Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The budget happens in October every year, and will happen in October this year. The demand for a mini or emergency budget has to me elements of sloganeering. Taking action does not require us to have a budget. People will know that during the pandemic we introduced the pandemic unemployment payment, which cost €9 billion. We did not have a mini-budget for that. We implemented the employment wage subsidy scheme to save jobs. We did not have a mini-budget for that. We have already taken €200 off people's electricity bills and brought about the biggest cuts ever to petrol and diesel prices. We did all of that without a mini-budget. It is not the case that an emergency budget or a mini-budget is required for a Government to take action. We can do that anyway. We have done that to date in responding to the emergency of the pandemic and the refugee and cost of living crises.

See this speech in context