Irish shoppers increase use of electronic payments
Irish consumers’ use of online and mobile payment methods has continued to increase despite the easing of restrictions on physical retail, according to Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. Meanwhile the move away from cash continued, with contactless payments hitting a new record in July. A new report by BPFI shows that the volume of online […]
No changes to Budget framework despite better tax receipts – Donohoe
The Minister for Finance has said he is not looking at making any further changes to the framework for October’s budget beyond what was set out in the Summer Economic Statement, despite better than expected tax receipts in recent months. Paschal Donohoe was speaking during a webinar organised by the farm and agribusiness professional services […]
Economy to return to pre-Covid levels early next year – NTMA CEO
The chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, Conor O’Kelly, has told an audience of investors that the economy is set to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity early next year. Speaking at an event organised by the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, Mr O’Kelly said Ireland’s position coming out of the pandemic crisis “couldn’t […]
Gender gap in graduates’ pay expectations – survey
Female students have lower salary expectations than their male counterparts across a number of sectors, according to research by Universum, which is part of IrishJobs.ie. The study found that male graduates had higher expectations for their starting salaries in all seven of the sectors surveyed, with some seeing considerably larger gaps than others. There was […]
Euro zone growth revised up as consumer spending rebounds
The euro zone economy grew by more than initially forecast in the second quarter of the year, revised data from the EU’s statistics office showed. Today’s figures showed that consumer spending rebounded sharply after two quarters of decline during Covid-19 lockdowns. Eurostat said today that gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro […]
Govt delays PUP move to Jobseekers payments to October
The Government has said that no recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) will be transitioned to Jobseeker payments before October 22. It had planned to move recipients whose payment was at or had been reduced to €203 over to Jobseekers payments in September as part of the wind down plan for the scheme. “This […]
1 in 5 SMEs expect to pass on higher costs
Over a fifth of SMEs expect to pass higher prices on to their customers as a result of inflationary pressures, according to a survey of SMEs by the peer to peer digital lending platform Linked Finance. That is up from just 6% a year ago. Rising costs are particularly apparent in larger SMEs – defined […]
Covid costs Ireland’s tourism sector an estimated €13.4bn
The Covid-19 pandemic has cost the tourism sector here €13.4bn and 100,000 jobs have been lost as a result, a new report claims. The study by the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) says the reduction of overseas visitors has cost the industry €8.1bn since 2019, with lost fares to Irish carriers accounting for €3bn. The […]
New Covid scheme for business opens to applicants
A new targeted Government funded support scheme, aimed at assisting vulnerable but viable businesses whose earnings have collapsed due to Covid-19 restrictions, has opened for applications. Under the Business Resumption Support Scheme (BRSS) registered firms can claim a single payment equivalent to three times their average weekly turnover in 2019. Businesses availed of other schemes […]
ISIF makes €450m gain in H1 as it plans green investment
Ireland’s €9.2 billion sovereign investment fund has almost doubled its total investment gains in eighteen months. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund – which has a mandate to invest on a commercial basis to support economic activity and jobs – generated an investment return of €450 million in the first half of 2021. It brings to […]
Call for €10 rise in core social welfare rates in budget
An increase of €10 per week in core social welfare rates, enhancing the support grant for carers and a single rate state pension are among the measures being called for by Social Justice Ireland in its pre-Budget submission. As well as increasing welfare payments, SJI is urging the Government to commit to benchmarking core social […]
First EI in-person Enterprise Ireland trade mission since pandemic onset
Enterprise Ireland’s first in-person trade mission since the onset of the Covid pandemic starts today in London, before moving on to Paris and Berlin. The three day mission is being led by Tánaiste and Minster for Enterprise Leo Varadkar. It is also the first physical trade mission since the new post-Brexit trade agreement between the […]
European banks still booking profits in tax havens – report
Top banks in Europe continue to use tax havens to book chunks of profits, a trend that has changed little since 2014 despite country-by-country disclosures becoming mandatory, the EU Tax Observatory said in a report. The independent research body is co-financed by the European Union. It said disclosures from 36 major European banks showed they […]
Quarterly GDP up 6.3% in second quarter as Covid curbs ease
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the economy – as measured by Gross Domestic Product – grew by 6.3% in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the first three months of the year. On an annual basis, GDP showed growth of 21.6% in the second quarter, the CSO said, as the […]
Services sector continues to grow, expansion rate slows
The Irish services sector continued to grow strongly in August, according to AIB’s Purchasing Managers’ Index. The monthly measure of activity in the sector shows further rapid increases in both new and outstanding business last month. While total services output expanded at a slower rate than in July, it was still the second-strongest since the […]
Campaign under way to tackle hospitality labour shortage
Fáilte Ireland is launching a campaign aimed at attracting workers into the tourism and hospitality industry. The recruitment marketing and awareness campaign is targetted at both jobseekers and businesses. Around nine out of every ten businesses in the sector say they have had difficulty in recruiting new staff with just over two thirds saying they […]
Jobless rate including Covid-19 payouts falls to 12.4% – CSO
The unemployment rate, when adjusted to include those on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, stood at 12.4% in August. The latest release from the Central Statistics Office shows the jobless rate fell from 13.5% in July and compares to 17.1% the same time last year. The CSO said the seasonally adjusted traditional rate of unemployment was […]
Higher debt and deficits increase risks to the economy – Governor
The Governor of the Central Bank has warned that higher debt and deficit projections out to the middle of the decade increase the risks to the public finances and the economy. In a pre-budget letter to the Minister for Finance, Gabriel Makhlouf refers to the revised projections for the public finances in the Summer Economic […]