Govt rubbishes election rumours despite Budget 2025 being brought forward by one week

The government has dismissed rumours of an early general election despite Budget 2025 being brought forward by one week. 

The Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers, confirmed news of the new date on RTÉ's Morning Ireland earlier today (Thursday July 4), calling October 1 "the natural date" for the Budget due to ministerial commitments in Europe. 

He said, "We've to submit our fiscal and budgetary submission to the European Commission on October 15, and the week prior to that both myself and Minister [Paschal] Donohoe will be attending Ecofin and the Eurogroup meeting, so October 1 is the natural date to have Budget 2025. 

Chambers - who was named as the new Minister for Finance just last week - claimed the government is "absolutely committed" to running to full term, seemingly shutting down rumours of an early election. 

It was recently believed that the current government may want to capitalise on a dip in support for Sinn Féin, which was previously the most popular party in Ireland as per opinion polls. 

An early June poll released before the local and European elections revealed a sharp drop in support for the opposition party, while Independents and even Fine Gael saw surges. 

Political pundits have speculated on when the next election is likely to take place, with dates in late October and mid-November popular choices.