Brexit caveat with positive forecast

Some 91,000 net additional jobs should be created by 2020 across a broad range of sectors if the current economic recovery continues — but all bets are off until Brexit becomes clearer.

That is the key finding of the EY’s summer forecast, which predicts GDP growth in the Republic to reach 2.6% in 2017, with an average growth rate of 2.6% per annum until 2020, which it says will be bolstered by continued consumer spending.

However, the country’s resilience and competitiveness will continue to be tested in the face of global and economic political developments, according to the forecast. Economic advisor to EY Economic Eye, Professor Neil Gibson said that with little clarity on Brexit, political uncertainty in Northern Ireland, and Irish GDP data being affected by a range of factors, all-island forecasting has never been more challenging.