Childcare and health among main sticking points as Cabinet meets to finalise Budget 2016
It is understood that additional spending on health is one of the main sticking points as the Cabinet holds a special meeting today to put the finishing touches to Budget 2016.
The Government has €750m to put into extra spending next year, but is attempting to strike a balance between addressing some of the issues in the health service and leaving enough cash for other sectors which are more popular with the public.
The biggest area of contention appears to be in childcare, with a second free year of pre-school considered too expensive to introduce just yet.
So aside from a small increase in child benefit, ministers will have to decide whether they will introduce tax credits to cover childcare or spend the available money providing extra parental leave to be shared between parents.
Earlier, the Taoiseach has re-iterated that the marginal rate of tax will be
