The productivity of the service sector is essential for economic growth. Services account for over 70 per cent of value added in the OECD countries; they are used in production by all the other branches of activity. Monopoly rents that keep prices high, impede innovation and productivity, and depress the economy’s competitiveness are more prevalent in the service sector.
The Central Bank has set this buffer at 1.5 per cent for its systemic institutions, to be phased in over the period 1 July 2019 to 1 July 2021. It is very clear to me that if these measures had been in place fifteen years ago, the scale of financial crisis experienced in Ireland would have been much more limited.