Dr. Martin O'Brien:

As I alluded to previously, our analysis suggests that tariffs, as we have them currently, will hit the economy but it is not going to be a huge, significant impact. The challenge is if other changes in US tax and industrial policy more fundamentally change the incentives for US companies to operate here. If that were the case, there would be an almost immediate hit on corporation tax revenue and then, over time, a slower level or a much lower level of investment into the country. That would damage the longer term growth prospects more generally. Taking that to a more global picture, Ireland is a small, open economy and a trading nation. In a world where there is such friction generally, not just with respect to the US, and where barriers to trade are growing quite substantially, small open economies will fare worst. We will be open to much lower levels of growth and activity in that case. That is one side. The other side is the factors within our control we can think about to offset those risks or minimise domestically determined risks. Those come back to the facts around infrastructure delivery, and making sure Ireland remains a reasonably attractive place to live and do business in. To come back to Deputy Devine's point, the main issue around affordability of housing and affordability of public services is going to be actual infrastructure delivery to enable additional housing supplies to come on.