- Read more: The effect of child-related benefits on child poverty and deprivation in Ireland
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) published a report on “The effect of child-related benefits on child poverty and deprivation in Ireland” on June 11, 2025.
- Read more: The Hidden Downside of Tax Cuts and Energy Credits for Controlling Inflation
This paper points to the negative effect of inflation on spending power—especially for those reliant on social protection—and its negative effects on public spending and Ireland’s competitiveness, while highlighting the extent to which the government is accused of driving inflation higher through universal energy credits and tax cuts, with the end result of reducing everyone’s…
- Read more: How We Track Public Spending
A significant part of the Constitution of Ireland sets out how public money is to be managed. Article 10 is about the state’s ownership of natural resources. Article 11 sets up the central fund for state revenue. Article 17 gives the Dáil the imperative to consider the estimates of receipts and expenditure of the state…
- Read more: Public Spending and the Choices Facing the Next Government
Ireland has six political parties that might plausibly form part of a government, and none of them has an agenda to raise taxes to any significant degree. Most of them probably agree with the plan to slowly raise social insurance (the rate is going up by 0.1 percentage points in October 2024) and those leaning…
- Read more: An Introduction to Ireland’s Public Spending Explained 2024
The last time Ireland intensively scrutinised public spending was when the economy had collapsed in 2008. The scale of the national debt and loss of tax revenue at the time threatened the financial ruin of the state. That was not the best environment in which to consider where the state spends money and what we…
- Read more: The Irish Taxation System: trends over time and international comparisons
Tax revenue fell substantially during the Great Recession: decreasing by €15bn or 33% from €47bn in 2007 to a low point of €32bn in 2010. As the economy stabilised after 2011, tax revenues also recovered at an annual average rate of 7% per year – reaching almost €60bn in 2019
- Read more: Comparing Irish Income Taxation Rates with other EU Member States
In 2019 Irish income tax revenue accounted for €23 billion or 40% of total tax receipts. Taxation of labour income accounts for the greatest share of total income tax receipts: with Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and the Universal Social Charge (USC) amounting to €16 bn and €4 bn respectively in 2019
