cases. those who could work from home have been able to do so relatively easily, as the infrastructure and processes were acquired and developed during earlier waves. retailers who made significant investments in e - commerce and delivery logistics during 2020 and 2021 have been able to continue trading despite a decline in footfall. most sectors of the economy expanded strongly towards the end of last year. consumer activity picked up strongly in the lead - up to christmas with a significant decline in household deposits and increase in card spending. the stock of deposits remains at high levels following the strong 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches build - up during the early pandemic period and will support consumption and investment in the future. as a result, we are seeing a strong growth in domestic demand, led by consumption, supported by rapidly improving developments in the labour market, with high levels of labour force participation and employment. people often talk of a twin economy in ireland when discussing the multinational sector and domestic economy. indeed, looking at trade, two sectors are now responsible for more than 50 per cent of irish exports in value terms, namely the pharmaceutical and ict sectors. but exports by irish firms also recovered in line with global demand. in fact the success of irish enterprises in general alongside the recovery in the global economy continues to have a positive impact on the whole of the irish economy, not least the public finances. 2021 as a whole will likely have seen exceptional employment growth, with year - on - year increase of about 9 % in q2 and q3. unemployment fell markedly. there is still some remaining additional labour capacity, and contact - intensive sectors are yet to recover to pre - pandemic levels of hours worked. but we expect these to recover as restrictions are unwound, and unemployment to fall further. over the longer term we will need a certain level of migration to sustain growth in the economy. one of the most striking features we see from an irish perspective is female labour force participation, which now stands at its highest level on record. more younger people are also entering the workforce. the labour force increased by 7. 9 per cent annually ( to q3 2021 ), much stronger than we anticipated, and the labour force participation rate is higher than before the pandemic. these dynamics are supporting the overall positive economic outlook. we expect personal consumption to continue to grow strongly. and at an aggregate level the economy is expected to reach full potential over the coming years. of course the aggregate picture masks some concerns and some risks as

speeches at the same time, we will continue to roll out other elements of our climate strategy. in the course of next year, we will conduct a supervisory stress test with a focus on c & e risks. in addition, we will carry out a full supervisory review of banks ’ practices for incorporating c & e risks into their risk frameworks, and gradually roll out a dedicated supervisory review and evaluation process methodology that will eventually influence banks ’ minimum capital requirements. but this is not the end game. gradually we will start treating climate - related risks like any other risk and include them in all relevant supervisory requirements. conclusion let me conclude. the final results of the ecb ’ s benchmarking of banks ’ disclosure and risk management practices for c & e risks suggest that, as things stand, european banks may be largely misaligned with the economic transition path towards carbon neutrality by 2050. the probability of them having to face sudden build - ups of prudential risks in the thirty years from now to the paris deadline is considerable. the safest way to mitigate this risk is for banks to step up their risk management capabilities and clearly map their transitioning strategy. banks should develop transition plans compatible with eu policies implementing the paris agreement that include concrete intermediate milestones from now until 2050, and disclose progress towards these goals on an annual basis. to support this effort, transition plans should become a legal requirement. the realities of the climate crisis are everywhere. on a macroeconomic level, there is no doubt that a combination of physical and transition risks has started to emerge. only by introducing mandatory transition plans can banks ’ lofty intentions for the next 30 years be turned into concrete actions now. such mandatory transition plans can help avert the tragedy of the horizon. but this next step in risk management needs to be taken today. we don ’ t have thirty years ; we don ’ t even have ten years. in the earth ’ s timescale, all we have between today and 2050 is a blink of an eye. 1 european commission ( 2021 ) strategy for financing the transition to a sustainable economy. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches