Energy supports should be 'targeted, timely, tailored'

The Governor of the Central Bank has said the Government should stick to the plans that have been published and prioritise infrastructure in the budget.

'I'm actually talking housing, water, the electricity grid. They're creating bottlenecks within the country, within the economy that are actually pushing up prices, so that's where the focus should be," Gabriel Makhlouf said.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with David McCullagh, he said that projects are taking too long to complete, adding that they really need to speed the process up because the failure to do so challenges value for money.

Mr Makhlouf said supports for high energy costs should be "targeted, timely, and tailored" and focus on the most affected households rather than given universally.

The longer term challenge is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, he added.

Gabriel Makhlouf said he is concerned the Government is overly reliant on corporation tax and the tax base should be broadened.

Excess receipts from corporation tax should be placed in wealth funds, he added.

Gabriel Makhlouf, a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank which sets our interest rates, said that global uncertainty means the ECB takes each meeting as it comes and makes decisions "meeting by meeting" and by examining the most recent data.

The mandate is price stability and this is the reason behind recent increases in rates, he explained.

Increasing rates will not make energy costs go down, he added, but it will help control inflation.

Gabriel Makhlouf also said today that the Central Bank does not approve Israeli bonds but has to assess whether a securities prospectus meets legal criteria.

It is then up to investors who buy securities to make their own judgement, he said.

Last year the Central Bank was asked, by an issuer, to transfer approval of these securities to another state, he explained.

There is no legal reason for us not to agree to this, Mr Makhlouf said.