Hopes rise that easing of Covid-19 restrictions will lift some of Ireland's economic gloom: ESRI professor

Kieran McQuinn, research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute

The Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment will likely be extended through to the end of the year adding to the costs of the exchequer but the budget deficit may not necessarily balloon more than already feared if early positive signs for tax revenues are realised, a leading economist has said.

Kieran McQuinn, research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, said there has been positive developments in recent days for the prospects for the recovery, including the easing of the lockdown restrictions, a tentative hopes that corporation and income tax revenues will hold up better than once feared, as well as the determination of EU leaders to underpin a Europe-wide recovery.