Ministers tight-lipped on budget but 'there will be a significant cost-of-living package'

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there was 'a lot of speculation' at present, but added there would be a 'significant' package of one-off measures included

Government ministers are remaining tight-lipped about the contents of next Tuesday's budget.

Government ministers are remaining tight-lipped about the contents of next Tuesday's budget, with Environment Minister Eamon Ryan saying it will be “more difficult” than people currently expect.

Speaking at Government Buildings on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Ryan said negotiations were still ongoing on the final package of measures, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying it will not be complete until Sunday.

Mr Varadkar said there was "a lot of speculation” at present, but said there would be a “significant” package of one-off measures included.

“There will be a significant cost-of-living package, which people will feel the effect of before Christmas because petrol and diesel prices are high, energy prices are still high, gas prices are still high,” Mr Varadkar said.

Mr Varadkar's comments come just days after he sought to downplay expectations over the one-off package, saying it would not be as big due to inflation moderating and an increase in average pay.

“It wouldn’t be prudent to have one-off measures this year on the scale that we had last year,” Mr Varadkar said last Friday.

Mr Ryan did couch expectations, saying next Tuesday’s budget would be “more difficult” than people think at present.

“People think ‘well, we've got this big surplus which we can spend on everything’. We do need to listen to the advice of the [Irish] Fiscal Advisory Council that it would not serve the interest of the Irish people if we overheated the economy, inflation runs away, the less money in people's pockets,” Mr Ryan said.

“So I think the broad approach where we set aside some corporate tax profits for investment in the future is the right thing.

“I think in the short term, we've got to get this balance right, protecting people from the high cost of living, but not stoking inflation to make it worse, and that balance will only be decided in the next 10 days.” 

Mr Varadkar added Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney would seek approval for an increase in the minimum wage beyond the current rate of inflation, following recommendations from the Low Pay Commission.