LONDON

There are no plans to introduce COVID-like measures to deal with the energy crisis unfolding due to the continued Middle East escalation, the Irish deputy prime minister said on Monday.

The scale of the energy crisis is greater than the world has ever seen, but there are no supply concerns in Ireland or Europe today, Simon Harris, who is also the country's finance minister, was quoted by the public broadcaster RTE as saying.

He went on to say that the current crisis is very different from COVID-19, and there are no plans to adapt people's travel schedules.

"We are keeping all measures under review," said Harris.

If the war ended today, it would take a year to fix the damage done to infrastructure, according to the best estimates made available by the Irish Economic Association, noted the deputy premier.

However, he said the government still expects the economy to grow this year and incomes to rise.

His remarks came as Irish inflation jumped to 3.6% as energy prices surged, according to the latest Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) estimate.

Citing HICP data, Irish daily The Irish Times reported that prices rose at an annualized rate of 3.6% in March, up from a rate of 2.5% in February.

The US-Israel war with Iran and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted regional energy flows, contributing to shortages and price pressures worldwide.

On March 2, Iran announced restrictions on navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for oil tankers, threatening to attack any vessels attempting to pass without coordination.

About 20 million barrels of oil transit the strait daily, and its effective closure has driven up oil prices and shipping and insurance costs, triggering global economic concerns.