Spending by BOI customers up 6.8% on Black Friday
Black Friday sales are an established part of the Irish retail calendar, as demonstrated by a Bank of Ireland report which shows spending by its customers on the day was up 6.8% on last year. Overall spending in the month of November was up 5.6% compared to the same month in 2023. The report found […]
Residential property prices up 9.7% in October – CSO
Property prices are continuing to increase and are up 9.7% in the 12 months to October, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. Prices in Dublin were up 10.4%. while the cost of buying a home outside the capital rose 9.2%. The figures come a week after the Economic and Social Research […]
Fed cuts rates but sees slower pace of further reductions
The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates, as expected, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said more reductions in borrowing costs now hinge on further progress in lowering stubbornly high inflation. His latest remarks showed that policymakers are starting to reckon with the prospects for sweeping economic changes under a Trump administration. Powell’s explicit – […]
€33k a year pension needed for ‘comfortable’ retirement
A single person would need a pension of €33,600 a year, and a couple would need €43,200 a year, in order to have a “comfortable” retirement. The figures are contained in a new report on Irish retirement living standards released by the Pensions Council which was prepared and researched by KPMG. It shows that for […]
Planning permissions down 10.9% in third quarter – CSO
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show an annual decrease of 10.9% in the total number of dwelling units approved in the third quarter of this year, with the number falling to 8,611 units from 9,662 units the same time last year. The CSO said that houses accounted for 61% of all homes granted […]
Holyhead Port to stay closed until 15 January ‘at the earliest’
Holyhead Port is to remain closed until 15 January at the earliest, it has been announced. All ferry services between Dublin and Holyhead are cancelled until this time. In a statement, the port said the closure follows damage to the Terminal 3 berth on 6 December, during Storm Darragh. It acknowledged that the closure of […]
Ireland failing to comply with EU rules on professional qualifications
Ireland is one of 22 EU member states who are failing to comply with EU rules on professional qualifications, according to the European Commission. The Commission has opened infringement procedures by sending formal letters of notice to the countries. The rules are designed to make it easier for professionals to provide their services on a […]
Europe’s jobs market continues to soften in third quarter
Europe’s labour market softened in the third quarter, data releases showed today, pointing to a further decline in inflation pressures that could justify more interest rate cuts. The rise in euro zone labour costs slowed to 4.6% in the third quarter from 5.2% three months earlier while the jobs vacancy rate slipped to 2.5% from […]
Exports in October rise by 21% on last year – CSO
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that exports of goods for the first ten months of the year came to €187 billion, an increase of 13% on the same time last year. But imports have fallen by €4 billion in the months from January to October compared with the first 10 months of […]
1,076 jobs saved due to SCARP over past three years
Over 1,000 jobs have been saved through the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP) since it was launched three years ago, new figures show. The scheme aims to facilitate simplified out-of-court debt restructuring for small businesses deemed to be viable. A process adviser is appointed under the scheme to prepare a rescue plan and to […]
Just a fraction of fines imposed by DPC collected so far
Just a tiny fraction of the €3.26 billion in fines levied by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) over the past five years has been collected. The DPC said that of all fines issued between 2020 and the end of October this year, only €19.9m of the total has been paid so far. The total amount […]
Fuel prices move higher again in December
Fuel prices increased again this month, the latest AA Ireland Fuel Survey reveals. Petrol prices rose by a cent to an average of €1.74 per litre, while diesel prices increased by three cents this month to €1.71 per litre. AA Ireland noted that crude oil prices remain steady month on month at around $73 a […]
ECB cuts rates again, keeps door open to further cuts
The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the fourth time this year today, by quarter of a percentage point, and kept the door open to more as growth is hit by political instability at home and the threat of a fresh US trade war. The ECB has been easing policy as inflation worries largely […]
Annual inflation rate rises to 1% in November from 0.7% in October – CSO
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that consumer prices rose by 1% in November compared to the same time last year. This marked an increase from the annual rate of inflation of 0.7% in the 12 months to October. The CSO said the biggest increases in the 12 months to November were seen […]
An Post vows to clear backlog of parcels after storm delays
An Post expects to receive around 350,000 parcels from the UK over the next 24 hours after Holyhead Port’s closure caused a backlog. It said it has the “facilities, technology and staff” across its hubs to deliver the parcels to homes and businesses around Ireland. Ferry sailings between Ireland and Wales were cancelled due to […]
House prices overvalued by 8-10%, ESRI warns in latest economic update
Irish property prices are overvalued by 8% to 10%, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in its latest Quarterly Economic Commentary. The organisation analysed the value of houses and apartments taking into account prices, disposable incomes, interest rates, the supply of housing and the ratio of population in the key house purchasing […]
ECB set to cut interest rates for fourth time this year
Interest rates are expected to be cut by 0.25% by the European Central Bank today. If a reduction is announced it would immediately benefit tracker mortgage customers. The cut will reduce rates from 3.25% to 3% in the eurozone. It would be the bank’s fourth decrease so far this year. The move is in response […]
Demand for green skills in Ireland growing at twice the global average
Demand for green talent in Ireland grew by over 22.1% last year, well above the global average of 11.6%, according to research. The latest Labour Market Pulse published by IDA Ireland in collaboration with Microsoft and LinkedIn shows that demand for green skills in Ireland grew at twice the rate of the rest of the […]