Pensioners set to get another Budget boost

Pensioners are set to receive another increase in their weekly State payment as part of the upcoming Budget, the Taoiseach has indicated.

Leo Varadkar has said he wants to increase the State pension in 2018 and in the coming years. It comes after pensioners got a €5 increase as part of Budget 2017 — a measure which had been strongly pushed by Fianna Fáil’s social protection spokesman Willie O’Dea.

During a briefing with journalists, Mr Varadkar said he would not be able to go on into “any specifics” on Budget measures around tax, pensions, welfare, or spending “because we just aren’t at that point yet”.