Extra measures to tackle cost of living must be once-off, McGrath warns

Government rules out ‘mini-budget’, increases to social welfare and tax cuts from support package

Michael McGrath, Minister for Public Expenditure: ‘Permanent changes are best made in the context of a budget, so we will focus on measures that are once-off in nature and which will make a positive difference for people’

Any proposals the government brings in to tackle the rising cost of living will have to be limited to “once-off measures” rather than permanent spending changes, Michael McGrath, the Minister for Public Expenditure, has warned.

While no estimates have been drawn up yet for the size of the support package, there is a desire in government to avoid setting the precedent of bringing in the equivalent of a “mini-budget” at this early stage of the ...