New figures show that Irish consumer sentiment improved in August after July's steep fall as people remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook for the Irish economy and their own household finances.
The latest KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI consumer sentiment survey rose to 102.7 in August from a reading of 99.6 in July.
This put it just below the reading in June although still lower than the 15-year high of 108.6 hit in January.
Commenting on the improvement, KBC Bank Ireland's chief economist Austin Hughes said the recovery reflected a number of elements, including the fact that the UK's Brexit vote "did not cause the economic sky to fall in even if it made it a lot cloudier".
The economist also said that the absence of any immediate Brexit fallout co-incided with further evidence of the continuing health of the Irish economy, including a large number of new job announcements from companies as diverse as Lidl and Pfizer.
Today's index shows that consumers were a little more cautious about their personal financial circumstances last month.
KBC Bank said this may be linked to a small increase in inflation and a notable focus on problem areas such as insurance and residential rents that have seen sharp price increases continue for some time.
However, a slight improvement in expectations for household finances for the next 12 months may be down to widespread coverage of Government plans to gradually phase out the Universal Social Charge.
"Irish consumers appear to be waiting for a clearer picture in regard to the general economic outlook as well as what may happen to their own spending power before confidence effects impart any major boost to household spending," Mr Hughes stated.
