The measures in Budget 2026 are not going to change the amount of money in people’s pockets, chief economist with Deloitte Kate English has told Behind the Story.
The Government has announced a package of €9.4 billion - with €8.1bn committed to public spending and €1.3bn in taxation measures.
While several announcements were made regarding welfare rates and allowances, there will be no change to personal income tax for workers.
Read more: Here are the key points from Budget 2026
Behind the Story examines what this means for the average worker.
"Today’s budget, for your pocket, isn’t going to change how you live day-to-day very much," Ms English said.
"When we look at no change to those income tax brackets, that is essentially a tax increase without calling it such."
Ms English said many of the measures announced are for longer-term changes which means "pockets are going to be tighter over the next year".
She said several one-off payments announced last year – such as electricity credits - had to come to an end.
"We saw those one-off payments for multiple years, they were no longer one-off payments," she explained.
"They always had to come to an end at some point.
"It comes back to how do you reduce those costs for people long-term? It is [by] addressing the supply constraints within the system – that’s where you’re back to capital expenditure."
Ms English said several measures were also announced "out to 2030", including keeping 9% VAT on gas and electricity.
"I think the average worker is going to be disappointed and will still feel disappointed when they wake up tomorrow after digesting all this," she said.
"This isn’t just a budget about 2026 – it’s what do you want Ireland to look like by 2036?" she added.
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