How €7bn in Irish savings is spent is now key as worst of Covid crisis ends

The ESRI has long forecast that house prices and rents will likely be driven higher in the short term

Kieran McQuinn, economics professor at the ESRI: "I think there is some danger that any additional spending could in the short term basis push prices up further because of expectations that prices will rise further."

A growing sense that the worst of the Covid crisis is at an end will lead to the spending of the billions of euro saved during the pandemic, leading economists have predicted.

However, some of the estimated €7bn in additional savings Irish households built up in the past two years will leak away into foreign travel and the savings will also help fuel more pressure on house prices and rents, they also warn.