Budget 2022, which will be announced this afternoon, is expected to be a €4.7bn package - with €1bn in new spending and half a billion euro in tax cuts.

Against a backdrop of a politically agreed rise in carbon tax, it's fair to assume that a cold winter would severely test the warm glow which the Budget fanfare will generate today.

The UK's Brexit minister, David Frost, will set out his government's demands for changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol later today.

Follow all the developments as Budget 2022 is unveiled by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath

Texas' Republican governor Greg Abbott has said he is banning Covid-19 vaccine mandates for any entities in his state, including private companies.

A study by a joint committee of British MPs has described the UK government's early response to the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the worst national public health failures ever.

As ministers Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath prepare to deliver Budget 2022 later today, here's what we know so far about the proposed €4.7 billion package.

The Taoiseach has said the budget will be about getting back to normal after the pandemic and helping people with the cost of childcare and accessing healthcare.

There will be comprehensive coverage of Budget 2022 today with extensive reporting and analysis across RTÉ television, radio and online.

World leaders must deliver on their promises to curb dangerous climate change at the UN COP26 talks in Glasgow, the conference's president has warned.

Two teenagers have been charged over an alleged attack that left 14 kangaroos dead on Australia's east coast in an act labelled "tragic and senseless" by animal rescuers.

The Taliban has held face-to-face talks with EU and US envoys, as the hardline Islamists pursue their diplomatic push for international support.

A stream of lava gushing from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma engulfed a cement plant, raising a thick cloud of smoke and prompting authorities to order people in the area into lockdown.

The Department of Health has been notified of 1,358 new coronavirus cases and there are 400 patients in hospital being treated with the virus.

Gardaí investigating the disappearance of Deirdre Jacob and other women who went missing in Leinster over 20 years ago said a new search has commenced because of unusual activity noticed on the evening the 18-year-old disappeared.

A students' union president has called for the resignation of Dublin City Council Chief Executive Owen Keegan for a suggesting that students should get into the housing market themselves.

A NASA astronaut has captured a night time image of Dublin taken from orbit on the International Space Station.

A US group of Irish American political leaders and diplomats has met with the UK's Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis in Washington.

A young Waterford woman made history today as she took over Taoiseach Micheál Martin's office to mark International Day of the Girl.

A Dublin man who was high on a cocktail of drugs when he stabbed his daughter's partner to death has been found guilty of his murder by a unanimous jury decision at the Central Criminal Court.