Budget benefited lower income groups proportionately more – ESRI
The Economic and Social Research Institute has said Tuesday’s Budget was “progressive”, meaning lower income groups will benefit proportionately more than higher income groups. However, the ESRI says the reduction in the At Risk Of Poverty (AROP) rate amongst most groups will only be achieved through the once-off measures contained in the Budget. It points […]
Online payments continue to grow, cheque payments drop further
Online and mobile banking payments are continuing to grow in the country while usage of cheques has dropped to the lowest level since 2008. That is according to latest figures from the payments monitor of Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. It finds online and mobile banking payments have jumped 60% since 2018, while the use […]
Annual inflation rate up slightly to 6.4% in September – CSO
The annual rate of inflation rose again in September to 6.4% compared to an annual rate of 6.3% in August, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today. The main drivers of inflation last month were increases in mortgage interest payments, clothing and footwear and home heating oil. Mortgage interest payments rose by 6.3% […]
€1.17bn allocated to Arts, Sport and Media in budget
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin has announced details of the €1.17 billion in funding allocated to the department in Budget 2024. Measures include a €1.9m pilot initiative to support regional arts infrastructure to meet their building and equipment needs, increased funding for national sporting organisations and for high-performance […]
Number of insurance firms in Ireland down 39% since 2009
The number of insurance and reinsurance businesses based in Ireland has fallen 39% since 2009, a new study has found. Life companies have dropped by 42% over the period and non-life firms by 29%, while the volume of re-insurers has decreased by 47%. On top of that the largest international non-life companies and one of […]
Used car price inflation rises to 3.3% in third quarter
The rate of inflation in the used car market was 3.3% in the period from July to the end of September, up from 0.9% in the previous quarter. The DoneDeal Car Price Index shows the annual rate of car price inflation is now at its lowest level since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when […]
Some Budget measures in force with fuel prices up since midnight
Some of the Budget 2024 measures came into force at midnight after the Dáil voted to increase tobacco duties and maintain the lower VAT rate on household energy bills. While the vote means pending excise increases on petrol and diesel have been deferred until next year, fuel prices at petrol and diesel pumps went up […]
Budget 2024 won’t overheat the economy – Varadkar
Some Budget 2024 measures came into force at midnight, after the Dáil voted to increase tobacco duties and also maintain the lower VAT rate on household energy bills. While the vote means pending excise increases on petrol and diesel have been deferred until next year, forecourt fuel prices increased overnight due to a hike in […]
Banking levy increased in Budget 2024
Ireland will revise how it calculates its levy on banks after announcing plans to raise €200m from the measure next year, up from €87m in 2023, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said today. The levy previously raised a flat €150m a year after its introduction following the banking crisis a decade ago. But that fell last […]
Budget to include €250m scheme to help firms with costs
A new €250m grant scheme to help small and medium sized businesses with rising costs is set to be announced in today’s budget. The one-off scheme will offer payments to firms based on a percentage of the amount they pay in commercial rates. However, amounts will be capped, with the result that large firms will […]
Global natural gas demand set for slower growth to 2026 – IEA
Global natural gas demand is expected to experience slower growth to 2026 after peaking in mature markets such as Europe and North America in 2021, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today. The IEA’s annual medium-term gas market outlook said global gas demand was on course to increase by an average of […]
Over 2.4m people have private health insurance, up 3%
The number of people with private health insurance at the end of last year rose by 3% compared to a year earlier. 2.44m customers had health insurance policies at the end of December, representing 47.6% of the population. Total premium income fell slightly over the year and now stands at €2.93bn, as a result of […]
Insolvencies and startups both grew in third quarter
The number of insolvencies in the third quarter of the year was up 54% on the same period last year. Between July and September, 185 insolvencies were recorded, compared to 120 during those three months in 2022. But new data from credit risk analyst, CRIFVision-Net, shows that while insolvencies grew during that period, so too […]
Construction activity saw modest slowdown in September – PMI
Activity in the construction sector slowed again in September, according to the latest purchasing managers index from BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland. The index stood at 48.6 in the month – below the 50 marker that separates growth from contraction. It makes September the eighth month of the year so far to see a decline […]
Coalition party leaders discuss final Budget details
The Coalition party leaders met until the early hours of this morning to finalise most of the details of tomorrow’s Budget. Some items remain outstanding, however, and there may be further meetings today Ahead of the meeting, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the issues that still needed agreement included tax measures, supports for small businesses and […]
Expansionary Budget ‘makes little economic sense’ – Nevin Economic Research Institute
The Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) has said an expansionary Budget next week “makes little economic sense” at this time. This is because it believes the economy is at, or close to, capacity with full employment. The union-backed think tank said that the level of spending outlined in the Government’s Summer Economic Statement will “add […]
Key tourism month of July not as strong as hoped – ITIC
The rising cost of doing business and reduced tourism accommodation supply meant the key tourism month of July wasn’t as strong as hoped, new data from the sector suggests. The latest monthly dashboard from the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) points out that 650,200 international visitors came to this country from abroad during the month. […]
World food price index little changed in September despite sugar surge – FAO
The United Nations food agency’s world price index was largely stable in September, as declines in the indices for vegetable oils, dairy and meat offset a surgein sugar and maize prices. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index tracks the most globally traded food commodities. It averaged 121.5 points last month against a revised […]