Ministers set to sign off on spring cost-of-living measures
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
The Government is expected to sign off a spring cost-of-living package which is set to include a series of lump sums to help welfare recipients.
A €100 payment to those getting Child Benefit is expected as part of the measures.
Senior ministers gathered on Monday evening to finalise the plans before formal sign-off when cabinet meets on Tuesday morning.
It comes as a number of one-off measures introduced alongside Budget 2023 are due to expire at the end of the month.
These include the energy credit scheme for households, with the final 200-euro payment due in March, the reduced 9 per cent VAT rate for hospitality, as well as electricity and gas bills, and the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS).
Reduced excise duty on fuel has also been in place, with a 21-cent reduction per litre of petrol, 16 cents per litre of diesel and 5.4 cents per litre of marked gas oil due to fall away at the end of February.
It is understood that one-off €200 lump sums will be given to pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, widows and lone parents.
A 100-euro sum is also expected to be given to Child Benefit recipients, and there will be 100 euro extra added to the school clothing and footwear allowance.
The total cost of social protection measures is over €400 million.
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys indicated that the steps announced this week would be “considerably less” than the €4.1 billion worth of cost-of-living measures unveiled as part of the budgetary package in September.
She indicated that “older people, people with disabilities, carers and working families with children” would be prioritised for targeted support.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said previously that pensioners and those receiving welfare payments would benefit from the package, while Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said the coalition had seen research that indicates lone parents are particularly vulnerable to higher energy bills.
