Retail Ireland gives cautious welcome to consumer figures

Retail Ireland today gave a qualified welcome to improved consumer confidence figures contained in the KBC Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index.

"While one has to be careful not to read too much into one month's figures, on balance it appears that December's Budget has had a positive impact on consumer confidence," said Retail Ireland director Torlach Denihan.

"Dire weather meant that January remained very challenging for retailers, but we hope that improved consumer confidence will translate into some improvement in sales in February and March."