Ireland to boost budget package to 1 billion euros

Ireland is set to almost triple the amount available to cut taxes and increase spending in next week's budget through a series of additional revenue raising measures, the Irish Times reported on Saturday. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has just 350 million euros in spare resources - far less than the expansionary budgets of the last two years - but the Irish Times said it understood the final package would be between 900 million and 1 billion euros.
A spokeswoman for the finance ministry said she could not comment on the budget ahead of its presentation on Tuesday. Governments usually give themselves some additional wriggle room on budget day through small hikes in excise duties on tobacco and alcohol and ministers have said they are examining revenue raising measures. However generating up to 650 million euros would go far further than recent years.