Search
25 Apr 2026
Search
25 Apr 2026
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
The decision to make changes to income tax in the upcoming budget was not prompted by fuel protests, Simon Harris said.
The Tanaiste said he made the commitment days after becoming finance minister in November, and is part of the Programme for Government.
He was speaking after Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said on Tuesday that Budget 2026 “didn’t give workers a break” and that would “have to be a priority in the context of Budget 2027”.
Mr Chambers said helping low to middle-income workers was a priority for the upcoming budget on October 6.
Speaking in Co Kildare on Friday, Mr Harris said the fuel protests had not prompted the decision.
“No, I said it before Christmas, I said it within days of becoming a Minister for Finance that there needs to be a personal income tax package budget,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s particularly surprising to many people.
“When we came together and formed the Programme for Government, we did make it clear we wanted to make progress on personal income tax over the lifetime of the government.
“We had to make a series of decisions this year to support housing and to support business, small businesses in the hospitality sector.
“That did, I suppose, reduce the room for a personal income tax package in this current budget, but it is our collective intention to proceed with income tax measures in the forthcoming budget.
“The composition of that is too early, we need to work our way through that to decide what is the best way.
“But I actually think the compelling case for an income tax package is even strengthened now.
“In a cost-of-living crisis, one of the best things you can do is help people keep some of their own money and work always has to pay. So it is our intention to do that.
“The next staging post will be the summer economic statement, where we generally provide a breakdown on the amount that we intend in the budget to be for new spending measures and the amount we intend in the budget to be for taxation.”
Therese Hogan, Salesian Secondary College teacher and charity lunch coordinator with committee members: Sorcha Gore, Molly Aherne, Anna Dalton and Emma Harris
Ben Murphy, GM, Magellan Aviation Group pictured at the Shannon facility with Dermot Graham, quality assurance co-ordinator and Richard O'Grady, head of commercial Picture: Eamon Ward
Kilmallock dairy farmers Declan and Niamh Flynn, with their sons Jamie and Henry, at the Pasture Progress Awards I PICTURE: O'Gorman Photography
If you witnessed or have any information on these incidents, please contact Shannon Garda Station
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
