Mr. Sebastian Barnes:

One thing that is very important with regard to the EU policy, which is also very important in the energy market, is an assumption of the stability programme update, SPU, forecast that, essentially, the EU's energy plans, particularly over next winter, will work effectively and that the different margins that are allowed to compensate for reduced supply of oil and gas from Russia are effective. There are obviously many risks around that and a lot of things could go wrong. That could potentially lead to quite a difficult winter in Europe. Ireland is not directly exposed to that as strongly as some other countries. In particular, our industrial production is not as strongly dependent on that as industrial production is in some other countries. However, that is a big risk to the European economy for next winter and, as a consequence, it is also a risk for the Irish economy. Further ahead, many of the measures that have been announced would contribute to moving towards achieving the climate change goals and going in the right direction, so ultimately it would be helpful if all of that happens. It also would be helpful for the public finances. In the short term, however, those risks are important. It is one of the big downside risks facing the economy.