Funding of around £100 million (€126.97 million) for each of the areas of health, housing and environmental protection should be provided in the Budget, the Green Party has proposed.

In a pre-Budget submission, published yesterday, the party urged extra funding for education, childcare and transport.

The submission calls for a package of tax proposals which would cost £490 million and a 10 per cent increase on social welfare payments to compensate for the effects of inflation.

The Greens have also proposed three measures which they say would counteract labour market shortages and increase income tax returns: the introduction of grant incentive schemes to encourage immigrants back to the State; the introduction of six-month work permits for all those who sought refugee or asylum status; and the right of those aged over 65, up to 70, to re-enter the workforce working for up to 20 hours a week while maintaining full pension entitlements.

The ESRI proposal for the introduction of a carbon tax should specifically target the nonessential uses of energy, the Greens stated. Other environmental taxes would include a tax on pesticide use and one on polluting materials such as plastic bags.