Yesterday TV3 were announcing that details of the 2010 Budget – due on December 9th – had been leaked to them. It will be intersting to see how many of these leaks turn out to be true.
These are the main areas of the 2010 Budget that TV3 mentioned:
One billion worth of cuts will be made from social welfare,
One billion in cuts to capital spending
One billion cut from departmental spending.
Public sector Pay will be cut by five per cent.
(Now that the unpaid leave is under discussion with unions – this might not be the case)Taxation
At present there is no plan for the third rate of tax for high earners.
Social Welfare
Child Benefit will be cut by ten per cent. A compensation package will be available for welfare recipients.
All other benefits will be cut by about five per cent. (But not Old Age Pensions)
Unemployment benefit for under twenty threes will fall by twenty per cent
Health
A prescription charge of fifty cent will be introduced for medical card holders.
A&E charges will rise
The threshold for the drug payment scheme will also rise.
The 10% cut in Child Benefit and the cut to younger people’s Jobseekers Allowance has also been mentioned in some of the papers today.