Richard Bruton has indicated that hard pressed middle income earners will be given some relief in the upcoming budget -suggesting a widening of the tax bands is on the cards.
The jobs minister's welcoming new figures showing the number of people at work at its highest in nearly five years.
The Central Statistics Office says over 1.9 million people are now at work - that size of a workforce hasn't been since the end of 2009.
Unemployment's also continuing to fall nationally - but there was a sharp rise in the Western region in the second quarter of the year.
Minister Bruton has told the Lunchtime Show here on Newstalk that the government's tough policies are working and that tax changes are now needed for the so-called squeezed middle:
