TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS wants to lower home heating oil and gas prices but says one budget can only do so much. 

Speaking on his way into this morning’s cabinet meeting, where the budget and the stand-off in Drumcree will be two of the main talking points, Harris said he is “particularly worried” about the cost of home heating and the cost of gas.

“We will make a decision as a government, as a collective. I think there’s things we can do there,” he told reporters. 

He has already indicated that excise cuts will be extended beyond November as well as suggesting the government could differentiate home heating oil from any carbon tax trajectory changes in the upcoming budget.

However, he moved to dampen expectations, stating:

I’ve got to be honest with people. There’s only so much any one budget can do.

He said no government in the world can fully offset the impact of the largest global energy shock ever.

“But we are in a fortunate position as a government to be able to look at how we can reduce some taxes, and look at how we can make some targeted interventions,” added Harris. 

The budget, which will be announced this day next week, “will be about making sure that work pays,” said the Tánaiste. It is expected that the threshold at which the higher income tax rate kicks in will be increased to €46,000.

“It will be about trying to give people an ability to have some degree of breathing space at a very challenging time. We’ll also invest in public services, but that investment has to be coupled with reform,” he said.

He said lots of good work is happening in our public services, but Harris said people want to see those public services reformed. “We often ask people to do more with less. Asking our public services to do more with more seems to be a reasonable thing to do,” he added, in what will be seen as a direct reference to the public pay talks. 

Asked if he will cancel the increase in public transport fees next year, the Tánaiste said the fares are lower than they were in 2018, with children under nine now getting free public transport and younger people seeing a 50% reduced rate.

Expansion of public transport essential 

It is absolutely essential that people see significant investment and expansion in public transport in this year’s budget, he said.

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“I believe we will see a significant ability to roll out new routes and to roll out improved services,” he said, adding that there are parts of the country where public transport is completely underdeveloped. 

“There isn’t one magic lever we can pull, but across income tax, across childcare, across fuel allowance, across temporary decisions around excise, looking at kerosene and gas. There are a range of items that we are working on to try and make all that together next week,” added Harris. 

Also speaking this morning, Higher Education Minister James Lawless said there are a number of measures on the table regarding student fees.

Lawless said he is hopeful that “significant support” can be given to lower fees, particularly for the squeezed middle.