Galway Bay fm news - Budget 2018 has been delivered to the Dail by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.
It provides the highest ever spending on health and education with extra teachers, nurses and Gardai to be hired.
Welfare rates are to increase by 5 euro and the USC is being cut.
There will be a sugar tax introduced on fizzy drinks and cigarettes are to increase by 50 cent for a packet of 20.
Next year it'll cost 60.9 billion euro to run Ireland
The cost of social protection will be over 20 billion and in the last week of March 2018 all weekly welfare rates will increase by 5 euro per week.
The health service will get a 685 million euro budget increase bringing its total to 15.3 billion.
That will allow for 1800 additional frontline staff, a trebling of the national treatment purchase fund to 55 million and a lowering of the prescription charge from 2.50 per item to 2 euro per item.
There will be 800 extra gardai and 500 extra civilians for the force. 13,00 extra teachers and 1000 extra snas for schools
For workers, 2 USC rates have been lowered and income tax bands have been raised.
