Author: Practicenet

The insurance industry in Ireland has expressed concern about what it calls a lack of urgency in delivering key reforms in the sector that are aimed at reducing claims costs. Insurance Ireland says promised reform is incomplete and inaction is costing policy-holders. The call for progress comes exactly two years on from the publication of […]

Consumer sentiment was unchanged in December from November, as concerns about the economic outlook appeared to be offset by improved personal finances and end-of-year spending. The Irish economy is on course to be the best performer in the European Union for the fifth consecutive year. But concern about the vulnerability of the economy to an […]

Ireland plants almost 30 million trees a year, or 80,000 trees a day. The country’s forest and timber companies have competed very successfully against each other for many years, but since its biggest export market is the UK, Brexit has acted as a catalyst to bring the industry together to meet the challenge. Forest Industries […]

The number of people employed in companies backed by Enterprise Ireland (EI) rose last year to a record high of more than 215,000. But the agency has warned that Brexit poses serious challenges for indigenous Irish businesses, particularly those involved in exporting, and those effects had yet to be seen “However, as the March 29 […]

The Kayfoam factory in Bluebell in Dublin is a labyrinthine complex of large warehouse units packed with noisy high-tech machines pumping out, shaping and sizing huge blocks of foam under the watchful eye of a team of busy staff. The blocks are then quickly fashioned into mattresses and other foam based bedding materials like pillows, […]

The rate of unemployment remained at a 10-year low of 5.3% in December, new figures from the Central Statistics office show today. The CSO said the seasonally adjusted number of people who were unemployed in December stood at 127,100, a decrease of 20,000 when compared to December 2017. The country’s unemployment rate has fallen from […]

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the volume of retail sales edged 0.1% lower in November on a monthly basis. But retail sales were up 3.6% on an annual basis, the CSO added. The figures were lower than expected. When car sales are excluded, the CSO said that monthly retail sales rose […]

The National Treasury Management Agency has hired a syndicate of banks and brokers to sell a new 10-year bond that a market source said was likely to raise around €3 billion. That potentially could cover a fifth of the NTMA’s annual funding needs. The NTMA has kicked off its funding drive with a syndicated sale […]

Employers’ group Ibec says economic growth will be lower this year as a result of Brexit but also because the economy is at a mature phase of the business cycle. The group also warns that a shortage of workers is already starting to have an effect on companies. Ibec says growth will be around 4% […]

The Minister for Finance has asked officials to begin preparing legislative changes needed to allow credit unions charge higher interest rates on loans and financial products. If approved, the move would see the cap on interest rates rise from 1% per month to 2%. But flexibility would also be introduced to allow the interest rate […]