The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath says he has "no doubt" that the stability of the Government "is not in question" and he predicted the Coalition will serve its full term in office.

He was commenting on the week-long row over Fine Gael demands for a €1,000 tax break for the average worker in October's budget.

Minister McGrath said the Government has grappled with "enormous challenges" over the past three years, such as the pandemic, war in Europe and inflation, and has done so "cohesively and with unity".

He told RTÉ News: "Reducing the burden of income tax is a Programme for Government commitment which has been agreed by all three parties in the Coalition and that will be honoured in the forthcoming budget."

The Minister added: "The exact nature, the detail and the amount of money involved will fall to be decided as part of the normally budgetary process after the Summer Economic Statement is agreed in the coming weeks."

He said that approach had "served the Government well" over the past three years and "I believe will do so again in 2024".

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'Manufactured' distraction

Sinn Féin's Louise O'Reilly has contended the Coalition row over income tax cuts in the budget "is intended... to be a distraction in the week when we see a dramatic increase in the numbers of people who are homeless".

The party's Enterprise, Trade, and Employment spokesperson described the row as "manufactured" by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil who "agree on almost everything. You couldn't fit the width of a credit card between the two of them."

Deputy O'Reilly said it was worth noting that the 3 Fine Gael junior ministers who wrote an article last Monday calling for tax cuts "... would benefit 5 times more from their own proposal than an ordinary worker on €40,000 a year, or less".