Other budget measures include:

▶The price of diesel will go up in 2010 by four cents, and a further eight cents in 2011, a measure expected to bring in €140 million next year and €285 million in 2011.

▶Tank cards, given by employers for fuel, will in the future be only 75% tax deductible, something the road haulage industry said threatened to price them out of the international market.

▶VAT on restaurant bills will be reduced from 21% to 12% from January 2010, but only for meals. The government retained the option to lower VAT further to 6% in the future, which is what the trade has requested. The measure is intended to help create jobs in the industry or move jobs from the black economy to the legal economy. In most cases, customers are unlikely to see restaurant bills come down.

▶A measure allowing homeowners who are building new houses to pay only 6% VAT on up to €50,000 of construction work will be extended for three months. Anyone who files for a building permit before the end of March will be eligible, regardless of when the work actually starts. Each applicant stands to gain a maximum of €7,500.

▶Banks will be made to cushion the effects of the financial crisis by paying a yearly sum as “insurance” for government guarantees on savings deposits and some insurance products. The measure is expected to bring in €220 million next year, €670 million in 2011 and €540 million a year after that. But the government will give with its left hand what it took away with the right: the banks will get €600 million over three years from reserves in the former guarantee fund. They will also stop paying the €50 million a year they previously paid into the fund, bringing their rebate to €700 million in the first two years. The banks are expected to pass the costs on to the customer.

▶The excise duties on cigarettes and other tobacco products will be raised by an amount not disclosed in the budget.

▶Tougher action against benefit fraud will save an estimated €100 million a year, the government said, while the fight against tax fraud could save €300 million.

▶At the same time, the system allowing tax defaulters to pay an agreed sum to avoid prosecution will be extended. Coupled with the savings involved in reducing the number of legal actions, this could raise €450 million a year.

▶Company cars will in future be taxed on the basis of their carbon dioxide emissions, rather than the “fiscal horsepower” formula currently used.