Five Things to Look for in Budget 2026

Recent comments from Ministers indicate that the Government intends to create a more cautious and fiscally prudent Budget for 2026 in response to global economic uncertainty. The emphasis is on long-term sustainability and infrastructure investment, with a move towards permanent, targeted cost-of-living supports rather than one-off, universal measures.

The Wheel, the national representative body for the charity and community sector, believes this shift provides a crucial opportunity to deliver a reforming Budget that ensures communities thrive.

Commenting today (30 September), Guillaume Jacquinot, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager at The Wheel, said: “The recently released Medium Term Expenditure Framework from the Department for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation underpins budgetary policy for the next five years. It highlights the imperative ‘to ensure an affordable level of resourcing on a multi-annual basis to support credible investment in public services [and] living standards.’

“While moving away from temporary supports, the Government has noted it is acutely conscious of the rise in the costs for necessities, and intends to provide ‘cost of living supports that are sustainable and permanent.’ At The Wheel we have consistently advocated for sustainable and permanent measures to support both individuals and the charity and community sector, which provides front-line community services.”*

What the Government can do in Budget 2026 to support individuals includes:

• Benchmark core social welfare rates to average earnings and make the necessary commensurate increases.
• Introduce a recurring Cost of Disability payment, promised in the Programme for Government of €2,600 a year (or €50 per week).

Guillaume Jacquinot, continued, "The €2 billion in one-off measures paid out last year must be replaced by permanent reforms that target support for those most at risk of poverty and disadvantage.”

What the Government can do in Budget 2026 to support frontline community services

According to the Wheel, while critical actions are needed for individuals, many organisations within the community and voluntary sector are on the front line, providing critical public services and supporting marginalised groups across Ireland. These essential services also need support.

The Wheel maintains that this support must translate into:

• Sustainable and equitable funding for community and voluntary organisations delivering State-contracted public services and other organisations supporting marginalised groups.
• A commitment to multi-annual funding, as sustainability means planning for the future.
• A commitment to annual funding of €60 million for the Community Recognition Fund to increase resourcing for community infrastructure (including community centres, playgrounds, and other shared facilities), with part of the fund ring-fenced for projects that address social cohesion.

Guillaume Jacquinot concluded, "We need a Budget that not only protects our communities but enables them to thrive and to face future crises, in which charities and community groups often act as the first responders. This Budget must preserve a socially cohesive Ireland in the face of global uncertainty, and reaffirm the Government’s commitment to our country, its people, and the community and voluntary sector."

Read our Pre-Budget Submission