Boost for Irish factories amid mixed indicators for health of economy         

There are mixed indicators for the outlook of the economy amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Irish-owned factories fared well in recent months, with output increasing despite the cost-of-living crisis, but the Irish-based multinationals dominated by pharma and the tech giants appear to have faltered, new official figures show.

The Central Statistics Office data is the latest to suggest mixed signals about the outlook for the Irish economy as, along with the rest of Europe, it faces the most uncertain outlook since the banking and property market crash 14 years ago.