Author: Practicenet

Government policies need to change to make the economic recovery more “inclusive” but spending also has to be controlled to mitigate the risk of a new downturn, according to a new report in the Irish economy. Cutting taxes risks overheating the economy, it said. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its global […]

Financial services firm EY is to create 270 new jobs and open two new offices in Dublin and Galway as part of a major expansion in Ireland. EY is committing to recruiting 220 new experiences hires as well as increasing its annual graduate intake from 200 to 250 across its seven offices. The average salaries […]

A global ranking highlighting a marked improvement in Ireland’s competitiveness shouldn’t distract from outstanding problems, the head of the State’s competitiveness watchdog has warned. The National Competitiveness Council, headed by UCD economist Professor Peter Clinch, welcomed Ireland’s ranking rise. But Prof Clinch sounded a note of caution, saying: “While we should be pleased that Ireland’s […]

Growth in the Irish manufacturing industry slowed to a near three-month-low in May, new figures have shown. According to the latest Investec Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), the headline figure of growth slowed to 51.5, its lowest since July 2013. The drop in growth is as a result of general weakening in demand with the […]

Latest official figures points to annual decrease of 38,300 or 1.8 per cent Unemployment has fallen to a new post-crash low of 7.8 per cent as conditions in the jobs market continue to improve. The latest official figures show the number of workers classified as unemployed fell by 1,500 to 169,700 in May. This equated […]

Prime rents for shops on Henry Street in central Dublin have increased 14pc on the past year, as the retail market continues to show signs of improvement. Property agent CBRE say the outlook for the retail sector is steadily getting better, and that is feeding through to demand for shops in strong locations around the […]

Ireland has shot up a global ranking measuring competitiveness. The country has surged from 16th place last year, to seventh now, according to the latest analysis from the Swiss-based IMD World Competitiveness Center. Ireland is considerably ahead of the UK in 18th place, which flies in the face of criticisms made by businesses that Britain […]

The latest recession in the oil sector has thrown up some truly remarkable business paradoxes. Imagine, if you can, a company which suffers a $200bn plunge in revenues and sees its operating profits collapse by 93pc. Imagine that company surviving such a life-threatening trauma but being resilient enough to get stuck into the acquisition of […]

Tech giant Amazon is to create 500 new jobs in Dublin over the next two years as the firm bids to up its European headcount. Amazon, which is headed up by Silicon Valley chief Jeff Bezos, is looking to add data centre technicians, software engineers, and customer support staff. The announcement is part of the […]

You could shave hundreds of thousands off your mortgage by switching lender, writes Louise McBride Homeowners can save tens of thousands of euro more by switching mortgage today than they would have had they switched a year-and-a-half ago. A series of interest rate cuts by some of the country’s main banks – along with the […]