For four decades now RTÉ television and radio coverage has been part of budget day. Radio, television and online media offer the public a way to learn of budgetary measures and how they impact on everyday lives.
RTÉ journalists, reporters and analysts guide the public through the speech by the Minister for Finance and the implications of the budget. The views of the opposition political parties are aired and debated with government members.
From early afternoon the budget speech is now carried live and RTÉ platforms bring analysis and comment. Albert Reynolds was Minister for Finance when the first televised budget speech was made in 1991. It has been customary for many years for the Minister to appear on RTÉ Radio the day after the budget to take listeners questions.
Financial ministers and governments have come and gone but for most of us budget day brings a trepidation, and anxiety as we wait to find how the announcements will affect our pockets and our lives. We have taken a look back at 14 budgets here and look at promises made, kept and broken. There are budgets from good times for Ireland and budgets made in tougher economic circumstances.
In a change to the convention, An Taoiseach Jack Lynch, delivered Budget 1970 in the absence of the Minister for Finance, Charles J. Haughey.
Production Year
1970
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Election Agent Describes Haughey's Accident
Election agent for Charles J. Haughey, Patrick O'Connor, reads a statement outlining Haughey's accident on budget day.
Production Year
1970
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
The Harshest Budget Since The War
The budget introduced by Minister for Finance Richie Ryan in 1976 was described as the toughest since the Second World War.
Production Year
1976
Contributor
Michael Murphy (Newsreader)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"Virtually Nothing To Either Help Inflation Or To Help Unemployment"
Martin O'Donoghue, Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, gives his analysis of Budget 1976 and recalls some tough budgets from the past.
Production Year
1976
Contributor
Martin O'Donoghue
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Minister for Hardship
RTÉ's 'Halls Pictorial Weekly' has an entertainingly satirical take on the Richie Ryan budget. Watch this broadcast on behalf of the 'Minister for Hardship'.
Production Year
1976
Contributor
Frank Hall (Presenter)
Eamon Morrisey (Minister for Hardship)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"We Are Living Away Beyond Our Means"
Charles J. Haughey prepares the public for what is to come in the 1980 budget.
Production Year
1980
Contributor
Charles J. Haughey
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Reaction To The Five Per Cent On Golf Balls
Reactions from around the country to the 1980 budget, including the 300% increase in duty on soft drinks and 5% on golf balls.
Production Year
1980
Contributor
Brendan O'Brien (Reporter)
Kevin O'Connor (Reporter)
Jim Fahy (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Questions On Public Transport For The Minister
Questions and opposition are raised by listeners in relation to petrol price hikes.
Production Year
1980
Contributor
Rodney Rice (Presenter)
Michael O'Kennedy
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
The Children’s Shoes Budget
Objections to proposals to put VAT on children's shoes means that budget 1982 fails to get passed in the Dáil.
Production Year
1982
Contributor
Forbes McFall (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Debate on VAT on Shoes and Clothes
Different viewpoints on the announcement of an 18% VAT rate on shoes and clothes.
Production Year
1982
Contributor
Brian Farrell (Presenter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"This Is The Most Important And Difficult Decision Of My Life"
Deputies Jim Kemmy and Joe Sherlock give their reactions to the budget on 'Today Tonight'.
Production Year
1982
Contributor
Brian Farell (Presenter)
Forbes McFall (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Budget '82 Becomes Election '82
The defeat of the Government over John Bruton's budget means that a general election is now imminent.
Production Year
1982
Contributor
John Bowman (Presenter)
Phil Crotty (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
A Neutral Budget
Minister for Finance, Alan Dukes, described his 1984 budget as "broadly neutral". The public react in a report for 'Today Tonight'.
Production Year
1984
Contributor
Gary Agnew (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
10th Anniversary For Post-Budget Radio Appearance
Television cameras record the tenth year of a Minister for Finance appearing on radio to answer listeners' questions.
Production Year
1984
Contributor
John Bowman (Presenter)
Alan Dukes
Liam Cahill (Producer)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"I Wonder Is Mr. Dukes Paying The Six Pence Extra Himself?"
Michael Fisher gets reaction to budget increases on the old reliables of petrol, tobacco and alcohol.
Production Year
1984
Contributor
Michael Fisher (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"Mac The Knife"
Minister for Finance, Ray MacSharry, delivered a tough budget where fiscal rectitude was the phrase of the day.
Production Year
1987
Contributor
John Bowman (Presenter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"It's Very Hard To Take Skin Off A Skeleton"
Panelists on the 'Today Tonight' Budget Special give their views on Budget '87.
Production Year
1987
Contributor
Brian Farrell (Presenter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Another Budget 12 Years On
With over 250,000 people on the dole, RTÉ's 'Evening Extra' looks at the plight of social welfare recipients.
Production Year
1987
Contributor
Nick Coffey (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
First Televised Dáil Report
Albert Reynolds delivered the first televised budget speech to the Dáil in 1991.
Production Year
1991
Contributor
Donal Kelly (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Photocall for Minister, Daughters and Briefcase
Bertie Ahern is accompanied by his daughters Cecelia and Georgina at the press photo call prior to presenting his first budget.
Production Year
1992
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Bruton and Spring Question Fianna Fáil Leadership
Opposition leaders John Bruton and Dick Spring question the Taoiseach regarding any decision he may make about his resignation.
Production Year
1992
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Budget Leaks Lead To Resignation Of Junior Minister
Una Claffey reports on leaked budget information that led to junior minister Phil Hogan surprising the Dáil by announcing his resignation from government.
Production Year
1995
Contributor
Una Claffey (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Interview With Phil Hogan
Phil Hogan talks to reporter Peter Cluskey following his resignation from government.
Production Year
1995
Contributor
Peter Cluskey (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Ringsend Pub Poet Reacts To Budget
Joe Little visits Minister for Finance Ruairí Quinn's constituency to gauge reaction to the budget. One drinker in a Ringsend pub is inspired to poetry.
Production Year
1995
Contributor
Joe Little (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Details Of Budget
RTÉ's economics editor George Lee reports on the details of Charlie McCreevy's budget.
Production Year
1999
Contributor
George Lee (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Budget Viewed From Fatima Mansions
Audrey McMahon and Dorothy Walker, residents of Fatima Mansions in Dublin, watch the budget and explain what it will mean for them.
Production Year
1999
Contributor
Orla O'Donnell (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"It Is About Society And The Way We Live In This Country"
The studio panel on RTÉ's 'Prime Time' special debate the implications of the changes in the taxation system introduced by the budget.
Production Year
1999
Contributor
Miriam O'Callaghan (Presenter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
McCreevy And Noonan On Individualisation
Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy and Michael Noonan of Fine Gael argue their corners on Budget 2000. They discuss the notion of individualisation of taxation.
Production Year
1999
Contributor
Brian Farrell (Presenter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"And So It Is, And So It Should Be In My View"
Charlie McCreevy gives his reasons for changing the tax system to favour married couples with both spouses working.
Production Year
1999
Contributor
Pat Kenny (Presenter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"I'm Absolutely Incensed By This Budget"
Sandra, a caller to RTÉ's 'Liveline', outlines her opposition to Charlie McCreevy's changes to the tax system.
Production Year
1999
Contributor
Teri Garvey (Presenter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Decentralisation To End Dublin Mindset In Policy Formation
David Davin Power reports on Charlie McCreevy's address to the Dáil and the replies from Fine Gael and Labour. McCreevy signals that there will be radical administrative decentralisation.
Production Year
2003
Contributor
David Davin Power (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Budget Pleases Business But Problems For Local Government Finances
Ingrid Miley gets reaction to the budget from the social partners, including TD Mary Harney, Turlough O'Sullivan of IBEC and David Beggs of the ICTU.
Production Year
2003
Contributor
Ingrid Miley (Reporter)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"It Will Work and the Government Will Ensure That It will".
Charlie McCreevy's decentralisation announcement keeps the budget in the headlines. Five days after the budget, the Minister assures his critics that the notion is not rocket science and that the Government will ensure that it works.
Production Year
2003
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
The Big Giveaway
With money in the bank and windfall gains to the public finances, the government set out to reward workers and encourage further spending in the economy.
Production Year
2006
Contributor
George Lee (Reporter)
David Davin Power (Reporter)
Anne Doyle (Newsreader)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Income Redistribution or Electioneering?
Cowen’s budget sets out to reward workers with an increase in tax credits, and a widening of the tax bands.
Production Year
2006
Contributor
David Davin Power (Reporter)
Brian Dobson (Newsreader)
Sharon Ní Bheoláin (Newsreader)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"A Substantial Down Payment On The Journey Back To Economic Health"
Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, described the budget as, "a substantial down payment on the journey back to economic health". He added that there is every reason to have confidence in the future of the country.
Production Year
2010
Contributor
David Davin Power (Reporter)
Brian Dobson (Newsreader)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Day Two of Budget
Day two of Budget 2012 sees Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, attempting to regain control of the country's finances and get people back to work.
Production Year
2011
Contributor
David Davin Power (Reporter)
Brian Dobson (Newsreader)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Difficult And Unpalatable Decisions
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, announced details of almost €1.4bn in spending cuts for next year and described the decisions made by government as "difficult" and "unpalatable".
Production Year
2011
Contributor
David Davin Power (Reporter)
Brian Dobson (Newsreader)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
"I Want To Be A Taoiseach Who Retrieves Ireland's Economic Sovereignty"
Ahead of the announcement of further austerity measures in Budget 2012, The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny addresses the nation in a television broadcast on the “challenges we face as a community, an economy and as a country”.
Production Year
2011
Contributor
Enda Kenny
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Source Of Leaks To Be Investigated
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has said that the government is deeply concerned that documents that formed part of the negotiating process with the EU/IMF/ECB troika could surface in a German parliamentary committee.
Production Year
2011
Contributor
David McCullagh (Reporter)
Eileen Dunne (Newsreader)
MEMORABLE BUDGETS
Noisy Protests On Budget Day
While the Minister for Finance delivered his budget in Dáil Eireann, noisy protests were taking place outside with a number of groups there to voice their anger at the budget measures.
