WATCH: Daniel McConnell on what we can expect on Budget day

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Budget 2022 looks set to focus on easing the burdens of healthcare and childcare costs on working families.

Here is a breakdown from our Political Editor Daniel McConnell of what we can expect when finance minister Paschal Donohoe and public expenditure minister Michael McGrath get to their feet this afternoon.

Health

• €1bn in extra health spending next year;
• More than €250m for a multi-year plan to tackle rising waiting lists;
• Free GP care to be expanded to under-7s;
• The threshold for the Drug Refund Scheme to fall from €114 to a flat €100.

Justice

• 800 new gardaí putting the Government on track to meet its target of a 15,000-member force;
• A 20% increase in the Garda Mountain Bike Unit to make policing more visible in cities and towns;
• 400 new civilian Garda staff.

Social Welfare

• A €5 increase in the State pension and all core welfare benefits;
• The fuel allowance to rise by €5 to €33 per week, with more people qualifying as the criteria is to be changed;
• The living alone allowance to rise by €3 per week;
• The minimum wage to rise from €10.20 to €10.50 per hour;
• Thousands more to qualify for carers allowance as earnings limits increase;
• A €10 increase in the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance;
• Single-parent families and two-parent households will now have the same income threshold applied.

Education

• More than 1,000 extra SNAs and more special education teachers;
• An increase in the student grant for the first time in 10 years;
• A reduction in the primary school pupil-teacher ratio from 25 to 24 students per teacher from next September.

Tourism

• Almost €200m for the tourism and aviation sectors, including a €90m financial aid package to help restore air routes into Cork, Shannon, and Dublin airports.

Arts and Sport

• A further live events support scheme totalling €25m;
• A pilot Basic Income Guarantee Scheme for workers across the arts sector;
• An extra 1.7m to ensure female GAA and camogie funding is equal to that of men's.

Childcare

• €100m to help childcare providers retain staff and ease costs;
• National Childcare scheme to be expanded to children up to the age of 15;
• A new direct State investment into childcare services in exchange for guarantees of no fee increases for parents and improved pay and conditions for staff.

Taxation

• No increases in income tax or PRSI, but the threshold for entering the tax net will be raised;
• 50c added to the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes;
• €1.50 added to the cost of a tank of diesel.

Housing

• A €4bn investment in housing, including a capital budget of €2.6bn;
• €194m in funding for homeless services;
• €18m for Traveller-specific accommodation schemes;
• Increases in rent supplement and home assistance payments;
• New tax to encourage the “activation” of vacant lands to ward against land hoarding.