Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has insisted Tuesday's budget is "not an election budget" despite a flurry of leaks confirming it will focus on key voter groups Fine Gael needs to stay in power. Speaking to reporters before giving a key note speech to an audience of party members, Mr Varadkar said four times in 11 minutes the budget will "put money back in people's pockets". [quote]No, I wouldn't see this budget as an election budget, I would see it as one that is very much in line with our budgetary and economic strategy of recent years. [/quote]"It's actually much more in line with previous budgets... and giving people more money to put back in their pockets," he said, adding:"If it was an election budget we'd probably be running a massive deficit or something." Asked specifically about how many more budgets can be passed, he said:"Let's hope we get one more done on Tuesday."

Source: Evening echo October 06, 2018 20:15 UTC