Path cleared for General Election as Finance Bill passed by Dáil

The Dáil passed the Finance Bill on Tuesday night, which Taoiseach Simon Harris said was a key objective before calling a General Election later in the week. 

The Finance Bill was passed by a margin of 75 to 55 in what was a guillotine vote. 

A guillotine vote means that a restriction is placed on the time allocated to debate legislation, which can result in bills being passed without being fully debated.

This has caused some criticism from opposition parties, with Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty saying the guillotine should not have been used on the Finance Bill debate, arguing: "This should not have happened."

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One of the major issues opposition parties raised with the Finance Bill was that it did not abolish the Universal Social Charge.

Doherty as well as People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett and Independent Ireland deputy Michael Collins shared the same criticisms that the USC was unfair and that the Government should have addressed this within the Finance Bill.

The Finance Bill underpins Budget 2025 and was the final piece of legislation that the Taoiseach said must be passed before he could seek to dissolve the Dáil later in the week before calling the General Election. 

Speaking to reporters outside Government buildings on Tuesday, Simon Harris assured that the Finance Bill would need to be passed first: "Once that's out of the way, I do intend to seek a dissolution of the Dáil this week."