An Independent TD is calling on the government to reduce the local property tax for those in negative equity.

That's one of a number of measures included in a pre-budget submission by Stephen Donnelly, which also recommends increasing the number of teachers by 10% and increasing the amount of grants to third level students by 30%.

Cabinet ministers are meeting today to finalise a raft of cuts totaling €2.5 billion which are to be announced on Tuesday.

Deputy Donnelly is also calling for a reduction in the amount of tax relief people can claim:

The Independent TD is also calling on the government to tackle the problem of sick leave in the public sector. He says the State could save more than €100 million if the coalition brought public sector practices in line with private sector practices.

Deputy Donnelly says the current situation with sick leave is laughable: