The measures

  • Minimum wage €14.94 an hour from 1 January 2027, up 79 cent (5.6%) from €14.15.
  • Employer PRSI threshold rises from €552 to €600 a week for 2027, so a full-time worker on the new minimum wage (39 hours × €14.94 = €582.66) stays on the 9.15% rate rather than tipping into 11.40%. The Department said the change is to stop employers cutting hours to stay under the line.
  • €15 million for rural pubs in 2027. The Tánaiste said it would help "keep our pub doors open"; how it is paid out is to be worked out with the Minister for Enterprise. No scheme details yet.
  • No cut in alcohol excise. DIGI and the LVA had asked for one, citing the second-highest excise in Europe.
  • Nothing on Special Exemption Orders, which the LVA had asked to be reduced.
  • Income tax: the 40% band starts at €46,500 for a single person (from €44,000); the 2% USC band rises to €30,300. The minister's example was more than €700 a year less tax for someone on €50,000.
  • The 9% VAT rate for food served, restored on 1 July 2026, was not changed.

What it costs a venue

A 39-hour minimum-wage employee goes from €551.85 to €582.66 a week, €30.81 more. Employer PRSI at 9.15% adds €2.82, so the true weekly rise is about €33.63 per full-time minimum-wage worker, or roughly €1,750 a year each before holiday pay. Had the PRSI line stayed at €552, the same worker would have cost €66.42 a week in PRSI instead of €53.31. The PRSI checker and true hourly cost tool carry both years.

What the trade bodies said

  • VFI (Pat Crotty, chief executive): the €15 million is "a vote of confidence in our rural pubs", and the federation offered to work with Government on delivery.
  • LVA (Donall O'Keeffe, chief executive): the Budget "serves up nothing" for Dublin and other urban pubs, raises their costs through the wage increase, and leaves excise and late-night costs untouched.