Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I have found it interesting that the same theme has been playing out in the past few weeks. Last week, we had the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council before the committee and the previous week, the Ministers, Deputies Chambers and Donohoe attended. All of them and the witnesses before us today adopted the same theme. I do not know whether it is a good thing, bad thing or a scary thing. Everyone has painted a similar picture of an economy that is going strong and well, but at the same time is probably being overly reliant, and overly boosted by potentially temporary financial windfalls.

I use the word "windfall" because we used it two weeks ago. As I said at that point to the Minister, the definition of a windfall is that it does not happen all the time and one cannot rely on it into the future. Obviously, that seems to echo what the witnesses have said. They have also painted a picture of the infrastructure gaps. Some of the conversation may have been overly focused on some of those infrastructure gaps and what the Central Bank can do about them because, ultimately, the Central Bank is not responsible for that. All the Central Bank can do is set out what it sees.

I might come back to those points later but before I forget, I noticed interest rates and their impact were referenced. It is one thing I have always been conscious about because, in my lifetime, I have seen Ireland lose its independence in how it sets interest rates. We have seen the impacts of that, negative and positive, over the past 20 years. How does the Central Bank feel about how interest rates set by Europe have been dealt with in an Irish context in the previous two to three years and is it satisfied with the way they have been cut? Does that tie into the Central Bank's thinking and what is its own view?