David McNamara: This oil shock is worse than 2022

Governments have less capacity to offset the oil shock than when Russia invaded Ukraine

Any new Government supports should be tightly targeted and preserve incentives to reduce Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels, which remains among the highest in the developed world. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

As markets slowly price in a longer-lasting disruption from the Middle East conflict, European governments are dusting off playbooks used in 2020 and 2022 to support households and firms through the current shock. 

However, the key difference today is many countries lack the fiscal capacity to match the largesse of previous crises, with the notable exception of Ireland.