Mr McGrath was speaking on Saturday evening at a Fianna Fáil fundraising dinner in Dublin as senior Coalition figures continued to finalise the details of the Budget package this weekend.
Mr McGrath said that his work on the Budget 2024 tax package was “largely complete” but that Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe is “in the trenches” working to finalise a number of outstanding departmental budgets.
“I think what we will lay out on Budget Day is our plans in both tax and expenditure but more broadly an expectation and an optimism that living standards are about to improve for people, that incomes will rise ahead of the rate of inflation, that people will make gains in real terms and their life will be better,” he said.
Mr McGrath said it would be “odd not to be nervous” ahead of the first Budget delivered by a Fianna Fáil Finance Minister in 13 years.
“You just want it to go well. But first and foremost. You wanted to have the desired effect, and we know that a lot of people are genuinely hurting,’’ he said.
Hundreds struggling during cost of living crisis gather outside Leinster House ahead of Budget 2024
“The truth is that it’s a mixed picture. Many people have been able to absorb the cost of living increases with a degree of comfort, but for others, it has put them under real strain.”
He said there was “no cause for panic” as a result of the fall in corporation tax revenues in recent months.
In his speech to the fundraising dinner, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said “when it comes to essential activities like heating homes and the weekly shop, families need help and we will respond” in the Budget.
In earlier comments to journalists Mr Martin said that two long-term funds being set up on Budget day would focus on “protecting entitlements” for young people into the future and to pay for infrastructure and deal with climate changes. He said growth in the population of 1.5 million since 2000 was “creating pressures on public services”.
Budget 2024: What we know so far
Meanwhile, Mr Martin said he fears for the people of Gaza in the wake of Israel’s declaration of war following a surprise attack from Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday. Mr Martin condemned the attacks by Hamas on Israel, which he said “was absolutely without justification”.
As he called on the violence to end, the Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister said he could see “tensions rising” when he was in the region two weeks ago as well as the absence of any political will to enter peace talks.
“The scale of this and the naked attack on civilians is to be condemned and is quite shocking in terms of the scale of it,” he said.
He said that Ireland’s position was that a two-state solution was the “only sensible and rational solution to this issue and it needs political momentum behind it”. He said his sense was that “hardliners are growing in influence” and that there is a need for “moderate voices”.
He said there would be “many consequences” arising out of the attack, and referenced “malign Iranian influences” in the events.
“I fear for people in Gaza terms because we’ve seen what has happened before and there needs to be a political will towards a political solution here,” he said.
He said the situation is “relatively tense” for Irish peacekeepers based in south Lebanon and that this is being monitored.
