Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said there is "no requirement for a mini-budget", but the public will know "no later than Tuesday" what additional cost-of-living measures are to be introduced by the Government.
Enabling legislation will be in place before the end of the month, he told the Dáil.
He said there would be targetted measures because people on lower incomes are "suffering the most".
But, he said, there would also be universal measures because, he did not think "it would be right" for middle income families to be told "you are being left out".
He was replying to Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who said a mini-budget was urgently required, citing a constituent in Dublin Bay South who had received a district heating bill of €1,700.
She said people "can't afford these extortionate prices".
Deputy Bacik said it was good to hear the Government acknowledged that people are still struggling despite the budgetary measures they had introduced but added the Labour Party had warned this would be the case last autumn.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said a mini-budget was urgently required. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar disagreed saying the public will know "no later than Tuesday" what additional cost-of-living measures are to be introduced by the Government | Read more: https://t.co/X7EBJldlh8 pic.twitter.com/ZDVwT296Sj
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 15, 2023
Earlier, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform said the Government will "weigh up the merits of universal measures and targeted measures" as part of cost of living supports.
Paschal Donohoe made the comments ahead of a meeting of the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment tomorrow.
Minister Donohoe said: "The Government will be meeting across the coming days to agree the details of how we will support our country across spring and in the run up to Budget 2024."
He said himself, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath and other ministers will make recommendations to the coalition party leaders.
While prices are not rising by as fast as they were a year ago, they are still rising, he said.
"So, what I am really looking to recognise is that we can see some positive signs regarding inflation beginning to change, regarding growth holding up but for many in our country at the moment prices are still high and the cost of living is unaffordable."
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The minister was in Brussels over the last two days to attend meetings with EU finance ministers, where he said "there has been a very slight shift in tone and we are now seeing for last year and for this year the reality that growth may well be a little higher than we would have expected and maybe inflation a little lower.
"I think it's very likely that the very high levels of inflation that we experienced in 2022 should now be behind us but inflation will still be high for this year and it was still have an effect on living standards for homes, still have an effect for businesses and their ability to keep people employed."
Mr Donohoe said he is "very optimistic that in the time ahead we will be able to overcome this challenge of rising prices and get back to a better place."
Assist those 'genuinely struggling'
Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Minister for Finance Michael McGrath have said the priority for next week's Spring Cost of Living package will be to assist those people who are "genuinely struggling" and those facing really high bills.
They were speaking at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting tonight where a number of backbenchers raised the extension of the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector.
However, it's reported that there was an acknowledgement that the half-a-billion euro cost of continuing the reduction could be better focused on supports for households and energy schemes for businesses.
It was also noted that it would be challenging to differentiate between hotels in Dublin and those in rural areas that are still struggling.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said expectations about next week's cost-of-living package need to be tempered against the financial limits set by last September's budget.
He told the Fine Gael parliamentary party tonight that the additional financial measures would not be of the same scale as a budget or mini-budget.
Mr Varadkar said the coalition's plan needed to strike a balance between being affordable for the taxpayer and sufficient to help people and businesses through to the next budget.
Additional reporting: Fergal O'Brien
