As the cost of living crisis continues in Ireland, people are becoming increasingly more strapped for cash.
Budget 2023 is now highly anticipated as many across the country hope new measures will be introduced to alleviate some financial pressure.
The Green Party has called for a minimum €10 increase in the weekly State pension and in social welfare payments.
An additional €200m into the Working Family Payment and increases in the Qualified Child Payment will also be sought to take almost 40,000 people out of poverty, including 17,000 children.
An increase of €100m into the Working Family Payment, currently at least €20 per week calculated based on household income and the number of dependent children, would see income thresholds rise by €46 weekly for a family with one child.
The party proposed an additional €100m be spent to increase the Qualified Child Payment from €48 to €56 a week for children aged 12 years and over and from €40 to €47 a week for children under 12.
Change to your Tesco, Lidl, Dunnes spend
Grocery price inflation continues to climb, hitting 6.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to June 12 - the highest level in Ireland since February 2013.
New figures by Kantar show that rising prices could add €453 to the average annual grocery bill, a figure over €100 higher than that predicted in early May.
Some of the sharpest increases in grocery items were essentials such as butter, eggs, bread, and flour, which are a staple of most shopping lists.
The figures released on Monday show that take-home grocery sales for Ireland fell by 4.9 per cent in the latest 12 week period under review.
According to Kantar, shoppers are taking additional steps to manage their spending at supermarket tills and making three fewer trips to the store on average per month than they were this time last year.
The figures also showed that people are looking for cheaper own brand alternatives as Dunnes and Tesco have seen €8.2m more spent between them on their private label lines.
Mortgage boost
A bill to cap variable mortgage rates is set to be introduced in the Dáil today by Labour’s Ged Nash, just weeks before the European Central Bank (ECB) launch a round of interest rate rises.
Over 200,000 mortgage holders in Ireland are currently on variable rates and are set to be hit with higher repayments when the ECB starts hiking its lending rate.
Variable mortgage rates in Ireland have been controversial as they are higher than in other eurozone countries.
The legislation would allow the Central Bank to force banks to cut their standard variable rates.
It would also allow the regulator to stop banks from offering better mortgage deals to new customers than are available to existing customers.
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