0.4% GDP rise ‘not as high as we would like’

Enda Kenny admitted the economy’s return to growth was not as high as he would have liked, and said while the 0.4% GDP increase from April to June was “encouraging”, the country has a long way to go.

With Fine Gael warning there was little scope for any easing up on the severity of this year’s budget, the Taoiseach said economic data due over the next few weeks would have an important bearing on how the Government formulates next month’s budget.

“It’s encouraging certainly, but clearly we have a long way to travel; 0.4% is a better performance than some countries. It’s not as high as we would have liked.”