The Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will release the first details of next year's budget later today.

The Summer Economic Statement will see the minister reveal he has only €500m left to spend on new measures.

Budget 2018 might be three months away, but today marks the first piece of the jigsaw.

The Summer Economic Statement will outline the general state of play in that budget - including the projections for growth in the economy, and the numbers of people at work.

But the crucial part is the so-called "fiscal space" - the amount which Minister Donohoe will have to spend on new measures.

That will come in at around €1.2bn.

But over half of that has already been committed to measures announced last year.

That leaves just €500m available - and a lot of that will already have to be set aside for the proposed new public pay deal.

It means by the time Minister Donohoe gets around to anything else, not much money will be left.

Cutbacks will also be needed elsewhere to fund new spending, or any tax cuts.