Politics

Great expectations: how far will government go on cost of living supports?

With easing energy prices calming inflation, the need for state supports has lessened this spring. But ministers are worried that people have been led to expect payouts and will be disappointed by the measures

Shoppers on Grafton Street, Dublin: The government is weighing up potential cost of living interventions, such as bonus social welfare payments and extensions to tax cuts. Picture: Fergal Phillips

It felt very much like the lead-up to a budget in Leinster House last week.

While ministers batted away speculative questions about what would be included in the spring cost of living package, opposition members laid out their own wish lists, and journalists scoured the corridors in search of what would be announced.

But Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was adamant that the financial package to be launched this Tuesday would not be a “mini-budget”.

He told ...