Dr. Kieran McQuinn:

To give one further example in that regard, we appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government and were asked about the impact of Brexit. We did some work looking at where some of the basic raw materials in the construction of a typical house came from. A large proportion comes from the UK in terms of the standard materials that are used. Some of the implications we may not have factored in totally are that if there disruptions in the trade relationship in the housing market, for instance, it will become much more difficult to source these materials and more costly to get them. We know already that the cost of building a house in this country is very high. People are constantly complaining about the cost of building a house and the knock-on implications for housing supply. The danger is that it may become even more costly to do so in that situation. There are many unforeseen consequences that we have not totally factored in to the overall macro, aggregate assessment but that could undoubtedly impact on people.