Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I do not share the Minister's complacency that our inflation is predominantly internationally generated. If he considers what happened in Ireland compared to the rest of the eurozone, last December inflation was below the European average. We have now surged well ahead of the European average, which suggests we have internal rather than external problems, as referred to by Deputy Quinn. On that aspect, will the Minister put in place some monitoring of cost pressures specifically in the building and oil pricing industries, which are two critical factors for small businesses and businesses exporting? It alarms me that the Minster does not appear to track what is happening in these critical markets despite the evidence on both fronts that Ireland is poorly priced compared to competitors. There appears to be issues that need to be addressed. Will the Minister undertake to regularly monitor and assess the pressures in those sectors?

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