Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has confirmed that there will be no one-off cost-of-living payments in Budget 2026.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, he said the Government wanted to take decisions that would be “sustainable with global uncertainty”.
“We will not be doing one-off payments, or one-off cost of living payments in this year’s Budget. We had a series of budgets in the last number of years, obviously through Covid, through the inflationary period where we responded,” he said.
“What we are saying though, in the context of Budget 2026, is that the decisions we take, we want to make sure they’re permanent, sustained and sustainable with the broader global uncertainty.”
Mr Chambers said that the Government had to be careful with the decisions they make, in the context of global trade.
The minister said he would not speculate on single measures, but said that the Government did want to make an impact in the area of child poverty.
“It’s something that the Taoiseach wants to deliver change on in this year’s Budget. Minister [for Social Protection of Dara] Calleary will be working on that in the context of what will be available to Government.”
Read more: Budget 2026 must be ‘sensible and prudent’ – Ibec
