Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives from the Central Bank. I have some brief questions to flesh out what was said in the opening statement. I accept that the first issue I raise is not in our remit but it is related as it will affect us. To what extent has the Central Bank looked at the British economy post Brexit? Sterling is a stand-alone currency and while Britain is not in the eurozone, it is in the EU. Presuming that Britain does leave the EU and given that we will have sterling currency on the island, has the Central Bank looked at how that situation could and would affect us further down the line? It might not have been part of any of the stress tests carried out to date.

I am interested to hear about contact and research carried out by the Central Bank with consumers in the financial services sectors. How much previously proposed development in the economy has been parked with a view to allowing the prospective investors or developers to wait and see what will happen? We have economic growth at the moment and, leaving Brexit to one side, the Central Bank predicts continued economic growth. Do the witnesses have a sense that substantial development and investment that may well have occurred in recent years has been postponed because prospective developers or investors are sitting on their hands and playing a wait-and-see game? If the Brexit issue is resolved in a way that is reasonably in our favour, could a mini-Celtic tiger emerge as people who have been waiting to see what happens decide not to sit on their hands any longer?

It seems to be all negative in the context of Brexit, but are there any positives? To be honest, there was not much positivity in the opening statement. I cannot fault Dr. Cassidy on that. He has to call it as it is and much of it is speculative. Has he experienced any positive spin-offs to date that might not have happened if Brexit was not an issue?