Mortgage interest relief scheme opens for homeowners
From today, PAYE taxpayers can submit claims for mortgage interest relief for last year. The relief aims to help homeowners who have borne the brunt of interest rate hikes. Around 208,000 households are eligible, with the relief capped at €1,250 per property. The Government said self-assessed taxpayers will be able to claim the relief from […]
Euro zone narrowly avoids technical recession in Q4
The euro zone’s economy stagnated last year, weighed down by an industrial malaise in Germany, its former powerhouse, data showed today. The 20 countries that share the euro barely avoided an outright recession in the final quarter of last year even as the zone’s biggest trading partner, the US, chalked up impressively brisk growth. The […]
Offshore wind could be worth at least €38bn to economy
The development of offshore wind in Ireland could be worth at least €38 billion to the economy, a new study has estimated. However, the report produced for Green Tech Skillnet and Wind Energy Ireland by BVG Associates also warns that significant investment in training and skills will be required if the benefits are to be […]
Job vacancies down 28% in final quarter of last year
Job vacancies fell 28% in the final three months of last year, compared to the same period in 2022. According to IrishJobs the number of open positions advertised on its platform during the period was also 13% lower than the previous quarter. The hiring platform claims the softening is further evidence of a normalisation of […]
Turnover in Irish investment property market down 70%
Turnover in the Irish investment property market dropped almost 70% last year to €1.85bn when compared to 2022 – the lowest since 2012. A new report by BNP Paribas shows that just 114 deals were carried out in the 12 month period, well below the ten-year average of 223. Between October and December, turnover reached […]
Social welfare recipients to receive double payment this week
Around 1.3 million social welfare recipients will receive a double payment this week. Up to €342m will be paid out to pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, lone parents and low-income families. Those on Jobseekers Allowance for over 12 months will also qualify for the enhanced payment. Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said: “Over the […]
Falling energy prices help boost consumer sentiment – survey
Falling energy prices and announcements of grocery price cuts have boosted consumer sentiment at the beginning of 2024, according to the latest Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index. The survey of 1,000 adults conducted from the 4-19 January puts Irish consumer confidence at its highest level in almost two years. It found that though the Christmas […]
GDP down 1.9% in 2023, CSO’s preliminary estimate shows
New preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the country’s GDP is estimated to have fallen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 when compared with the third quarter of last year. The CSO said the fall came on the back of decreases in the multinational dominated sectors of Industry and Information […]
Mortgage drawdowns decline but first time buyers active in 2023
Overall mortgage drawdown volumes declined in 2023, new figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland show, but the reduction was driven largely by a falloff in switching and remortgaging activity. Mortgage holders moved to switch providers or mortgage products in record numbers towards the latter part of 2022 as the European Central Bank started to […]
Global economy outlook at odds with aggressive rate cut bets
Global growth is set to stay resilient this year and only pick up pace a bit in 2025, according to a Reuters poll of economists, a stable outlook at odds with still-relatively aggressive interest rate cut bets in financial markets. Growth among leading economies is not forecast to be consistent, with relative strength in the […]
10% increase in number of new homes completed last year – CSO
A total of 32,695 new homes were completed last year, up 10% on a year earlier, new data from the Central Statistics Office shows. It follows the completion of 10,289 dwellings in the final three months of the year, an increase of 13% on the same quarter in 2022. The completion rate for 2023 exceeds […]
Property price growth increases to 2.9% in November – CSO
Property price growth picked up on an annual basis for the third successive month in November, increasing by 2.9% after prices rose by 0.8% on a monthly basis, new Central Statistics Office figures show today. Annual price growth had cooled from a recent peak of 15.1% in February 2022 to a near three-year low of […]
Nearly 30,000 housing units held up in planning or legal review – report
Up to 29,000 housing units are being held up in the planning process or in judicial reviews, a new report from construction consultancy Mitchell McDermott has found. That amounts to almost a full year of housing output at current levels of delivery. The report calculates that 20,683 residential units are being delayed by up to […]
ECB to meet on rates, but no changes expected
The ECB’s Governing Council will meet in Frankfurt today to consider whether to make any changes to interest rates. No adjustments are expected though, despite some progress being made in bringing the inflation rate down across Europe. The rate at which prices are rising in the eurozone had been coming down for months, but reaccelerated […]
Professional employment market stabilising
The professional jobs market is showing signs of stabilising with a 30% decline in the number of job seekers and an 18% drop in the number of vacancies in 2023. The figures in the Morgan McKinley Employment Monitor suggest growing stability in job tenures and a lower rate of attrition, likely influenced by retention strategies […]
Enterprise Committee to discuss minimum wages
The Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment will discuss the regulatory and legislative changes required for the transposition of an EU directive on minimum wages. The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages seeks to reduce working poverty and inequality by improving the adequacy of statutory minimum wages as well as the promotion of collective bargaining. […]
New proposals to keep cash in circulation welcomed
The Chief Executive of Irish Rural Link has welcomed proposed legislation that will keep cash circulating in society as more people turn to digital payments. Under plans being brought to Cabinet today by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath, shops and pharmacies will have to accept cash as part of plans to keep physical money in […]
New remote working rules expected this month
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is expected to complete a new code of practice on the right to request remote working by the end of this month. The code will set out practical guidance for employers and employees when it comes to requesting remote or flexible work. “The WRC intends to finalise the code by […]