Half price public transport for young people, free contraception and a hike in the weekly fuel allowance are among the measures to be announced in Budget 2022.
Students or anyone between the age of 19 and 23 will be eligible for half price public transport.
The €4.7 billion package will see €1.5 billion in additional spending, largely aimed at addressing the rising cost of living.
Pensions
Pensions and most social welfare rates, including the weekly fuel allowance, will rise by €5 a week, and a full Christmas bonus will be paid.
There will also be funding for 800 new gardaí and a €100 million package to help the tourism sector.
Economist Jim Power says a number of areas need particular attention.
He told Newstalk: “The key focus of the Budget should be the continued support to those businesses that have been seriously damaged by Covid and that continue to trade with significant debt legacy because of Covid.”
Mr Power added: “I think they need to address the significant increases we are seeing in the cost of living, particularly energy costs, I think they need to focus on trying to increase labour force participation and elimination of PUP.”
Public transport
The plans to give half price public transport to students or anyone between 19 and 23 were welcomed by the president of the NUI Galway Students' Union.
However, Róisín Nic Lochlainn says it does not go far enough: “Obviously as a result of the housing crisis students are not able to get affordable accommodation, so we're seeing a drastic increase this year in students commuting to college, so I think the least that we should see from this Government is some sort of subsidy towards travel and transport for students.”
