Volatility in the multinational sector to prompt contraction in Ireland's GDP this year

EY Ireland chief economist Dr Loretta O’Sullivan said while GDP is showing some weakness 'a host of other metrics indicate that the economy is doing well'

Next week, Finance Minister Jack Chambers will present his first budget which is expected to include a package of €8.3bn which will be split between €6.9bn of public spending and €1.4bn on tax cuts and changes.

Ongoing volatility across multinational enterprises (MNE) will see Ireland’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrink slightly this year, but in spite of this the overall economy is expected to continue to perform well, a new analysis by EY has found.

EY is forecasting modified domestic demand (MDD) — a measure of economic growth that does not include the activities of multinational corporations — to grow by 2.3% this year and by 3.2% next year.