Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has ruled out holding a mini-Budget next week as he stressed that the coalition cannot fully help everyone with the cost of living.
Government ministers will continue to meet throughout the week to discuss a range of measures that will come to an end next week. This includes excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel, VAT reductions on electricity and a reduced VAT rate for the hospitality sector.
In the Dáil on Wednesday, Labour leader Ivana Bacik called on the Government to announce a mini-Budget.
"[A] constituent of mine, a single mother and a child who are HAP tenants, have been forced to turn off their heating and hot water altogether because they can't afford the extortionate bills," she said.
"With seriously cold weather due to arrive at the end of this month, and a Beast from the East predicted, that mother and so many others can't afford weeks of kite-flying from Government.
"What we need to see is clarity from Government now as to when the mini-Budget will be announced and what its measures will include."
In response, the Taoiseach ruled out the prospect of a mini-Budget, he also restated that a Finance Bill will be required to be passed by the Dáil next week. This is the measure usually undertaken to pass a Budget.
Mr Varadkar said: "We had a Budget in September and it was passed by this house.
"We're not going to be having a mini-Budget. That's not necessary.
"The Budget set out the fiscal parameters for this year.
"Anything that we do we announce and anything we announce between now and the next Budget will be done within the confines of those fiscal parameters."
The Taoiseach said that there "will be room to manoeuvre" following an underspend on the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) and the upcoming windfall tax on energy profits.
Mr Varadkar also told the Dáil that he would not speculate on what the measures would be as he did not want to raise expectations.
"I don’t want to make promises today that I may not be able to keep," he continued.
"In terms of what the measures will look like, they will be both universal and targeted."
Responding to questions from Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, Mr Varadkar said that "it won’t be possible to fully compensate people for raising costs."
He explained: "We will do that as best we can for those lowest incomes and those who need the most help... It won’t be possible for us to do for everyone."
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