Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We were told that the inflationary spike we experienced last year would be transitory. We appreciate now, however, that inflation is firmly entrenched in the global economy and it is having a massive impact on the cost of living for everyone in the country. The US Federal Reserve is also meeting tonight and that organisation will likely increase interest rates in America by up to 0.75%. The European Central Bank, ECB, will likely do something similar next month. I am aware that the ECB has operational independence, but the Minister is also the chair of the Eurogroup. Therefore, I would be grateful to hear his thoughts on where he would see the ECB's base rate being at the end of this year and if he would advise those Irish mortgage holders with variable rates of interest to consider fixing those rates between now and then.

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