Further cost-of-living measures will not be ‘mini Budget’, Simon Harris says

Decisions by the Government to extend or introduce further cost of living measures in the coming weeks will not amount to a “mini Budget”, Minister for Justice and Higher Education Simon Harris has said.

There are tensions within the Coalition over the make-up of potential further cost of living measures, in particular whether an additional €200 spring energy credit should be provided to help offset households’ electricity bills.

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Harris said the Government would look at each of the current temporary cost of living supports “and make a decision on each of them individually”.

Measures would have to be “targeted in relation to those most in need,” but also include some universal element, as “all families, all workers, all people are feeling the cost of living impact,” he said.

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“We will bring forward a revised package that is both targeted and universal very shortly,” he told RTÉ's The Week in Politics.

“We certainly aren’t proposing a mini Budget ... the Government has shown an ability through the fact of the tax take and the reserve fund to be able to intervene when appropriate throughout the year,” he said.

People “will know very shortly what further measures Government intends to take in terms of cost of living measures,” he said.

“No fair commentator can suggest the Government has in any way shown inaction of the cost of living”, following an €11 billion Budget last year, Mr Harris said.

“We will have intensive discussion this week and probably into next week in relation to what a cost of living package looks like ... We have all been clear that there can’t be a cliff edge,” he said.

The final tranche of three €200 electricity credits approved in the budget will land into customer accounts in March, and there is resistance in the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure to the idea of pushing ahead with another universal credit before the next winter heating season.

It is understood several Ministers, in particular within Fine Gael, are in favour of a further €200 spring energy credit. While there are concerns in the Green Party over the universal measure, at a time when utility bills are lower.

Mr Harris said Fine Gael believed there was a “strong case” to include wider universal measures in any cost of living package.

Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said some householders were facing huge hikes in mortgage interest payments, and needed relief from the State. It would be “heartless” if the Government failed to step in and help people paying eight per cent interest rates, he said.

The Opposition TD also said there had been a failure to take emergency measures to increase housing supply during the course of the moratorium on evictions, which is due to expire on a phased basis from the end of March onwards.

“The eviction ban will only work if you do something during the time of the ban, and this is where the Government have completely failed, there are thousands of people who come 1st April will have their eviction notice executed” he said.

There had been no effort to use emergency planning or procurement powers to start to build more additional social and affordable housing, he said.

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said it was essential the eviction ban was extended further, to prevent large numbers of people and families becoming homeless.