Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The other factor is, of course, to take cars as an example, there has been a shortage in terms of microchip manufacturing. There have been fewer cars manufactured. As economies have bounced back across the world, the demand for cars has not equalled the supply of cars. That is causing inflation. That is just one product. That can be mirrored in product after product since economies have reopened after Covid-19. That, along with the oil and gas price increases, is fuelling this inflationary cycle. It is a challenge. That is why some economists, such as the ECB, are saying it is short term but others disagree. There are two schools of thought as to how long this cycle will last, but the hope is that the imbalance at the moment between supply and demand will correct itself over time and help to reduce inflationary pressures.

In the meantime, we have some very significant key objectives of Government. Those are housing - to get supply up in housing and build as many houses as we can; to get a strong climate change agenda once and for all and not keep putting it on the long finger and avoiding action; and also dealing with health reforms and using what we learned in the pandemic to embed reforms in the health service for the long term. We are not going to be distracted from those key focus points of Government and our agenda in terms of doing what is right by the people not just now, but right into the future.

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