The Governor of the Central Bank has told an Oireachtas committee that increases in consumer prices for energy and fuel "are yet to reflect in full the developments of recent weeks and the implications of the conflict in Ukraine."
Gabriel Makhlouf was speaking before the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform today.
He said the war in Ukraine would have a "material impact" on the euro area economy.
The Governor also fielded questions on those affected by the tracker mortgage issue and how ready the banking system is for the departure of Ulster and KBC and the transfer of accounts.
"I wouldn't say everybody is ready, but we are fully engaged with the institutions on this. They are fully aware of the scale of the challenge - they know the obligations," Mr Makhlouf said.
"It's a very significant moment for financial services in Ireland, that’s for sure," he added.
In response to questions from Labour's Ged Nash, the Governor also said that there may be between 15-16 "special purpose entities" registered in the IFSC which may "have some connection with the named individuals" currently under EU sanctions against Russia.
He also briefly confirmed that assets have been frozen to date.
In response to a question from Aontú’s Peadar Tóibín, he said the sanctions applied to everyone in the country and that professional service firms are obliged to be aware of them and "if they are managing these assets, they need to freeze them and report them to the Central Bank".
