Dr. Mark Cassidy:

Essentially if the current crisis was to become much worse and we still expect strong growth in the Irish economy, there is no doubt about that, for us, as we see it the outlook remains positive, but growth could be weaker than we are currently expecting. It would take a very large shock to move into much more negative territory than that. Of course there are vulnerabilities around the economy coming out of Covid-19 and they will be exacerbated with additional stresses now, due to the current crisis. We will know much more about this when the income supports that are benefiting firms that have been affected by Covid-19 stop. We will then know much more about the vulnerabilities that exist. Much is currently exposed by these firms. We will know much more during the course of 2022 about what firms that are currently on income supports will no longer be viable when those supports are removed. The situation will become much clearer in terms of the pressures the Deputy quite rightly highlighted.