Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that “sustainable” measures will help under pressure households in next month’s Budget.

Mr Harris said Budget 2026 will be a return to one annual budget, but the Government is not ignorant to the fact that the cost-of-living challenge is real for many people.

‘There won’t be, effectively, a second budgetary package where we have one budget that runs from September to Christmas and one budget that runs from January to the end of the year,” he said.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Harris reiterated that there will be no one-off payments in the Budget.

He said it was not realistic for people to be tuning into the Budget to see if “a bit of money will be thrown” at a problem each year.

“This is not a good way to run a country,” he said.

He said he understands there might be “pangs of anxiety” when people hear that one-off measures will not be in the Budget.

However, he said: “Help is on the way”.

“There will be measures to assist them, but what we want to do is make sure they’re permanent, sustainable measures,” he said.

Fundamental reform needed to improve disability services – Tánaiste

Meanwhile, Mr Harris said improving disability services requires fundamental reform and is “not just about writing a cheque”.

He said: “Firstly, we are looking at how the assessment of need works. We’re looking at how we can ensure people get quicker access.”

“We’re using private capacity in the interim and we’ve seen a 30% increase in assessments of need this year as a result of that,” he said.

Mr Harris said he wants families to know that “we’re going to do everything humanly possible to improve the situation”.

Mr Harris said he “absolutely” understands the frustration parents are feeling.

However, he said a “number of positive things have happened in relation to disability services”.

He pointed towards “extra special classes opened, new special schools being funded, more therapy posts being funded, a dedicated minister with responsibility for disability”.

He added: “Demand is growing, so too is service provision.”

“But we decided to publish a fully whole of Government National Disability Strategy last week for this very reason,” he said.

“This involves everybody putting their shoulders to the wheel, but it does also involve reform.

“In return for the extra investment, we’ve got to see reform in terms of the system, not working for the system but working for the child.”