An extra €200 cost of living payment could be given to pensioners, carers, the disabled and all on long-term social welfare.
Senior Government sources described it as “another Christmas bonus” and it is expected to be agreed by the rest of the Cabinet at the sign-off meeting today. Every family in the country is in line for an immediate €100 bonus to help pay for the rising cost of rearing a child during the crisis, plus another €100 in August.
The second payment is set to be paid in a similar way to the clothing and footwear allowance available to parents every year. It is understood none of these were opposed by Finance Minister Michael McGrath who holds the Government purse strings, during crunch talks last night.
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The payments are expected to be ratified by ministers after Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys got agreement from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Micheal Martin and Green party leader Eamon Ryan. The total cost of the social protection measures is thought to be more than €400million.
Motorists are expected to be spared a massive shock too after Fine Gael and Fianna Fail resisted a move to bump excise duties back up on petrol and diesel immediately. They prefer to increase them by half in summer and to the full rate at the Budget.
There may still be a drawback in tax of 5c a litre agreed today as the Green party’s ministers will still push for this. If the Government chooses to end the excise reductions in one fell swoop, it would see the price of a litre of petrol go back up by 20c and a litre of diesel by 15c. It would add about €10 to the cost of filling the tank of an average car.
There may be good news for the hospitality sector too after ministers agreed it would be a good idea to retain the 9% reduced VAT rate for the industry for another six months to get them through the bulk of the tourism season. The concession has been costing the Exchequer €500million a year and the Government was keen to get this money back in its coffers.
But Mr McGrath appears to have rowed back on this. An extra energy credit in the region of €200 after the third one is paid next month is still up in the air, and if it is agreed it could be paid next autumn, not over the summer.
Last night Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien was the only Cabinet member to appear publicly. He said of the new payments: “They will be very targeted, what we will announce this week will be significant.” It has been acknowledged by the Government that most household budgets in the country are still being crippled by soaring bills and costs as the cost of living crisis shows no sign of letting up.
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