The last few weeks has also seen the publication of a number of studies by the Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which are all relevant in forming a considered view of the current state of the Irish economy and financial system.
The plan for this speech is as follows: first, I will provide a brief overview of the European and Irish macroeconomic environment; second, I will outline the lessons from the IMF's Article IV and Financial Sector Stability Assessment (FSSA) reports for Ireland; third, I will discuss the recent banking stress test exercises; fourth, I will examine the implications of Brexit both from a macroeconomic perspective and in relation to Ireland’s role as an international financial centre; finally, I will conclude by discussing the measurement challenges in assessing the Irish macro-financial environment.