Irish consumers' confidence in the economy has dropped to its lowest level in two and a half years.
Only four out of 10 Irish people expect the economy to improve over the next 12 months.
That is according to the latest Consumer Sentiment Index from KBC Bank Ireland and the ESRI.
However the drop in consumer confidence in the wake of the Brexit vote was not as dramatic as expected.
Commenting on the results Daniel Foley, ESRI, said: “Consumer sentiment decreased modestly in July.
“The longer term trend for the main indices continues to point upward suggesting that confidence is still broadly positive, however, the results indicate that consumers are feeling particularly uncertain regarding the future.
“The dis-improvement in consumer’s expectations this month is being driven mainly by a more negative outlook with respect to future employment prospects as well as falling sentiment with respect to the general economic outlook. The component relating to future unemployment fell by nearly 17 index points this month most likely as a result of the uncertainty due to Brexit.”