Tánaiste & Minister Chambers publish Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan
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From: Department of Finance
- Published on: 19 December 2025
- Last updated on: 19 December 2025
- Today (Friday 19th December) the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris TD and Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform & Digitalisation Jack Chambers TD published Ireland’s Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan, following approval by Government this week.
- Under the revised EU fiscal framework, Medium-Term Structural and Fiscal Plans (MTPs) must be submitted by all Member States to the European Commission.
- Although each Member State has discretion over the content of its MTP, information is required on three core elements: the fiscal strategy, investment plans and structural reforms.
- In line with the revised EU regulations, and as set out in the Programme for Government, the Government has prepared a new Plan.
- Accordingly, the Government is today setting out its medium-term fiscal strategy, which is based around three pillars:
- Sustainability: continuing to invest in public services in a sustainable way;
- Resilience: investing in critical infrastructure to boost competitiveness, create jobs and increase people’s standard of living;
- Readiness: preparing the public finances for both known and unknown costs, by continuing to run budget surpluses and making contributions to the two funds.
Commenting on the publication, the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance said:
“The Medium-term plan will support progress on implementing the key social and economic priorities of Government while delivering on our commitment to sustainable public finances.
“This Plan shows that the Government is committed to using the resources of the State to improve people’s lives in a sustainable way. It will act as the framework within which Government decisions will be taken during its term in office. These decisions will be firmly focused on delivering on our Programme for Government commitments.
“The focus is now firmly on delivery. This Plan allows for significant public resources to be directed at improving public services over a five-year period. Taxpayers will rightly demand that this money is spent wisely with fast, efficient delivery and value for money at its core”
The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation said:
“The Medium Term Plan published today reflects the needs of a growing population, an evolving economy and an ever-changing society, while seeking to remain fiscally sustainable over the short and medium term. Public expenditure will reach over €147 billion by 2030 with average annual growth of 6 per cent over the next few years – reflecting prioritisation of capital investment in critical infrastructure and a substantial, but moderating level of growth of current expenditure from 2027 onwards.
“The preparation of this Plan has been informed by the revised National Development Plan and the Medium Term Expenditure Framework published by my Department over the last few months. The expenditure ceilings we are sharing today will be supported by effective budget oversight, strong governance, focus on value for money and the use of evidence and data to support informed decision making.
“This will ensure the decisions we make now are sustainable in the medium term, deliver good outcomes for citizens and drive value for money. Reforming how we spend public money both now and into the future must continue to be our priority.”
ENDS
Notes:
The EU’s fiscal governance framework is a set of common rules for national fiscal and economic policies which apply to all Member States.
The Treaty reference values (budget deficit of 3 per cent of GDP and 60 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio) remain unchanged under the revised framework.
The previous Government prepared an MTP, on a purely technical basis, in order to fulfil its legal obligations.
Annual fiscal surveillance will be based on a single operational indicator - net primary expenditure growth. This is defined as is defined as general government expenditure net of interest expenditure, discretionary revenue measures, expenditure on programmes matched and/or co-financed by the European Union, cyclical elements of unemployment benefit expenditure and one-off/temporary expenditure items outside the control of government.