Inflation hasn't gone awayHowever, there is also a feeling that, with average wages rising higher than inflation, people will — by and large — be able to absorb the extra rises. Service sector inflation“Food price inflation is one of the big drivers at the moment, but service sector inflation is also pretty strong for everything you look at now. More recently, we’ve had the tariff shock, and yet — despite all this — the Irish economy has continued to grow. Dan O’Brien: European resilience“Also, the European economy has not gone into recession despite all of those things over the past six years. “That is why services inflation, from rents and insurance to childcare and construction, has settled at a persistently higher level.

Source: Irish Examiner January 12, 2026 20:30 UTC