Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has described any discussion of easing austeriety for middle income taxpayers as "purely speculative. "

Speaking after The Irish Times reported that the Government intends to make major concessions, Mr Gilmore said: "This is April, the budget is October. I think any discussion of the budget at this stage is purely speculative. "

However, he said that the objective, for the entire duration of the Government, has been to put an end to austerity.

Mr Gilmore was speaking in Luxembourg where he was chairing a meeting of the General Affairs Council at which the issue of enlargement of the European Union is expected to take centre stage .

As preliminary talks started on this year’s budget in recent weeks – it will be announced two months earlier than last year – high level sources in Government have said there will be a significant package included in the announcement to recognise the sacrifices middle-class taxpayers have endured over the past five years, through a combination of higher taxes and pay cuts.

"We have come to the point now where working people are beginning to suffer from [AUSTERITY]fatigue," said a senior Fine Gael Minister who spoke on the basis of privacy.

“We need to make a strong gesture to recognise their efforts and to encourage them to spend in the economy again. That in turn will stimulate growth.”

Over the weekend, Labour Minister Joan Burton said she believed that Ireland had "reached its limits of austerity" and that ordinary people were "shouldering too much of the burden".

Addressing the annual conference of the St Vincent de Paul Society Ms Burton questioned the austerity-only approach prevalent throughout the EU.