Government rules out universal energy credits in Budget

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has ruled out universal energy credits in next month's Budget. The Fianna Fáil leader was speaking in Tullamore, Co Offaly, as his parliamentary party gathered for its annual think-in ahead of the new Dáil term. Amid mounting concern over the cost-of-living, Mr Martin was clear that universal energy credits would play no role in Government efforts to bring prices down. "Every time you do a one-off payment, and so if you have a billion or two billion (euro) in one-off payments, you're reducing your capacity to deal more substantively with issues that matter to people on an ongoing basis, not just on a one-off basis," he said. "So that's what informs our approach in respect of that. So the sort of energy credits for everybody, I can't see the capacity being there to do that". Any income tax cuts to be modest, says Chambers Minister for Public Expenditure said workers should not expect more than a few hundred euro back in their pockets after the Budget. Also speaking at the Fianna Fáil think-in, Jack Chambers said any cuts to income tax would be modest. "The adjustments will amount to a few hundred euro, depending on your income, which I know, on an annualised basis, will be perceived as modest amongst the public." Mr Chambers said most people were more concerned about whether they would have a job in five years. He said that infrastructure would be improved, adding that the focus would be on ensuring that the next generation have affordable housing. "Our wider economic management is not just grounded in decisions around income tax. "It's how we actually deliver better in terms of public services and also building Ireland's future," he said. Mr Chambers was also asked about whether lower paid workers would be prioritised. Watch: Any cuts to income tax in Budget would be modest - Chambers Independent think tank Social Justice Ireland had called on the Government to increase tax credits, rather than just widening tax bands, saying the former would help lower paid workers. Mr Chambers said the Government wanted to change both. "Tax credits give particular progressivity to low and middle income workers who may not have reached the band, which we want to adjust as well. "As a party, we're clear that in how we design that income tax package, it should be progressive, and again should reward work and particularly help low-middle income workers." Asked if he supported trade union demands for pay hikes linked to inflation, Mr Chambers said he would not negotiate in public, but he appealed to the unions to re-enter talks. "If they want to get a pay deal, they should re-enter negotiations and engage in constructive discussions with my officials." We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Harris says Budget to support workers Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris said this year's Budget will support people "who get up early every morning and go to work". Addressing a Mullingar Chamber of Commerce pre-Budget breakfast briefing, Mr Harris said that "if you work hard, you should be able to get ahead, not just get by". He said strong towns and strong communities across the country depend on people "who are prepared to work hard in order to get ahead". The Tánaiste also said there will be a business package that will make progress on reducing the cost base for business owners while also "increasing your ability to make ends meet". He said cutting business taxes and cutting income tax "are the priorities" as budget negotiations enter their final stage. Earlier, Social Justice Ireland's (SJI) Research and Policy Analyst Michelle Murphy said tax credits are the fairest way to deliver any income tax package in next month's Budget. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said tax changes need to be fair and targeted to lower paid workers. She explained that SJI's analysis suggests that the fair outcome is increasing the two personal tax credits because every worker earning above €20,000 will benefit from that. She said that the Government and the Minister for Finance have mooted increasing the standard rate band by €2,000 in terms of changing the entry point at the top rate of tax. "That actually doesn't have a fair distributive impact because if you're earning less than €44,000, you're not going to benefit from that. "And that's really problematic because if we are going to look at changes to the income tax system, then you have to make sure that those changes will be fair, and the benefits will flow to all workers," she said. Ms Murphy added that given the limited resources available, "we should make sure that they're targeted at those lower wage workers and the fairest way to do that really is through the tax credit system". She added that the middle-income earners would also benefit as they would also see their tax bill fall if there was an increase to tax credits. "They would see a substantial fall in their tax bill," she added.