Irish unemployment 'back at pre-pandemic level as soon as next year'

Senior economist Jim Power said it would be "inadvisable" for finance minister Paschal Donohoe to tap the strong economic recovery to increase any tax-cutting package in the next budget.

Finance minister Paschal Donohoe said that the Department of Finance has raised its economic outlook

Unemployment could be back to its pre-pandemic level as soon as next year, as the economy rebounds from the worst of the Covid-19 crisis, leading independent economists have predicted. 

Kieran McQuinn, professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, said that double-digit expansion of the economy is leading to a faster-than-expected recovery and unemployment by the end of next year could fall back to 6%, close to the sub-5% rate posted on the eve of the crisis in spring 2020.