One-off help with cost of living not a good way to run country, says Harris

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

There is a need to “move away” from non-permanent measures on the cost of living, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.

The Fine Gael leader said “help is coming” on the cost of living in Budget 2026 but added that one-off measures are “not a good way to run a country”.

Fine Gael is holding its annual think-in at the Mullingar Park Hotel in Co Westmeath.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland at the event, Mr Harris said: “We’ve got to move away from this kind of one-off ‘will I get, won’t I get?’

This idea of, 'they're going to throw a bit of money at this year, and maybe it'll be there next year' is not a good way to run a country

“That’s no way for a family to plan, no way for a business to plan.”

Several of the so-called cost-of-living measures, such as energy credits, have been features of successive budgets.

Pressed on whether he accepted that families had already factored such measures into their financial planning, Mr Harris said: “There’s probably pangs of anxiety when people hear, ‘Oh, the one-off measures aren’t going to be there’.

“So, let me assure people that, as we frame this budget, we will, of course, be looking to do things to help them with their cost of living: whether that’s things for carers; for older people in relation to their pensions; whether it’s keeping the lower rate of VAT on energy; I think that’s a very important measure – whether it’s looking at our small and medium businesses and what we can help them to do with their cost base, the cost of education, there’s lots of things that we can do.”

He added: “Help is on the way, there will be measures to assist them.

“But what we want to do is make sure they’re permanent, sustainable measures, not this idea of every year a family having to turn on the budget and see, ‘will I be getting a double payment?’.”

He added: “This idea of, ‘they’re going to throw a bit of money at this year, and maybe it’ll be there next year’ is not a good way to run a country.”

Mr Harris also said he we was a “signed-up believer” to introducing a second tier of child benefit, but added that it would be a multi-annual project and requires constructive work with Government colleagues “to get there”.