Ciarán Hancock

It has shot up since the United States and Israel's war with Iran began a couple of months ago, but not by as much as you might have expected.

Talks on a deal are taking place, but in the absence of a deal, there is concern that a prolonged conflict could lead to a global recession.

John Fitzgerald is an economist and an Irish Times columnist, and he and Cliff Taylor join me in studio to discuss the implications for Irish householders and businesses.

Fair to say that the outlook is grim in the absence of a deal in the near future.

So I began by asking John Fitzgerald to remind us of the impact to date of the Iran war on price and the supply of oil globally.

Here we go.

All right, this is all to do with the straightforward moves.

Cliff, what's been the impact in Ireland so far?

And we saw a big spike in prices for home heating oil when this war broke out initially.

And prices went up at the pumps.

But as I say, the government introduced measures to reduce excise duty.

So that moderated the increases.

John, you were in front of an Oireachtas committee, the Budget Oversight Committee this week, talking about what the impact could be on Ireland if the war doesn't come to an end.

And we hope it does soon.

And there are talks going on in the background.

No deal yet.

So who knows?

So what will the impact be?

That's very stark.

When you talk about seven and a half billion, that's cost to consumers, to businesses, to the government, etc.