Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. I have an easy question in regard to inflation. To what extent are we vulnerable in terms of international trends and issues? My reason for raising that question is that, some years ago, I was in another European country that had a very busy port and there were about ten oil tankers anchored far offshore. When I inquired as to what they were doing there, I was told they were waiting for the price of oil to increase. How vulnerable are we to the manipulation of the system by external forces which will have the effect of accelerating inflation to the detriment of our respective economies across Europe?