Employers and employees in Ireland pay less in social insurance than is typical across Europe, it said.

Booming corporate tax receipts could grow further in 2025 and 2026, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council said

The watchdog also said that only half of the Government’s 2.1 billion euro of cost-of-living measures were targeted.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council said the ‘very large’ Budget package will add pressures and widen the underlying deficit

Economist Seamus Coffey of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) is urging the Government to “stick” to the rule that would limit annual growth in spending to five per cent per year

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council report said: "The spending estimates omit large amounts of known spending this year."