Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said any mortgage interest relief in the upcoming Budget would be focused on those “paying the highest rates” and those at risk of losing their homes.
Speaking at the annual Fine Gael think-in, which is being held at the Limerick Strand Hotel, Mr Varadkar said no decision had yet been made on how any mortgage interest rate relief would be targeted.
The party leader said: “We do appreciate that a lot of people are experiencing a lot of financial distress because mortgage interest rates have gone up so much so quickly.
“Anything that would be broad-based would be prohibitively expensive, so I think if we are going to do something and help people with mortgage interest, it really should focus on those who are paying the highest rates, and those who might be at risk of losing their homes.
Taoiseach and Leader of Fine Gael @LeoVaradkar speaking to the media as we begin Day 1 of our Think In in Limerick.
Key topics for our Think In:
✅Helping with the cost of living and protecting the squeezed middle
✅Law and order
✅Agriculture pic.twitter.com/KlnoNXScnSAdvertisement— Fine Gael (@FineGael) September 15, 2023
“The detail of that hasn’t been worked out.”
Mr Varadkar also said there would be “one-off” measures before the end of the year as part of the upcoming Budget.
He was responding to a question on whether there would be further one-off cost-of-living measures in the Budget.
“There will be a number of one-offs and they’ll fall into this calendar year,” he said.
“Again, none of those are agreed yet and I don’t think they’ll be on the scale of last year. Bear in mind since last year inflation has started to moderate, wages having increased, so I don’t think one-offs will be on the scale of what people would have seen last year.”
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys also told reporters at the think-in that she wanted the Budget to examine an extension of child benefit for 18-year-olds still in secondary school.
She also said she wanted the Hot School Meals Programme to be expanded so that any child born in 2023 will be eligible for the assistance by the time they enter primary school.
Ms Humphreys also noted that a double child benefit payment last year was “well received”.
She also defended the universality of the benefit, saying means testing the payment would bring “trouble”.
Student financial support
Minister for Further Education Simon Harris said he was prioritising parents re-entering education as a way of tackling “inter-generational poverty”.
Currently, you can only access student financial support if you are entering college full-time.
He said: “How can a one-parent family where one parent is maybe trying to hold down a job, pay the mortgage or pay the rent, mind two or three kids at the same time, be expected to go off to university for four years full-time? It simply doesn’t make sense.
“So I’ve directed my officials to prepare plans now to ensure that student support schemes can be available for one-parent families and for other groups, indeed, on a part-time basis.
“So, in other words, that you can study in a way or at a pace that works for you and still access the same supports in terms of fee reductions and in terms of financial grants people who study full-time can.”
He said he would be looking at other “access groups including people with disabilities”.
Asked about a further reduction in student fees, Mr Harris said the Taoiseach had noted the importance of reducing the cost of education.
He said: “There’s absolutely no doubt that – particularly at a time when the country is in surplus, and when the country is doing economically well – that Government must recognise that the cost of sending your child to third-level education is significant.”
Fees were reduced by €1,000 on a one-off basis last year, alongside a permanent €500 reduction for those with a household income of less than €100,000.
A bonus student grant payment was also made last year.
