A bumper cost-of-living-budget will see a 6.5% increase in core Government spending this year.

The budget will be held two weeks early on September 27th after ministers agreed to move it forward this afternoon.

In total, €6.7 billion euro extra will be spent next year - with €2.7 billion available for new measures.

One billion euro will be set aside for taxation measures - double what was expected.

Minister Paschal Donohoe has flagged he intends to implement changes to income tax bands to ensure people keep more of any pay rise they may get this year.

He said there will be one-off measures to ease cost of living pressure, but specifics have yet to be agreed.

“We have not defined what will be available for this year,” he said. “We will have to work on this as a Government as we move through the year.

“What we have said is that Budget 2023 will contain once-off measures that we believe can make a difference to the cost-of-living and the challenges that many households are facing and we will define the scale of that response as part of getting ready for the budget.”

Ministers announcing the Summer Economic Statement. A €6.7bn budget package with €1bn for taxation measures and €2.7bn for new spending pic.twitter.com/aaSG3MRw8J

— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) July 4, 2022

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Michael Martin said they will attempt to alleviate pressures on people struggling the most.

New spending will be somewhere between two and three billion euro – with the Government breaking its own rule of not increasing Government spending by more than 5%, with the final figure landing somewhere between a 5% and 7% increase.

Politically the Government parties intend to spend that money on social welfare increases, tax indexation, and cuts to public transport fares.

A double social welfare bonus, a second electricity credit and a focus on the State pension are also being discussed.

But the budget is still two and a half months away, and the opposition is set to demand further intervention before then.