Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will just make three points. The Deputy is correct to call out the fairly significant increase in household savings. I understand that the last set of figures that were produced by the Central Statistics Office indicated that the level of household savings in the economy for the quarter in which they measured it had increased by nearly one third. Such a level of increase is a significant economic development. I very much agree with what the Minister, Deputy McGrath, has said that many in our society are saving more. Many others in our society are using their savings to live on and to support their businesses at a time of significant strain. Those savings can mean very different things to different people.

As the Minister, Deputy McGrath, said, how that money is released into our economy is also tied into confidence regarding the sustainable opening of our economy in the future. A key factor that will influence how savings are used is whether those who are saving more believe their income and their employment will it be stable over a longer period of time than it was in 2020.

The consumption mix as those savings are used within our economy is of course critical in being able to understand what effect it will have on our economy. For example, if that money is spent on exports other countries will benefit from the use of those savings. That is not necessarily a bad thing because, of course, our exporters can benefit from the spending of savings in other economies and so the two things go hand in hand. If that money was to be spent over time within our hospitality and services sector, within domestic tourism for example, the release of that level of savings into a part of our economy which is really hurting could have a particularly positive effect.