With Budget 2025 now in the public domain after months of speculation, there are always measures that fall through the cracks.
In the wake of the Paris Olympics, which saw Ireland take home a record seven medals, there is a further push in this budget to provide funds to develop high-performance athletes.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe set out an overall allocation to sport of €230m for next year, up €21.7 on 2024.
In particular, the budget proposes giving out additional support to Sport Ireland to “enhance activity around high performance sport”. It is also pushing to promote equal access and inclusivity throughout sport around the country.
The Irish secret service has again managed to keep its €2m in annual funding. The Directorate of Military Intelligence — also known as J2 — is the intelligence arm of the Defence Forces. It mainly works with the Government to help provide information key to the overall security of the State.
The budget for the organisation has remained static for the last five years, with it last receiving an increase in funding in 2020 — when it went from €1.25m a year to €2m.
While the overall excise for alcohol was not increased in the budget as had been expected, Finance Minister Jack Chambers has extended out tax reliefs for small producers of certain types of alcohol.
Initially introduced in 2023, the relief applied to independent small producers of cider and perry — an alcohol made with fermented pears.
It is now set to cover other fermented drinks like mead and wines made from fruit other than grapes, like strawberry wine. The relief is also being extended to producers of higher-strength perry and cider.
Foreign Affairs is not typically a department closely watched for extra funding in budgets, with attention typically drawn to the higher spending departments like Social Protection or Health.
But there’s a bit of money due to come in this year, with a further €10m being allocated for Ireland to expand new embassies to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Moldova.
Not alone are we opening up new embassies, the Department of Foreign Affairs are also looking to open new Consulate Generals in Spanish party capital Malaga and Melbourne in Australia.
Foreign Affairs is also receiving a further €10m in funding to help prepare for Ireland’s turn at the Presidency of the Council of the EU — which we take up in summer 2026.
The Finance Minister has also announced changes to charity tax rules.
Mr Chambers told the Dáil that he would be removing the barriers to charities having access to tax benefits under the existing Charitable Donations Tax Scheme.
This means that charities do not need to be established for two years before accessing the scheme, while also expanding the timeframe from when they receive a donation to when it must be used.
The scheme itself lets charities receive claim tax refunds on donations of over €250 made by an individual in a year or more, or tax deductions if the same is donated by a company.