Government funding of €55m to help businesses move away from fossil fuels
The Government is to make €55m available to businesses to help them move away from the use of fossil fuels. The new Green Transition Fund, to be launched later, will be made up of two parts. The Climate Planning Fund for Business, worth €25m, will provide firms with funding to help them plan how they […]
Ireland ranked third-most competitive euro area country
Ireland has been ranked as the third most competitive country in the euro area by the latest IMD World Competitiveness Rankings. It has also been placed as the 11th most competitive economy in the world out of 63, up from 13th last year. The development has been welcomed by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), but […]
Musgrave invests €25m in Centra and SuperValu stores as part of sustainability strategy
Musgrave is investing €25 million in SuperValu and Centra stores as part of a new sustainability fund aimed at helping retailers to achieve net zero carbon by 2040. The supermarket supplier said the investment will result in an estimated 12% carbon reduction by the company over a two-year period. In the Republic of Ireland, Musgrave […]
Irish tourism sector sees ‘unprecedented’ level of inflation
New research from the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation shows that inflation in May in the tourism industry was seven times higher that the same time in 2019, which is putting significant cost pressure on the sector. The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation’s latest dashboard for May shows that the sector’s recovery continues to gather pace. But […]
Ryanair CEO says summer fares will be up 7-9% on 2019 levels
Ryanair Group chief executive Michael O’Leary said today that bookings at Europe’s biggest budget airline are strengthening and he expects summer fares to be between 7% and 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Speaking to Reuters, he said the load factor, a measure of how well an airline is filling available seats, should be around 94% […]
Taoiseach says UK protocol plans are ‘anti-business and anti-industry’
The Taoiseach has described the legislation on the Northern Ireland Protocol published by the British government yesterday, as “anti-business and anti-industry”. Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, Micheál Martin said the action by the UK represented a “fundamental breach of trust”. He said he did not believe that the legislation was well thought […]
Public sector pay talks to resume at WRC
Formal public sector pay talks between the Government and unions will resume at the Workplace Relations Commission. The negotiations opened yesterday and were adjourned after around four hours. The talks come after unions triggered a review clause within the existing public sector pay deal ‘Building Momentum’ due to rising inflation. Under the current agreement, public […]
Growth in construction sector slowed again in May
Activity in the construction sector continued to increase in May but at its slowest pace in more than a year, according to the latest Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index from BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland. It represents the third consecutive month of slowing growth in the sector, as rising prices and declining sentiment impacts activity. The […]
Euro zone to avoid recession, growth to accelerate in Q3 – ECB survey
The euro zone will avoid a recession this year and growth will accelerate noticeably after bottoming out in the second quarter, a key European Central Bank survey shows. The 19-country currency bloc has been hit by fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sapped confidence, investment and households’ purchasing power via sharply higher fuel […]
Major blaze hits Smurfit Kappa packaging plant in UK
Smurfit Kappa has resumed some operations at a packaging plant in the UK after a large fire ripped through the facility overnight, the local fire service said. West Midlands Fire Service said more than 100 firefighters had made progress containing the blaze that they were alerted to yesterday evening. It said there were no reports […]
Govt not considering price caps as inflation rises to 7.8%
The Minister for Finance has said he is not considering the introduction of price caps to deal with soaring inflation. Paschal Donohoe was speaking after the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that annual rate of inflation rose to 7.8% in May. This is the highest rate in 38 years, and up from 7% in April. […]
Oil prices slip, but still close to three month highs
Oil prices slipped today but remained within touching distance of three-month highs as fears over new Covid-19 lockdown measures in Shanghai outweighed solid demand for fuels in the United States, the world’s top consumer. Brent crude futures for August were down 77 cents, or 0.6%, at $122.30 a barrel as of 0448 GMT after a […]
Cheque payments hit new quarterly low in Q1 at 4.5 million – BPFI
Around 4.5 million cheque payments were made in the first quarter of 2022, according to the latest Payments Monitor from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. While the figures is a new quarterly low for cheque volumes, it appears high in the age of digital banking. Gillian Byrne, Head of Payments, BPFI agrees that, “4.5 million […]
European shares fall ahead of ECB decision
European shares slipped today ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting later in the day, with investors awaiting clues on the central bank’s policy tightening plans. The ECB will announce its decision just before 1pm, followed by a press conference this afternoon. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5% by 0709 GMT. The index is […]
Around 25% of eir customers to be hit by price hikes
Telecoms company eir has said around 25% of its customers will be impacted by price hikes from August. The changes in fees will impact households and small to medium sized businesses using the company’s landline, broadband, TV and mobile services. eir said current customers will see a €5 increase to their bills per month. “eir […]
Price shock: Why car prices are being driven higher
The cost of everyday items is continuing to rise, with a recent estimate from the Central Statistics Office suggesting consumer prices were 8.2% in the year to the end of May. That translates into higher costs at the shopping tills, leaving many households with less money at the end of the week – and forcing […]
Fuels for Ireland urges new approach to tax on fuel
The fuels industry has said that the Government needs to look at the overall approach to taxation on fuel because the argument that increasing fuel taxes results in decreased demand “just doesn’t follow.” The chief executive of Fuels for Ireland said despite the excise duty cut on petrol and diesel earlier this year, users are […]
‘I don’t know who can afford €4,500 for childcare’
Cliona, a mother of three, was recently quoted €4,500 a month for childcare. She simply cannot afford it. “I don’t know who can afford €4,500 a month and pay a mortgage and have any kind of a life, and put food on the table,” she told Prime Time. “I don’t know anyone who could do […]