Cabinet To Sign Off On New Cost Of Living Measures

The Cabinet is to meet today to sign off on a new round of cost of living measures – some of the changes will see prices increase for consumers.

It is expected that there will be a €200 lump sum social welfare payment, a €100 lump sum Child Benefit payment per child and €100 extra for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.

The government is not going to keep the reductions imposed on Excise duty on fuel last year – these will be phased out meaning that petrol and diesel costs will increase. Petrol will increase by 6 cents per litre on 1 June, 7 cents on 1 September and 8 cents on 31 October, which is an overall increase of 21 cents.  Diesel will increase by 2 cents per litre on 1 March, 5 cents on 1 June, 5 cents on 1 September, and 6 cents on 31 October, which is an overall increase of 18 cents. This brings the Excise charge back to the previous levels as of early 2022.

The 9% VAT rate is expected to be extended until the end of August when it will increase to 13.5%. The Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme which is intended to support businesses with higher energy costs is also set to be extended until May and the scheme will be made available to a wider number of businesses. There are no plans to give a further energy credit to households for now – a €200 credit for energy bills is planned for March.