Mr. John McCarthy:

There would appear to be some pent-up demand. I suspect it is through this precautionary or rainy day savings. Obviously there would be the wealth impact as well if they have significant amounts of deposits sitting in banks or even under the bed, then one could see an increase in consumption. We look at GDP as a flow variable so it tends to be what happens with the flow of income and how households allocate their disposable income between consumption and savings. Where we would see the scope for consumption improvements is primarily through a reduction in precautionary saving as opposed to the €3 billion that might be lying under the mattress or even in banks.