Call for spring budget to ease financial strain

A spring budget should be brought in to give people earlier benefits from the improving economy, the chairman of the Dáil’s finance committee said.

Labour’s Ciarán Lynch said that, as the country had experienced emergency mid-year budgets to impose austerity measures, it was now right that a “goodwill” budget be held in April or May next year to ensure people did not have to wait until October 2015 to have the financial strain eased.

“The financial and economic indicators show clear growth, but for people on fixed incomes for a number of years, household income has remained stagnant during that period,” said Mr Lynch.