GOVERNMENT STAKES €4.1BILLION IN BUDGET TO CARRY COUNTRY THROUGH COST OF LIVING CRISIS

The Government unveiled a 2023 Budget on Tuesday containing €4.1 billion in spending measures aimed at carrying the country through the escalating cost of living crisis predicted in the coming months and avoiding a winter of discontent. Cavan/Monaghan Fine Gael TD and Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys, who announced measures of €2.2 billion including a number of lump sum payments to “ease the pressure and stress that many households are facing”, said the Budget would deliver significant benefits for the people of her constituency. But the constituency’s Sinn Féin Dáil representative and party Spokesperson on Agriculture Matt Carthy slammed the measures for what he termed their “neglect” of family farmers. In addition to the package of measures aimed at tackling the cost of living pressures on households and businesses, the Budget announced by Minister for Finance Pascal Donohoe TD also provides for €6.9 million expenditure on core measures. Among the main features of Budget 2022 are: • An electricity credit of …