Christina Finn reports from Tullamore

INCOME TAX CUTS in Budget 2027 will only amount to “a few hundred euro”, Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers has said. 

Over the last number of months the government has been talking up the €1.5 billion tax package that will be announced on budget day.

However, speaking to reporters today in Tullamore at the Fianna Fáil party think-in, Chambers said the tax package is going to be “modest”. 

“I’m very clear that it is modest, and the adjustments will amount to a few hundred euro depending on your income, which I know on an annualised basis will be perceived as modest amongst the public.”

He said the income tax changes “will be moderate overall”, stating that there is a need to be prudent and responsible with the management of the economy. 

Chambers said he wants to “help workers who get up early, but also who get up and work nights too”. This was a nod to remarks made by Harris today to the Mullingar Chamber of Commerce pre-budget breakfast briefing where he said this year’s budget will support people “who get up early every morning and go to work”.

The minister said the government is signalling to workers that over the next series of budgets moves will be taken to alleviate the tax burden, but Chambers said it will be done in a “progressive and sustainable way”.  

The minister said it will take a series of budgets for people to see the real improvement in their take-home pay.

“That’s the honest position that I’m giving in the context of the budget,” he said. 

Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers says he wants the budget to help workers 'who get up early but also who get up and work nights too'. pic.twitter.com/xTaCyKh6yk

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) September 7, 2026

Chambers said the changes will be a combination of changes to tax bands, but also tax credits, with a particular focus on low and middle-income workers. 

The tax package should be progressive and “should reward work, and particularly help low-middle-income workers”.

Asked if he is worried that people might be disappointed with just a few hundred euro back in their pockets, the minister said:

“Well, I’m being honest about what’s available in the context of the one and a half billion euro.”

He said the government wants to shield wage growth of workers, but said the decisions on tax and spending must be “sustainable, affordable, and safe into the medium term”. 

Finance Minister Simon Harris has previously acknowledged that people were “irked” the government did not introduce personal income tax rate band changes in Budget 2026.