Budget 2025: Minister insists earlier budget date is not related to ...

Budget 2025: Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said the budget would take place on October 1st but insisted moving the date forward was not a signal that an early election was planned. Illustration: Paul Scott

Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has signalled that Budget 2025 will take place on October 1st this year, a week earlier than usual.

Mr Chambers said the shift forward was “absolutely not” a signal of an early general election being planned and that the Government was “absolutely committed” to running its full term into next year.

He said the move was due to meetings of euro zone and EU finance ministers taking place in Brussels on October 7th and 8th and the Government having to submit fiscal and budgetary plans to the European Commission by October 15th.

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty later described the explanation as a “cock-and-bull story”.

The earlier-than-expected budget date will – if the Government wishes to – make it possible to have an election in early or mid November, provided the Coalition pushes the finance and the social welfare Bills through the Dáil quickly in the first half of October. Doing so would mean the Government could call a general election on November 8th or 15th.

Speculation about the Government calling an early general election was buoyed by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael having solid showings in the local and European elections and Sinn Féin having a disappointing weekend.

Mr Chambers said the Coalition was keen to implement “a lot of what we want to set out in Budget 2025″ and see through the finance and a social welfare Bills, which would “take a period of time in the aftermath” of budget day. He said the Government wants to plan for the long-term future and not undermine progress made to date.

“We have really positive exchequer returns, which I think demonstrates the strength and resilience of the Irish economy,” he said, adding it is “important that we have a careful and sensible budgetary policy as we enter into 2025″.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, Taoiseach Simon Harris also denied a general election was imminent. He said the dates of the European meetings cited by Mr Chambers have been “long-known among party leaders” and this means it “makes sense to have the budget on October 1st”.

“Outside of the media and political bubble, I can tell you what the people of Ireland will be much more interested in is not the date of the budget but the substance of the budget and certainly that is where my attention and focus is going to be in the weeks and months ahead,” the Fine Gael leader said.

“It is preferable to take these things step by step, the next thing that should happen is that the Summer Economic Statement will go to Cabinet next week. That will outline, roughly speaking, how much money we have to spend on new initiatives next year and also how much we will have for our tax package too.”

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Doherty told Mr Chambers his comments about the budget being moved forward because of a calendar clash with EU meetings was a “cock-and-bull story”.

Accusing the Government of “taking the public for fools”, Mr Doherty said he has been his party’s finance spokesman for 14 years and the September tax receipts have always been “crucial to the formation of the budget”. He told Mr Chambers not to pretend that the change of date was “for anything other than to potentially pave the way for an early election”.

In response, Mr Chambers said Mr Doherty was “a complete contradiction” given he and his party have regularly called for a general election to take place. “We’re actually committed to political stability and running our full-term,” he said. “And again you dismiss a European meeting ... and that shows your Euroscepticism.”

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Pat Leahy is Political Editor of The Irish Times

Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran is Parliamentary Correspondent of The Irish Times

Jennifer Bray

Jennifer Bray is a Political Correspondent with The Irish Times