Harris ‘concerned’ about potential rises in costs following Middle East conflict

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

Shocks to the financial markets, the impact on oil and gas prices and increased economic uncertainty are the three key potential impacts of the escalating conflict in the Middle East the Department of Finance is preparing for, the Tánaiste has said.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Government Trade Forum, Simon Harris was asked if he was concerned about potential price rises, he said: “I am concerned.

“The three things I’m most concerned about at the moment are the degree of economic uncertainty this conflict injects into a world where there is already a lot of uncertainty.

“The impact on commodity prices, which include oil and gas, and the potential risk of shocks to the financial markets.”

He said he had instructed his department to carry out an economic analysis of the situation, and they would “update our forecasting and our projections for the Irish economy by the end of the month”.

Mr Harris did acknowledge “this is very, very early days”.

He added: “This is something that happened over the course of the weekend.

“There’s a huge amount of unknowns at the moment.

“Does this situation de-escalate relatively quickly? Is this something that goes on for a prolonged period of time?

“And the difference between those two things economically could be very significant.”