, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport will receive a package of one point three billion euro.
One hundred and twenty-one million euro in current funding for Sport Ireland will support sports participation and player development including;
For Culture and the Arts:
For Communication and Media:
Through the NDP:
Whether it is through sport, culture, stronger communities, public services or modern infrastructure, the purpose of public investment is the same: to improve people's lives. The choices we have made in Budget 2027 reflect our determination to ensure that public investment delivers real benefits for people.
A Budget for our People
A Cheann Comhairle, taken together, the Budget I am announcing today is a progressive one.
It is a budget for working families.
For the second-year running, Government has reduced the cost of childcare in a meaningful way, easing the pressure on parents, and giving them the opportunity to return to work. It also takes further steps to permanently reduce the contribution families pay towards third level education.
This means that a married couple with one child in full-time childcare, both working and with a combined net income of ninety-five thousand euro, can expect to see a gain of over three and half thousand euro next year – a three-point seven percent increase – because of the decisions we are making today.
This budget protects lower paid workers.
A single person with a minimum wage job and a net income of twenty-six thousand euro will see a five per cent increase in their income next year because of the increase in the minimum wage.
This budget protects the most vulnerable in our society, reducing income inequality and the at-risk-of-poverty rate.
Households with the lowest incomes will see an increase of almost 4 per cent.
The incomes of lone-parent households, pensioner households and people with a disability will all see an increase because of the decisions we are making today.
I am confident that the measures I am committing to today, together with the tax changes announced by the Tánaiste, will make a real difference in people’s pockets and improve how public services are delivered.
Public Service Pay
None of the ambition I have set out today can be achieved without the people who deliver our public services.
The State is and will continue to be a good employer.
The Government wants to work constructively with workers’ representatives to secure a new public service agreement that is fair to public servants, fair to taxpayers and sustainable for our economy.
As I have already set out, Budget 2027 is one that protects living standards in what are uncertain times.
Government, unions and representative associations must now refocus on delivering an agreement without further delay.
The most recent public service pay agreement made important progress on protecting the living standards of public servants and it is Government’s intention that any successor agreement should make further progress.
Industrial action in the public service has been ongoing for almost a week now and while I understand the strength of feeling, every effort should be made to avoid further disruption of services to the public.
I have made significant provision in today’s Budget package for public service pay.
This demonstrates my seriousness, and indeed the seriousness of Government, in our desire to reach a new agreement that responds to the issues that have been raised.
I would now call on ICTU and other associations to match this intent by re-engaging as a matter of urgency and standing down the ongoing industrial action.
Closing Remarks / Focail Scoir
A Cheann Comhairle,
Bhí tráthanna sa saol nuair a b’éigean d'Éirinn féachaint níos faide ná na dúshláin a bhí díreach amach romhainn agus cinneadh a dhéanamh faoin gcineál tíre a bhí ag teastáil uainn.
There have been moments in our history when Ireland has had to look beyond the immediate challenges before us to decide what kind of country we wanted to become.
The generation of Lemass recognised that Ireland could not secure its future simply by managing the structures it had inherited. They questioned assumptions, removed barriers, opened our economy and prepared Ireland for a future that was only beginning to emerge.
Today, in very different circumstances, that responsibility falls to us.
We are fortunate to live through a period of remarkable prosperity. But prosperity is not, in itself, a purpose.
Previous generations were challenged to create prosperity. Our generation will be judged by what we do with it. Not simply by how much money was available to us. Not simply by how much we spent.
But by what we built, what we changed and the positive difference we made.
We have an opportunity to turn today's prosperity into something more enduring: the homes and infrastructure of a growing country; better and more responsive public services; a productive and competitive economy and public finances strong enough to withstand the challenges that will inevitably come.
We cannot know precisely what Ireland will look like in twenty or thirty years.
But we can decide whether we enter that future prepared.
That is the purpose of Budget 2027.
To protect people today.
To build the foundations of tomorrow.
And to reform our State so that it is ready for the future.
A Cheann Comhairle, is annamh a fhaigheann muid deis mar seo: is é sin forás náisiúnta fadtéarmach a dhéanamh de thréimhse leanúnach den rath.
If we use this moment wisely, the prosperity of this generation can become the foundation for the success of the next.
I commend this Budget to the House.
ENDS.