Elections in Ireland this year; The leaders signed the 2024 general elections

Leaders have signed off on a general election in 2024 in Ireland, but the Irish prime minister wants to keep an 'element of surprise' about the date. The Finance Minister says the Finance Bill will be synchronized with the chosen election date.

After a two-hour meeting of three party leaders this evening, a government spokesman said:

All three party leaders have agreed to hold general elections in 2024. All the three leaders have agreed that the government's priority is to pass the Finance Bill. The committee stage of the bill will begin on November 5. T sheck Simon Harris confirmed today that "there is going to be a general election this year" amid endless speculation.

He said the government was going to "wind down its work", referring to yet-to-be-passed legislation. The Public Expenditure Minister said this would be done in an "orderly manner". "I'm not going to speculate on election day... I don't like knocking on somebody's door and saying, 'Sorry, we forgot to pass the USC cut or we forgot to change the inheritance tax because we were in a rush for the election,'" Harris said specifically about the finance bill.

"We need to get through that finance bill," he said, adding, "I believe there is also a need to set housing targets because they start from January next year". "There are many other pieces of legislation," he said. “So let's do it, then let's do it in an amicable and orderly way, then have a general election,” “Government is working well, I want it to end amicably, I really want to seek a mandate from the people of this country and ask them to allow me to continue as their t-shek. " T Shek said. 

Finance Minister Jack Chambers said he would bring in a finance bill to ensure budget measures could be taken before Christmas, along with legislation to ensure an election. I will ask for the Finance Bill to be reordered from November 5 so it coincides with the election date. I am ready to do that to ensure that all the measures we set out in the 2025 budget are implemented,” he affirmed.

This suggests that all phases of the Finance Bill could be completed on or after November 7. A three-week campaign means a four-week campaign with an election on November 29 or polling day on December 6.