The Government has signed off on guaranteed tax increases every year for the next five years.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys brought the PRSI roadmap to Cabinet on Tuesday.

Ministers agreed that there will be incremental increases in all classes of PRSI (employer, employee and self-employed) over the next five years.

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The Government had previously warned that this would be needed following the decision last year to keep the pension age at 66 rather than increasing it to 68.

It was agreed that from 2024, PRSI will increase by 0.1 per cent. There will be another 0.1 per cent increase in 2025.

In 2026 and 2027, PRSI rates will increase by 0.15 per cent each year. This will be followed by a 0.2 per cent increase in 2018.

It means that PRSI will increase by 0.7 per cent over the next eight years.

As she unveiled her Budget 2024 package in October, Minister Humphreys confirmed that PRSI rates would increase by 0.1 per cent from next October.

This will add 90c a week, or €46.80 a year, to people’s tax bills.

Elsewhere, the Cabinet agreed to reform the Seanad election rules to see nearly one million more people eligible to vote for Senators.

A new six-seat 'Higher Education' constituency will be created to allow graduates of all universities to vote. Currently, just 177,000 graduates from NUI institutions and Trinity College Dublin are registered to vote for Senators.

Census 2022 data shows that there were 951,445 Irish citizens aged 15 years and over living in Ireland on Census night who had completed an ordinary Bachelor's degree or higher.

It is not envisaged that the new rules will be in place in time for the next election. However, the Supreme Court gave until 31 May, 2025 for the changes to come into force.

The implication of this ruling is that Senators elected under the existing legislation after 31 May, 2025 would not be valid.