MINISTER FOR FINANCE Paschal Donohoe has ruled out issuing cost-of-living packages in the next budget, despite the imminent threat of inflation posed by US tariffs.

Donohoe said that the growing uncertainty and risks to the economy mean it is “correct” to rule out a bumper package of cost-of-living supports which have featured in recent budget announcements.

He was speaking following the publication of a report today on the potential impact of tariffs from the Department of Finance and Ireland’s Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on EU goods are set to be announced on 2 April as the trading bloc yesterday said it will delay implementation of retaliatory measures until mid-April.

Donohoe’s rejection of budgetary cost-of-living supports echoes comments made by Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday at an EU summit in Brussels in which he expressed his wish to err on the side of fiscal conservatism given the uncertain economic times ahead.

“I think our focus on the budget would be on sustained provision within the existing estimates. There will not be cost of living packages, as happened last year,” the Taoiseach said.

Asked about Martin’s position on the matter, Donohoe said: “Yes, the cost of living is still high. I know it’s a huge challenge for so many, but we don’t have the inflation levels – the 5% and 10% – that we had for so many years that necessitated spending billions of euro to help offset prices going up.

“And it is correct, therefore, to say at this point in time that we can’t repeat those kind of measures again and we will need to make sure that we have the enhanced strength in our economy and in our public finances to deal with the kind of risks that we’re outlining today.”

With reporting from PA.