The Seanad will begin debating the Finance Bill today, after it passed all stages in the Dáil yesterday.

The Finance Bill has been approved by the Dáil this afternoon, passing by 81 votes to 76.

The Government faces a new crisis tonight as TDs threaten to oppose putting Budget 2011 into law by passing the Finance Bill.

The Finance Minister has announced that he is cutting the rate of the Universal Social Charge for medical-card holders.

Betting taxes are to be extended to online bookmakers and gambling exchanges, it was announced today.

Chambers Ireland has today welcomed the signing of the order to reduce the minimum wage to €7.65 per hour from February 1.

The new national minimum wage rate is to take effect on February 1.

A property developer accused of dangerous driving for allegedly parking a cherry picker outside Leinster House on Budget Day has been remanded on continuing bail pending directions from the DPP.

The Government was tonight accused of targeting patients’ services for cuts as health chiefs revealed €683m in savings next year.

A property developer has pleaded not guilty to criminal damage and motoring charges in connection with an incident in which a concrete mixer truck was allegedly driven against the gates of Leinster House last September.

Around €7m has been set aside to put 1,000 redundant apprentices through the final stages of their training, the Government said today.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen will today brief government ministers from the North and Britain on the economic crisis during the latest British Irish Council summit.

THE former head of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has described as “cosy” his relationship with the Financial Regulator.

THE cost of Christmas will drive more than half of us into debt this year and one-in-four will see financial woes dilute our enjoyment of the festivities, a new survey has found.

THE €35 billion bailout promised for the country’s banks from the EU and IMF rescue package will not be enough, according to the chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Alan Dukes.

Labour is demanding a reversal of the decision to cut the minimum wage.

THE IMF has postponed approving its €22.5 billion loan to the country after Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s decision to put the conditions of the package to a vote in the Dáil next week.

A LAST-DITCH attempt to protect existing workers from the €1 an hour cut to the minimum wage was successfully blocked by the Government.

ORDINARY staff members in AIB are being wrongly subjected to “abuse, ridicule and anger” over the €40 million bonus to be paid next week.

Whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, everyone has had something to say about the €6 billion worth of cutbacks and tax hikes introduced by the Government in Budget 2011.

BRIAN LENIHAN is irritated. One of his budget measures has been greeted with a “deal of begrudgery” and he “cannot allow this to go unchallenged,” he says.

THE 17-year-old Leaving Certificate student who hit the headlines after leading a mass protest out of his school during class hours will not be suspended for his actions — provided he does not launch another campaign.

Family carers have staged a protest outside the Dáil today over the 4 % cut in their allowance.

The Dáil has passed legislation to cut the National Minimum Wage by €1 to €7.65.

The Dáil has passed the first vote by 80 to 72 to slash €1 off the national minimum wage.

The Health Minister Mary Harney has said she understands why some people think a cut of €10,000 in the salaries of Ministers isn't enough.

Estate agents Savills have today pointed out that the Government’s changes to the Stamp Duty regime mean that potential first-time house buyers could pay €2,500 more today than had they bought the same property on Monday.

A protest is being held outside the Dáil in opposition to the €1 cut in the minimum wage being voted on today.

The Carers Association is calling on opposition parties to reverse the cuts announced in the Budget, if they get into power.

The legislation to slash a euro off the minimum wage, cut the Taoiseach and Ministers' pay and cut public service pensions will be finalised in the Dáil today.

Third level fees are set to rise to €2,000 for students, many of whom will be unable to pay or will be put off from continuing their studies as a result of the rate.

THERE has been much comment on the burden we as a State are passing onto our children and young people, as a result of the momentous decisions taken in recent weeks to seek international financial assistance.

Young people feel they have no option but to emigrate and have little faith that things will change, writes Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

THIS is the country I have inherited. Left in a will from by a dying breed of politician that tried to squander everything on its death bed before leaving the estate to its foreign mistress.

Four members of Ireland’s youth parliament, Dáil na nÓg, reflect on our current economic situation

The young are often unheard, but the girls of St Aloysius College are outspoken and articulate on the state of their nation, says Kerrie Kennedy

Postgrad student Annemaria O’Reilly is determined not to be one of the ‘lost generation’, even as her peers prepare to leave the country

The pain of more fees and the dole queue is not what young people expected from the money the Government had in the ‘boom’, writes Róisín Healy

THE Government is introducing a 90% “super tax” on bank bonuses, but it won’t apply to the €40 million about to be paid to AIB staff.

FIANNA FÁIL deputies have been accused of cowardice after taking shelter in a private parliamentary party meeting rather than speaking in the Dáil to support the controversial cuts to social welfare payments.