Politics watch: Election talk persists ahead of Budget 2025

Here, we have a look at the topics likely to dominate political discourse in the week to come.

General election talk

Speculation around the date of the general election has been rife in political circles and it has only intensified in recent weeks, despite the Taoiseach's efforts to play it down.

Simon Harris continues to insist his preference is for the Government to go full term until March. However, many of his colleagues want an earlier date.

Pressure on the Taoiseach to call a November election has mounted as successive opinion polls have shown big gains for Fine Gael, and Mr Harris' personal popularity rating, while Sinn Féin continue to struggle.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Harris said he would discuss the timing of the election with fellow coalition leaders after the October 1st budget.

He appeared to rule out the widely speculated date of November 15th, but refused to rule out a pre-Christmas election.

It's likely to be a topic in the Dáil again this week.

As the Dáil resumed on Wednesday, a number of opposition leaders criticised the Government for the speculation around the election date.

Inheritance tax

One big change in Budget 2025 is expected to be inheritance tax reform.

Mr Harris stopped short of saying it would be abolished, but revealed the €335,000 tax-free threshold is likely to be increased in his Sunday Times interview.

Other cuts will leave the average worker around €1,000 better off, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has said.

Hate speech legislation scrapped

The Government's much-maligned hate speech legislation has been scrapped.

On Saturday, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee confirmed it would not be included in the hate crime bill.

Opposition politicians had criticised the unclear definition of hate in the proposed legislation, and they are likely to attack the Government over this in the Dáil.

Sinn Féin first supported the legislation, before a U-turn, but this won't stop Mary Lou McDonald and her colleagues using the climb-down from Government as fuel for criticism.

Harris and Martin in New York

Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin will be in New York for several days this week at the United Nations General Assembly.

While this is a crucial role for the country on the world stage, opposition TDs may well try to use their absence as an opportunity to get in a few digs at the Government, and put a dent in the coalition's positive opinion poll performances.

Abroad

The UK prime minister and his most senior ministers will no longer accept donations to pay for their clothes.

It comes after a scandal surrounding Keir Starmer's failure to disclose clothes that were donated to his wife Victoria.

Fears over a wider Middle East war are mounting as Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel on Sunday.

In the US, vice president Kamala Harris has a slim lead over Donald Trump in national polls, but the pair are essentially deadlocked with the November 5th presidential election fast approaching.