Drop in living standards ‘unavoidable’, Department of Finance says – The Irish Times

Risks to Ireland’s economic outlook are “firmly tilted to the downside” and the energy price shock means it is “unavoidable” that people’s living standards will be impacted, according to officials at the Department of Finance.

The stark warnings are contained in a briefing document drawn up for new Minister for Finance Michael McGrath.

The papers also highlight Ireland’s heavy reliance on “volatile” windfall corporation tax receipts – a situation that leaves the public finances “vulnerable to a shock to the multinational sector”.

The publication of the briefing material comes amid fears of job losses in the tech sector in Ireland with both Google parent-company Alphabet and Microsoft this week announcing plans to cut staff numbers around the world.

The Government does not expect to know the scale of any job losses at either company in Ireland for a number of weeks.

Intel last night announced that 30 of its non-manufacturing staff would face compulsory redundancy.

Economic turmoil

Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney is to meet Google Ireland next week in a bid to clarify the impact of Alphabet’s announcement here. He said the tech sector in Ireland remained “strong” and impacted workers would be supported.

The Department of Finance briefing document – drawn up in December – offers a downbeat assessment of Ireland’s economic situation, predicting that…

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