€1bn budget spend but ‘no giveaway’

The Government will have an additional €1bn to spend on improving services or reducing taxes in the budget, but it will not be a “giveaway”, Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has said.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Varadkar said ministers in the Government must not use the coming months to engage in negotiating their budget demands over the airwaves, and called on his colleagues to desist from making such comments.

“One of the most important things, is that none of us falls into the trap of negotiating budgets over the airwaves. We have to guard against that,” he said.