Spring cost of living package: All of the measures and…

Spring cost of living package: All of the measures and cash supports in new Government giveaway

Households are set to get up to another €1billion worth of cost of living cash supports under a new Government giveaway tomorrow.

An extension of bonus welfare payments, an expected extra energy credit for households later this year and the retention of some tax reductions on petrol and diesel taxes for motorists are all set to be approved.

However, motorists will still be disappointed because it is expected that fuel will actually become dearer for them at the pumps because the Government is considering gradually removing excise discounts, meaning the cost of filling the tank could go up this week.

UPDATE: New cost of living package to include €200 lump sum for social welfare recipients among other measures

If the Government chooses to end the excise reductions in one fell swoop it would see the price of a litre of petrol go back up by 20c and a litre of diesel by 15c.

It would add about another €10 to the cost of filling a tank of an average car.

But Ministers are looking at phasing back in the end of the discounts to ease the pain.

Welfare recipients that are in line to get extra bonus payments include pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and working families with children.

There will not be an across the board bonus payment for all welfare payments again like there was in the Budget.

Unfortunately, it looks like there will be bad news for the hospitality sector as it is looking unlikely that the special 9% VAT rate they have enjoyed since Covid will be dropped or phased out.

This could see the costs of everything from hotel rooms, to restaurant meals, tickets for tourist attractions and even breakfast rolls all go up in price.

The hospitality and tourism industry has lobbied hard for the deal to be kept up, but the tax concession from 13.5% to 9% has been costing the Exchequer half a billion euro a year - and the Government is keen to get this money back in the coffers.

Finance Minister Michael McGrath last week signalled this when he told a private meeting of Fianna Fáil politicians that this bundle of cash would be “better focused on supports for households.”

An extra energy credit in the region of €200 after the third one is paid next month is still up in the air, and if it is agreed it could be paid next autumn, not over the summer.

Government Ministers were thin on the ground on Monday, with Darragh O’Brien the only Cabinet member appearing publicly.

Minister O’Brien indicated the package will still be “significant” and targeted.”

He said: “They will be very targeted, what we will announce this week will be significant.”

The top brass of Government is meeting tonight to hammer out the final details of the latest plan which will see some schemes extended into the spring/summer and others dropped.

Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste, Michael Martin, and Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr McGrath and Paschal Donohoe, along with Social Protection Minister, Heather Humphreys, are all meeting in Government Buildings at teatime this evening to thrash out what is in and what is out of the spending plan.

It has been acknowledged by the Government that there will be no ‘cliff edge’ sudden end to supports when most of them run out at the end of this month.

But there is also the challenge for the Government to start weaning the public off the supports because they can’t go on forever.

However, most household budgets in the country are still being crippled by soaring bills and costs as the cost of living crisis shows no sign of letting up.