Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will add a quick word to that and I thank Deputy Lahart for coming in.

It is inevitable in many respects that the challenges and the negatives tend to get a lot of traction, whether it is Covid, Brexit or the terrible war in Ukraine and the inflationary spiral that is causing. However, there are many positives. Ireland is an outlier in European terms in so many respects on the positive side. There is the level of growth we continue to enjoy, the job creation, the dramatic improvement in the public finances and the continuing strong investment pipeline announcements by both FDI clients and Enterprise Ireland clients, which are really strong and positive. We must strike a balance between acknowledging the headwinds - and there is a great degree of uncertainty at the moment about the international economy in particular - but also recognising sentiment is important and the Deputy is spot on there. It is a key driver of economic performance because while there are undoubtedly many people struggling at the moment there are many others who have resources and we want them to make decisions to invest, spend and play an active part in our economy. Our giving a fair presentation of all the issues, including the challenges and also the positives and strengths, can play an important point in giving that sense of confidence, because we are confident. It is not false hope. It is important to give people hope based on realism about the outlook for the Irish economy. We will get through this period and Ireland will continue to be a strong performer. It is just important we make the right decisions to help us on that journey. I thank the Deputy for making the point as it is a really important one.