Podcast special: A fireside chat between Jim, Minister Jack Chambers, Cormac Fitzgerald & Cróna Clohisey

In this episode, Minister Jack Chambers says Budget 27 was built around balance - protecting long-term capital investment while responding to cost of living pressures.Chambers says next year’s capital investment will exceed 20 billion euro, and that day-to-day spending growth has been brought down from an average of 9% to about 6%.Jim Power argues the budget is positive overall, especially on personal tax relief, the investment account, and the reduction in capital gains tax from 33% to 31%.Power warns that Ireland’s public finances depend heavily on a small number of multinational firms, pointing to concentration risk in corporation tax receipts and the need for prudent spending.Cormac Fitzgerald says SMEs remain under pressure from labour costs, energy costs, PRSI increases, auto-enrolment, and rising compliance burdens.Fitzgerald welcomes the new investment savings scheme and says SME support should be strengthened in the Finance Bill or Budget 28.Cróna Clohisey says the budget’s administrative simplification measures matter, especially the removal of real-time benefit reporting requirements.Clohisey also stresses that labour costs are the biggest issue for SMEs and says employers’ PRSI relief would have helped.Chambers repeatedly returns to the need for public spending efficiency, saying the state must deliver better outcomes rather than simply spend more.The panel agrees that simplification, predictable regulation, and better delivery from the state are essential if Ireland is to support both business growth and public trust. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.