Week ahead in business: Budget 2026, investment plans and online safety

Tomorrow, we will see publication of the summer economic statement, which sets out the Government’s budgetary strategy and outlines the fiscal parameters for Budget 2026. Typically, the Finance Minister will announce the date of Budget Day.

There will be lots of big numbers in the statement – the key one being the size of the package to be presented to the Dáil by Paschal Donohoe in October.

Last year it was €8.3bn, with additional public spending of €6.9bn and tax measures of €1.4bn. That was one month before a general election, however, so the numbers might be smaller this year.

Also tomorrow, we expect Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers will publish a review of the National Development Plan by his department. This covers all public capital investment to 2035.

There should be plenty of money to spend here – given that both the proceeds of the Apple tax settlement and the sale of the State’s share in AIB are in the kitty. The list of priorities set out by Mr Chambers is worth watching.

So, too, will be figures published on Thursday by the Central Statistics Office in relation to house completions in the second quarter.

The figure for the first quarter – January to March – was 5,938 dwelling completions, which was only 2pc up on the same period last year.

From today, Coimisiún na Meán begins enforcement of the Online Safety Code for video-­sharing platforms, which must verify users’ ages before they access adult content. Niamh Hodnett, the Online Safety Commissioner, has said platforms will be checked to see what measures have they put in place.

The governing council of the European Central Bank has a monetary policy meeting this week, and we will discover at its press conference on Thursday if interest rates are being changed. Breaking a long sequence of cuts, the expectation is that rates will stay the same.