Nearly one tenth of the entire EU budget went in annual payments to the owners of just 131,000 farm holdings in 2014, according to economist Alan Matthews.

There is fear and loathing among Cabinet ministers over where required budget cuts will be inflicted to pay for increased public sector pay, the Irish Examiner can reveal. There is no remaining fiscal space for next year and October’s budget will see no new measures included in it, ministers have warned.

The budget Michael Noonan presented last month breaks European Commission rules and does not take into account potential additional spending under breaches to the Lansdowne Road public pay accords, the country’s fiscal watchdog has warned.

The EU has called for an end to austerity and is now recommending an increase in government spending across Europe.

Childcare providers say they need extra money to make the Government's childcare schemes work.

The €5 increase in the State pension will begin from Friday, March 10.

The head of the Central Bank has criticised the Government's scheme for first-time buyers - saying it could end up serving only as a subsidy for builders.

A change to the help-to-buy scheme announced in the budget has been revealed in the Finance Bill.

Leo Varadkar has also confirmed he is working to ensure that the €5 welfare increase is paid as early as possible in March.

There are concerns that changes to the help-to-buy scheme will not stop house prices rising.

Official Government figures show there are several counties without any registered childminders.

Minister Michael Noonan is expected to announce wide scale changes to the help-to-buy scheme today.

The economic return on early years investment is much higher than for any other stage in a child’s life, writes Fergus Finlay

The Health Minister Simon Harris has said he intends to turn down a €4,000 pay rise.

The budget last week was a bland and pallid affair, designed to try to create an illusion of prosperity, a Potemkin Village of a performance.

Kehlan Kirwan finds little in the Budget that will inspire entrepreneurs and start-ups. The Government’s priorities appear to be fixed on multinationals and not domestic small businesses.

The Cabinet will next week agree a freeze on pay rises of up €12,000 for each minister following a backlash over scheduled salary increases.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone’s childcare subsidies could be extended to thousands of childminders after a working group on regulating childminders puts forward its proposals.

The new first-time buyers grant has been criticised as a “mansion grant” which will be available to those earning four times the average industrial wage.

Nurses who graduated between 2011 and 2015 will be more than €1,000 better off from January 1 next year.

The Government is coming under pressure to extend the childcare plans announced in Tuesday's Budget.

Fianna Fáil has said it will abstain from a vote on the new help-to-buy scheme which would offer a €20,000 tax rebate to first time buyers on newly- built homes.

It seems that Government Ministers will not be getting a pay rise out of the Budget after all.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he hopes the benefits from the budget will be felt by every home as he faced a backlash over the lack of Brexit-proofing measures in next year’s spending plans.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has dismissed concerns the minority government’s €1.3bn budget breaches EU rules.

The big winners of the new childcare subsidies are families on low pay and on benefits. 

There has been a spike in new home searches on the housing website Daft.ie.

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has said that says the new childcare subsidy announced in the Budget is a response to the number of unregulated providers.

This winner won't be too worried about yesterday's changes to the USC…

The Government has defended salary hikes for TDs amid Budget 2017 reforms which offered most people €5 extra a week.

General Practice members in the Irish Medical Organisation have denounced the "lack of support" for them in Budget 2017.

A Cabinet minister says it is worth risking higher property prices in order to help out first-time buyers.